Review Insights · App Store
flowkey - Learn to Play Piano
flowkey GmbH · 64,116 ratings · ★ 4.7
4.7
★★★★★
64,116 ratings
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Top complaints - extracted from 27 negative reviews
Recurring phrases mined from 1-2★ reviews. The bigger the percentage, the more users have the same problem. Fix the top 2-3 in your version and you have product-market fit on day one.
1
"songs"
8 negative reviews mention this · 30% of all complaints
★★★★★ "all the songs are locked away. yours forced to buy premium to play the good songs and have a small selection of free songs" - h chic ihfn
2
"free"
7 negative reviews mention this · 26% of all complaints
★★★★★ "all the songs are locked away. yours forced to buy premium to play the good songs and have a small selection of free songs" - h chic ihfn
3
"play"
6 negative reviews mention this · 22% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Effective, but has issues. It’s OK, but there’s a lot of problems with changing the position of your iPad. Also, the flow of the song does not match the playing and the music doesn’t advance itself properly. Also, I found the exercise exercises specifically for play…" - Stone-breaker55
4
"piano"
6 negative reviews mention this · 22% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Subscriptions. In my personal experience, I was eager to expand my repertoire of songs on this application. However, during the initial lesson, I encountered a significant obstacle: I was unable to advance to the subsequent lesson without a subscription. …" - Jkgirllllllllllll67
5
"notes"
6 negative reviews mention this · 22% of all complaints
★★★★★ "flowkey be like…. The beginner lessons were useful. Now that I’m doing the intermediate lessons, I feel like the app over punishes you for minor mistakes by making you play at an excessively slow tempo and does not do well at recognizing what notes my keyboa…" - sharepalestine
6
"playing"
5 negative reviews mention this · 19% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Effective, but has issues. It’s OK, but there’s a lot of problems with changing the position of your iPad. Also, the flow of the song does not match the playing and the music doesn’t advance itself properly. Also, I found the exercise exercises specifically for play…" - Stone-breaker55
7
"music"
5 negative reviews mention this · 19% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Effective, but has issues. It’s OK, but there’s a lot of problems with changing the position of your iPad. Also, the flow of the song does not match the playing and the music doesn’t advance itself properly. Also, I found the exercise exercises specifically for play…" - Stone-breaker55
8
"keys"
5 negative reviews mention this · 19% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Get rid of the geriatric instructor. Every now and then you’ll get a pianist with gnarled wrinkly messed up fingers that twist across multiple keys at once, looks deformed and throws everything off. Get rid of them asap for someone healthy and normal" - PocketDakota
9
"lessons"
4 negative reviews mention this · 15% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Subscriptions. In my personal experience, I was eager to expand my repertoire of songs on this application. However, during the initial lesson, I encountered a significant obstacle: I was unable to advance to the subsequent lesson without a subscription. …" - Jkgirllllllllllll67
10
"slow"
4 negative reviews mention this · 15% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Sorry. I don’t want to play a subscription also it was rlly slow and it would say I was playing it wrong just cause I was trying to go faster" - this nickname aint taken!!!!!!
11
"learning"
4 negative reviews mention this · 15% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Don’t waste your money. If the app worked as advertised, it would be a wonderful app. The problem is, all the “Bells and Whistles” that would make this a wonerful learning app, causes my iPad to freeze. Then I have to reboot my iPad so I can use it again!" - Drc3david
12
"once"
4 negative reviews mention this · 15% of all complaints
★★★★★ "flowkey be like…. The beginner lessons were useful. Now that I’m doing the intermediate lessons, I feel like the app over punishes you for minor mistakes by making you play at an excessively slow tempo and does not do well at recognizing what notes my keyboa…" - sharepalestine
📋 All 27 negative reviews
Every 1-2★ review we fetched. Use the copy button to grab them all for your own analysis (paste into ChatGPT/Claude with a prompt like "summarize core user problems, group by theme, ignore bugs, focus on missing features").
all the songs are locked away
yours forced to buy premium to play the good songs and have a small selection of free songs
Sorry
I don’t want to play a subscription also it was rlly slow and it would say I was playing it wrong just cause I was trying to go faster
Don’t waste your money
If the app worked as advertised, it would be a wonderful app. The problem is, all the “Bells and Whistles” that would make this a wonerful learning app, causes my iPad to freeze. Then I have to reboot my iPad so I can use it again!
Had this app and loved it. What happened?!?!
Had this app on my old phone and enjoyed it so much. Got a new IPhone and now it won’t open or work. What’s the deal? Help!!!
Not useful
App cannot detect 2 notes at once, gets stuck even when you play the correct notes with both hands, not useful.
Trash App
App acts like it’s free then tries to charge $150 a year??? What a joke. Charging Netflix prices for a piano lesson app? They should be ashamed of themselves
This is a scam
I was trying to use the app but it kept saying one more time and at this point use a music sheet
Come on!
