# Dawnbeat - Sampler — user reviews > 123 indexed App Store user reviews of Dawnbeat by Luis Rivas, rated 4.20/5 from 110 ratings. - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/dawnbeat-sampler/id6443720584/reviews - App overview in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/dawnbeat-sampler/id6443720584.md - Rating breakdown: 5★ 68 · 4★ 15 · 3★ 16 · 2★ 3 · 1★ 8 ## Newest reviews (15 of 123) ### 3/5 — Good but crashes frequently *2026-07-20, version 1.3.10* Good sampler but does crash when loads more than a couple samples in a close time frame ### 4/5 — Made potential but broken *2026-05-31, version 1.3.10* App has the potential to be dope but it’s broken. Lose all my work every time I reopen app and sequencer doesn’t work. Better as an instrument than an actual standalone app. ### 3/5 — I think this will be better than Koala….someday. *2026-02-09* This will be great someday. I think the developer is really onto something special with this sampler. While it’s currently missing some features and has a few bugs to iron out, I already feel that the design of this sampler makes it more fun to use than others I’ve tried. I look forward to the day it’s feature complete and runs with some more stability. The are some bugs currently: - The app immediately crashes anytime I try to import a sample using Audioshare. It also has crashed while loading vst instruments. I hope it continues to get updates to iron out the bugs. I can also confirm what another review said about the app losing sound after the screen locks. - In VST mode, when I record an audio file I’m only able to preview it once (if at all) then it never plays again when I press the play button. I can still load it to a pad and it plays fine. But, I can’t preview it after the first time. - Where is the ‘Gallery?’ When I record an audio file and choose to save it to the ‘Gallery,’ where does it go? - While running in AUM, after a while anything recorded into Dawnbeat via a mix bus sound like it’s been slowed/pitched down. Then after I close and open it again it sounds normal. - While running standalone, I often will switch between Files and Dawnbeat. When I return to Dawnbeat no audio will play (background audio is set to always) Features I’d like to see added: - Choke groups! - A master stop button added to stop all one shots, loops and sequence at once - The ability to share audio files from other apps within i(pad)OS to Dawnbeat - 24 and 32 bit audio recording - Auto save and auto-resume upon open options Otherwise, I’m having fun with it! ### 3/5 — Sidechain Fix? *2026-01-28, version 1.3.09* Electronic music is my wheelhouse and my house is many years in the making… I love this app. Something about it has me hooked. That said I’m having an issue with the effects routing, specifically I cannot get the side-chain channel to work at all. It’s there but nothing happens when I tap it. I understand what a sidechain is and how to use it btw. Please fix this! Thank you! ### 3/5 — Meh *2025-12-01* Workflow,Features,possibilities,auv3 Support etc. is Crazy good. But its unstaple,you cant export stems,it crashes when i wanna assign a auv3 to a Bus. Volumes of Single one shots changes on its own. This app could have been the love of my life with all it has to offer but too many things in the way.sad .hope u fix it and we can marry ### 3/5 — Good app but…… *2025-11-23, version 1.3.09* This app doesn’t go to landscape mode on iPhone…..and NO option to use midi auv3 ### 3/5 — Glitchy *2025-11-22, version 1.3.09* This app has good features and works well with the sound but it’s super glitchy every time my screen turns off I have to frickin restart the app because it won’t play the song when I turn it back on and it crashes way too often ### 5/5 — Really good *2025-11-04* I was initially mislead by the not very catchy looks of the app, until I used it. It’s really powerful, with several unique features ### 5/5 — Very nearly perfect but with a few bugs which hopefully will be ironed out soon *2025-11-04* I love playing with Koala and other music apps, so jumped at the chance to try this, a cool looking and cheaper alternative. I soon realised it’s actually got features that Koala has not, and does things I’ve always wanted Koala to do, especially loading plugins to pads and stuff like that. It’s sidechain functionality is great too, and even works with the input channel muted, so I can record say a bass line that has been sidechained to a kick, without having to play the kick as well which Koala can’t do as far as I can tell. There’s lots of other little touches as well that really make this shine. Even the custom UI settings are great and allow you to modify all of the background colours and even fonts (although the default font is the best one, but I’m a design snob lol). Now for the negatives. I’ve seen a few bugs so far, particularly when using plugins. I know since iOS updated my phone has been lagging and slow so maybe it’s not all the apps fault, but it will occasionally crash or not record the audio with the render button when a plugin is involved, but luckily you can use the other live style record button to capture the whole set instead. It only lets you sidechain once per project I think too, whereas Koala allows multiple sidechain fx on different tracks at once. Sometimes it doesn’t remember the last project or update it right after rebooting or closing the app either, so regular saving is a must right now. Still these are all hopefully things that will be ironed out soon enough, and this developer is obviously a good one with a great eye for detail, so I’m not worried about the future of this great little app and I’m so glad I took the chance, and for such a low price tag it’s absolutely worth it and I’ve not used Koala since I’ve downloaded this app. ### 5/5 — Great app, beats Koala imo *2025-10-31* I wouldn’t leave a review if I didn’t love this app. There’s one thing that’d make this app incredible. A ‘humanise’ feature that chooses a random velocity between two values. So I can set my hihat velocity parameters. And every time I hit the pad it plays a random integer between these parameters to give a human feel even when playing on an iPad screen. Or set an order of velocity in a loop per pad. Or just hitting the bottom of the pad has lowest velocity and it’s a gradient to full velocity at the top of the pad. Not sure on the solution but something to stop every drum hit being the same velocity that makes a groove feel stiff. This app beats koala for me. So clean and fun ### 5/5 — Nice app overall. Has some bugs though. *2025-10-30* Really good work on the idea and layout of the app. I can see that it is inspired from the Koala sampler as well. Some bugs that I wish would be fixed: 1) The ableton link with koala app does not work. I would like to keeps my loops running on koala while I jam on the Dawnbeat app. However, the Dawnbeat app stops syncing the metronome while koala sampler is in the background. 2) Background audio: I would like to play music on Spotify in the background and jam on the dawn beat. It does not allow me to do so. Hope this is fixed as well. ### 5/5 — I think this will be much better than Koala. *2025-10-29, version 1.3.07* This will be great someday. I think the developer is really onto something special with this sampler. While it’s currently missing some features and has a few bugs to iron out, I already feel that the design of this sampler makes it more fun to use than others I’ve tried. I look forward to the day it’s feature complete and runs with some more stability. The are some bugs currently: - The app immediately crashes anytime I try to import a sample using Audioshare. It also has crashed while loading vst instruments. I hope it continues to get updates to iron out the bugs. I can also confirm what another review said about the app losing sound after the screen locks. - In VST mode, when I record an audio file I’m only able to preview it once (if at all) then it never plays again when I press the play button. I can still load it to a pad and it plays fine. But, I can’t preview it after the first time. - Where is the ‘Gallery?’ When I record an audio file and choose to save it to the ‘Gallery,’ where does it go? - While running in AUM, after a while anything recorded into Dawnbeat via a mix bus sound like it’s been slowed/pitched down. Then after I close and open it again it sounds normal. - While running standalone, I often will switch between Files and Dawnbeat. When I return to Dawnbeat no audio will play (background audio is set to always) Features I’d like to see added: - Choke groups! - A master stop button added to stop all one shots, loops and sequence at once - The ability to share audio files from other apps within i(pad)OS to Dawnbeat - 24 and 32 bit audio recording - