Script:
I was surprised at how great Simply Piano was! For a small, strickly mobile app it was able to read my notes from my piano perfectly. Not even the constant background noise of my household could stop it. I couldn’t wait to dive into Simply Guitar or Simply Sing! However, Simply Guitar didn’t work with my guitar and amp even after contacting support. That leaves me with Simply Sing, the app that’s tagline is Learn to Sing. Does it actually teach you anything, or is it a gloried Karaoke machine? When I used it, the answer was later but hey, watch the video… I worked hard on it, dammit.
[Intro]
Simply Sing is an app available for iPhone. Like Simply Guitar or Simply Piano, there is no PC version, unlike its competition Yousician. In fact, Simply Sing doesn’t have an android version released as I am writing this script which is a bit of a bummer. The app is about a year old and is free with ads or a hundred and fifty dollars per year for access to all three apps. I did that year long access before, planning on reviewing all three over nine months. There is a four ninety-nine option for Simply Sing as well for just this app alone… no other apps allowed.
Like its sister apps, Simply Sing has a clean interface that’s incredibly simple to use. You start off by logging into the app or creating an account if you don’t have one. After gaining access, you will complete a few vocal training exercises to determine your vocal range. From Soprano to Bass the app will have your level covered. Once your range is determined, the app will adjust all songs to fit through it’s pitch level system. It’s either pitches the entire song up higher or lower, including the instrumentals. I am a Baritone, meaning most songs are lowered by a few points. Originally the app pegged me as a Bass but you can manually change your level as well if the rating is off. A nice touch considering some apps would lock you into this range.
Once you get your vocal range, you pick whatever songs you want to sing and begin to do so. It works surprisingly well if you use headphones and picks up my voice greatly. I just used the onboard iPhone microphone and it worked at a bit of a distance. I am also bad at singing, so don’t blame the software for the random jumps you see in the background. That is just me beign bad at it. Unfortunatly the singing isn’t recorded on the device or saved at all so you can’t hear yourself after finishing up.
The interface for singing is also done excellently in this app. If you hold up your phone vertically, it will show it in a follow-along singing method with the words highlighting. Switching to vertical will show what pitch you are on through this little ball and what pitch it’s supposed to be through the line. Holding it vertically is if you are learning the lyrics and once you do, flipping it horizontally will help work on the pitch. I like these options and wish more Singing style apps, especially the singing video games, had this option.
On the singing interface, you can adjust various parts of the song to help you complete it. You can lower or raise the vocal range, fast forward or rewined, and swap between vertical and horizonal modes on the fly with a press of a button. After you sing your song, you will be rated three stars. These ratings aren’t saved anywhere, and there’s no point system to judge yourself while singing. A very disappointing end to a great app foundation.
Singing these songs is about ninety-nine percent of the content in the app. New songs are released every week, which is nice and helps add content. The selection of songs is okay, ranging from Rock to Pop and a few musical numbers. It’s pretty much what you would find in Yousician or any Karaoke video game. The songs are all covers which I don’t mind since the pitch is changed anyways. While the selection is good, I will say that the organization of the songs is horrible. On the home page, you can choose from recently played and different categories, such as Disney. There isn’t a whole list of categories to choose from or a way to look based on a tag system. What you see on the front page is what you get. The search works based on Song name and Artist only, so looking by album or genera doesn’t exist. It definitely feels like the app is not finished yet. Where are the recommendation pages after playing a song? Also clicking a song just plays it right a way, there should be like an information page before this step talking about previous scores and such.
Speaking of not being finished, while I was writing this script for the video, a major update to the app brought in the Lessons tab. Of course, I hopped on that right away, hoping it would be something like what we got in Simply Piano. Instead, it’s a bunch of warm-ups with a single mini-lessons on a specific song. On the bottom of the page, it does say more to come with an actual lessons header like you would see in Simply Piano. The app is only around a year old but it still feels like the app is still missing content. It has a long way to go before it can reach its competition.
Here’s where old Jack comes in; I want to give a few pointers for the company on how I would improve things with this app and in general. First, I would add a community aspect for the company, in general, to interact with customer service and to get feedback. Right now, they have a Facebook community which is a start but having something personally branded that the company owns using the accounts tied to the apps. It’s better than using anything Zuckerberg is running. Ew… Also, having a news section on what’s new or a roadmap on the apps would help customers figure out if they are going to get their moneys worth.
Next, for the Simply Sing app specifically add a point system to the singing. It’s done well, but it’s just missing that oomph that competition can have. Adding points allows the user to track how well they are doing. From there, you can also introduce the leaderboards and weekly challenges like Yousician has. Of course, adding new songs and more lessons will help bad out the content. Lastly, one cool thing Yousician can do that no other app I’ve seen does is combine singing with the instruments. Playing the piano while singing is a talent that needs to be practiced, and these apps could be a great way to do that. Also, a bonus request is a desktop app. I get that the apps are not built with an engine like Yousician is, so porting will be a much harder challenge, but I think it should be done and will be worth it.
Overall, I recommend purchasing a Simply subscription for Simply Piano. Please don’t buy it for singing otherwise you will be disappointed. There isn’t enough content at this moment to justify the price. Maybe toward the end of 2023, there will be enough lessons to justify the cost. Until then, you can always sing for free, baby!
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