Leave a Review Pocket Bard App
Very Limited, But Does What It Does Well
As the title states, this is a a fair app. It does what it advertises and does so quite well. I have two main reasons for the lower rating which is why I docked two stars:
1) Currently the selection is very limited. There are many scenes to chose from, but the weather and one shot items are quite sparse.
2) Customization. As others have mentioned they have many of their own playlists they’ve made over the years. It would be great to import those playlists and make custom scenes incorporating the sounds from the app with our own content. This would also solve the issue of limited selection as you’d be able to find and add your own resources all housed in one app instead of across multiple.
Others have noted the subscription model to be an issue. I can’t really speak to that as I’m not using it. At the time of writing this mostly just gets you sci-fi content, which I have no use for. That said, paying a monthly fee for access to that content does seem steep.Show lessPhaeren
Developer Response
Hi Phaeren, thanks very much for leaving this review! We appreciate you outlining the logic behind your review, as it goes a long way in letting us know how we can improve. To address the first point: we will continue to expand not only the premium catalogue, but we will also be adding even more music and effects for our free users. (as a note: when users subscribe, they also gain access to a growing selection of ambience and one shot sound effects. We plan on making visibility into what's offered in the subscription more accessible to our users going forward). To the second point - we agree that adding custom sounds would be great for our users, but we're still not quite sure how to integrate a feature like this with our signature intensity sliders. Our goal is to constantly add to the selection of Pocket Bard music, in hopes that one day, users will only need one app for all of their audio needs for TTRPGs. We want to allow users to create tailor made audio experiences, but we also want the app to remain simple and nonintrusive. These are lofty goals, but if you have any ideas on how we can accomplish them, we're all ears! In lieu of the ability to add custom music, please know that Pocket Bard can play in the background, which means that you can use our app alongside other audio sources. We hope that by addressing these issues, we can continue to improve the user experience for all! Like I mentioned earlier, if you do want to follow up this conversation, please reach out to us directly at support@pocketbard.app so we can learn more. Thank you again for your time! -NickThis App has potential to be monumental!
I want to start off by saying that there are many apps/soundboards out there that attempt to help create scenes in TTRPG’s. I’ve used PocketBard for about a month now, and all I can say is I haven’t used another app since. This is the app for me and my group moving forward!
The accessibility, the music, the different scenes, the customization! It is all perfectly put together! I am absolutely in love with this app because it helps transition your scenes perfectly as the scenes transition in our game!
I do have some feedback for the Developers. I would really like to see more specific sound buttons within the scenes. The generic same ones across all the soundboards are good, however I can only do so much with what I’ve been given. I feel like in order for this app to truly take off, I would love to see constant updates with more sounds, and hopefully more scenes soon! To me, I feel like this is crucial for your growth as an app.
I hope you all see this review and know that you all are doing a fantastic job! I just don’t want you all to forget that having updated content is how you keep your app alive!
Thanks!Show lessNfhsdhfdjjhfdhjdfkj
Developer Response
Hi there! Thanks so much for leaving this thoughtful review! Learning from our passionate users is truly the best way for us to continue to grow, so thank you for your honesty! We absolutely have very big plans coming up for Pocket Bard. Not only will we continue to expand our growing catalogue of premium content, but we will also support our free content library, both by adding new content and remastering legacy locations. We hope you look forward to everything we have planned! We will also continue to optimize the power and control users have over the app while not slipping away from our north star of simplicity and ease of use. If you would like to continue a conversation around feedback or improvements for Pocket Bard, please feel free to reach out to us at support@pocketbard.app We thank you again for taking the time to leave this review and we hope you enjoy what's next! -NickLove! Love! Love!
This app is so well thought out! I love how everything works so seamlessly. It really helps to make the story you’re playing immersive. I can’t wait to use it in my upcoming campaign! The only thing that could make this app any better is simply more of it. More scenes and content. I definitely wouldn’t mind seeing a tavern setting and maybe an airship and other steampunk elements… 😁Show lessShellbell1018
Developer Response
Hey there! Thanks so much for leaving this review! We're so happy that you're enjoying your experience with Pocket Bard. And fear not, we know that we're just getting started. We have big plans of releasing a ton of music - both for free and for those who choose to subscribe! We hope you look forward to these upcoming expansions. We really appreciate you taking the time to let us know what you'd like to see included in future builds of the app as well! That's extremely helpful for us; learning from our users is vital for us to know what to prioritize going forward. As always, if you have any other suggestions, don't be a stranger and feel free to reach out to us at support@pocketbard.app. Thanks again for your review and your time! -NickGreat option for aspiring newer GMs
I have played around with the app and options a bit, and so far pretty enjoyable. Just need to remember what certain environments do (village has a lot of background chatter, while city does not seem to have as much) and the strength of some of the options (whispers is a bit more like ritual chanting than just background talking).
Marking as 4 for two reasons.
One is established of course and understandable at present based on the Dev team comments elsewhere, being the subscription only at present. I avoid subscription only apps like they are the plague, and while I’m sure it works for some, there are others that get barely anything from this and thus won’t pay. Such as myself who may run a session once, twice at most a month at best.