You have to pay for half the songs.
👎
I have been playing piano for 5 years now and it says slow down and stay on beat. I had my metronome sitting beside me and I was on beat. I deleted the app. I was done. I do not recommend this app.
useless
I’d be willing to pay for a full membership for this app. That’s how much I’d like to learn how to play piano but I literally can’t because every time I play, it stops mid song because it can’t recognize my notes. My piano is not out of tune, but for some reason, it’s just not recognizing that I’m playing the correct keys and I cannot move forward when I’m constantly replaying notes for the app to hear correctly.
Cost
The app says it free,and when you setup the account then it charges you after a 7 day free trial. It’s very misleading once you have it downloaded.
Cons you into giving personal information
Asks to sign up and gets your info then tells you how much to pay.
Strong NO Thanks!
I said I liked Jazz, and the only music it offered to play was classical along with some Christmas. There’s no interest in this very limited selections no way to go back and change selections. Yuck. I canceled this free seven day trial within the first three minutes. Not for me.
Deceptive pricing
The app seems great so far, but be ready to feel taken advantage of. After trying the free sample, they entice you to upgrade, with basically two non-family choices 1) $8/month for classic songs, or 2) ~$13 for all the music (or something close to that). During the upgrade process, you’ll learn it is actually $16 per month for just the lower classic tier unless you subscribe for a whole year. Later, you’ll learn that most(?) of the lessons are only part of the higher package.
Anyway, I emotionally committed to $8 per month, but I’m now actually paying $23. The whole experience felt very ‘scammy’.
Anyway, I emotionally committed to $8 per month, but I’m now actually paying $23. The whole experience felt very ‘scammy’.
Effective, but has issues
It’s OK, but there’s a lot of problems with changing the position of your iPad. Also, the flow of the song does not match the playing and the music doesn’t advance itself properly.
Also, I found the exercise exercises specifically for playing with the left hand to be lacking
Also, I found the exercise exercises specifically for playing with the left hand to be lacking
Subscriptions
In my personal experience, I was eager to expand my repertoire of songs on this application. However, during the initial lesson, I encountered a significant obstacle: I was unable to advance to the subsequent lesson without a subscription. My objective was to acquire new musical knowledge and perform captivating pieces with my piano companions. Regrettably, I have been unable to locate an application that provides lessons without the necessity of a subscription.
flowkey be like…
The beginner lessons were useful. Now that I’m doing the intermediate lessons, I feel like the app over punishes you for minor mistakes by making you play at an excessively slow tempo and does not do well at recognizing what notes my keyboard is playing when the music has multiple notes played at once. Because of this lessons can be very frustrating and not fun which hinders progress. I wish there were more options to practice music reading on the because I find myself relying on the videos more than the musical notes pretty often.
It sucks
All the songs are two hands
Price is unrealistic
I came here in the impression of a completely free app but like its okay, people deserve to earn money from their work but when i saw the prices, 12.49$ a month if you pay 150$ yearly and 25$ if you choose to pay monthly. Honestly thats a bid absurd for just a piano learning app, not to mention theres just 8 free songs, and its happy birthday and like that stuff too. If the free version is like this, just make the app paid and stop advertising it as if its free. Still it might be useful.
Get rid of the geriatric instructor
Every now and then you’ll get a pianist with gnarled wrinkly messed up fingers that twist across multiple keys at once, looks deformed and throws everything off. Get rid of them asap for someone healthy and normal
I DON’T LIKE IT
It goes so slow and says I’m wrong for every note
Good app but…
I like the app but-my favorite band is not included in the songs. 😡 where are Gorillaz?!?!?!?!!?
Label the keys
If the keys were labeled I would keep the app. I don’t want to follow the fingers I want to read and identify the notes on the sheet. namely the ones below the line on left hand.
All or Nothing
Started with the free trial. Liked it enough to purchase the “Flowkey Classic” and I now 90% of the songs are locked. The songs unlocked are not songs I am interested in learning. So… if you are going to use this app you’re wasting your time and money by not purchasing the full package.
I will say the app during the trial phase was helpful, but did not have many recent songs you would think they would have. Found them on YouTube. Good Luck!
I will say the app during the trial phase was helpful, but did not have many recent songs you would think they would have. Found them on YouTube. Good Luck!
Microphone
I have to constantly press the keys for the app to recognize the sound
Needs work
Relearning piano and it doesn’t detect the notes on a Boston baby grand. You have to hit the notes super hard for it to check that you did it even when you seen the microphone has clearly picked up the note
Beginner
The basic lessons jump from one style of learning to another. From reading notes with the keys displayed to just reading the notes to numbering the keys. Mistakes found in the lessons. So aggravating bc I paid for the year in advance.
Sentiment summary
93%
Positive (4-5★)
3%
Neutral (3★)
3%
Negative (1-2★)