The other reason, I have a long curated list of music I run already built off a collection over a decade old. I like the extra sounds and such I can add through this, but I greatly dislike that this cuts audio by half power. As soon as I turn the app off, standard music comes roaring back. I would edit this to 5 star if just this got fixed, but I realize this is likely a small percentage of users that actually notice this.Show less25521177
Developer Response
Hi there! We really appreciate you taking the time to write this (honestly) very fair review! We appreciate that you are able to see the intention behind our work. We absolutely understand how you feel in regards to the subscription. As you may have seen on other posts, we do believe that as of now, the subscription model is the best way for us to continue to grow as a company. If you'd like to hear the full explanation from our CEO Alex, take a look at the FAQ in our Discord. That being said, we are absolutely committed to maintaining and expanding the audio available completely for free. We hope that you're continue to enjoy what we add next! And thank you for the feedback regarding audio mixing! We really love that users enjoy using Pocket Bard alongside other audio sources, so finding a way to happily marry these sounds without making it more trouble for the user is definitely a priority for us. Thank you for expressing how it can be improved, as it truly is the best way we can make the experience better for everyone. As always, thank you for leaving your thoughts, and if you ever have any questions or think of more feedback, please feel free to contact us directly at support@pocketbard.app Thanks again for your time -NickA really great app!
I play a lot of dungeons and dragons, only recently started to dm games. This is a really great app and I can definitely see myself using it all the time for sessions. The only 2 things I can think of for making it perfect right now is to add animal sounds to it, birds, dinosaurs, dragons etc. And a one time lifetime purchase for the premium subscription. Other than that it’s wonderful, and I look forward to seeing how far this app goes in the future.Show lessRJAfan94
Developer Response
Thanks so much for leaving this review! We sometimes get feedback asking for more one shots and SFX, so having our users provide specific requests is extremely helpful! Animal wounds would be a great addition! As far as the subscription goes - we're a really small team, and we determined that a subscription model was the most viable way for us to grow. If you're interested in learning more, we have a full explanation on our Discord! As always, we just wanna say that we're very happy you found out about Pocket Bard. If you need any support or have any questions, feel free to reach out to us at support@pocketbard.app :)Helpful and amazing sounds!!
Wow! Downloaded this app after seeing a tiktok and it’s super cool!! I’m definitely going to use this for my next campaign!! One thing though, just listening to the songs for an extended period of time, I noticed that they would have a tendency to sound dark. For example, if I just let the town music play for a while it will start to get really slow, pensive, build suspense, and just overall sound like things are about to go awry. The slow transition is incredible, but am I the only one experiencing this?Show lessjeksnskakdmd
Developer Response
Hi there, thank you so much for leaving this review! We've not received that specific feedback before. But that's not to say it's not valued - everyone experiences music in different ways. The way you reacted to the transition between musical beats is great for us to know - thank you! If you have any other suggestions or feedback, please feel free to reach out to us at support@pocketbard.app Thanks again for choosing to use Pocket Bard and we hope you continue to enjoy as we continue to make the app better for our users!The best app- fits all your DnD ambience needs
I usually never leave reviews. Like, never. But my goodness have they knocked it out of the park with this one. One of my biggest struggles with campaigns is finding and easy way to have ambience or music for a specific setting, and often have to create multiple playlists to do so. In fact, I was creating a couple for a new campaign when I came across an ad from them at a convention of some kind. I decided to try it out as it seemed fairly easy to use. My expectations weren’t too high, but boy was I proved wrong. The simple interface and quality of the ambience and music is stellar and I really couldn’t ask for more from this app. I highly recommend pocketbard to anyone who is looking for a perfect ambience/music app for DnD, or any other occasionShow lessMatthewjhaak
Developer Response
Wow, we are so happy you heard about us! Thank you for leaving your kind thoughts for others to see too! We're a small team, and we're very proud to have provided experiences like yours. We're always looking to grow, so if you ever have any issues or suggestions for the future, please feel free to reach out to us at support@pocketbard.app Thanks again for using Pocket Bard!Excellent app that needs more content
I played around with the free options and can report that everything works intuitively. You download all of the resources locally which means no reliance on a server and no buffering times.
However, I will not be paying for a subscription until there is a Cyberpunk Red themed audio suite. It's understandable that that they cater to the D&D crowd first, but hope to see more variety in the future. The current sci-fi offering doesn't quite scratch the cyberpunk style imho.Show lesscorey_mcd
Developer Response
Hey Corey, We really appreciate your review as well as your feedback! We agree - we'd love to get more Cyberpunk specific music in Pocket Bard! We're a really small team at the moment, so we're doing the best we can to make music that most people will enjoy. I'll be sure to continue to bubble up voices like yours who want even more Cyberpunk in their lives :) Thanks again -NickIt’s a great app with room for improvement.
I love the intensity sliders. It gives control over the mood. The music selection for locations is right on point. Improvements: the subscription fee is a little much. Only consider the subscription if you GM constantly and need the extra locations and options. Needs more locations. This obviously will go up with user input.
Some of my suggestions for location based music would be “Tavern”, “Castle”, “Desert”, “Tundra”, “Volcano”, and “Dragon Lair”. Dragons are supreme amongst encounters so you have to have their music on their own level.Show lessThe Lost Realist
Developer Response
Howdy, thanks so much for your feedback! It's great to hear that the music we've scored is meeting your expectations - we believe that's paramount to what we do. We've thought a lot about our pricing model, and one of the reasons behind the price of $7/mo is so that we won't have to raise it any time soon while we continue to compose and create more value for our subscribers! We believe in reinvesting those subscriptions so that we can keep expanding our library of free content as well. If you have any questions or further feedback, please let us know at support@pocketbard.app -NickGreat Atmosphere - Steep Price
I love this app. I’m currently using it for a D&D campaign and I love the ability to change the ambience dynamically and with relative ease. I would love to see more one-shots and variants of music/ambience for specific settings. For example, an A, B, and C option for the forest, or perhaps variants based on the season or time of day.
My only criticism and reason for 4 stars instead of 5 is using the subscription model for premium. It’s pretty steep and I personally don’t care for them. There are so many platforms using subscriptions it gets overwhelming tracking them all. If premium were a flat, one-time price I would gladly pay it and bump this rating up to 5 stars.Show lessEndlessCascade
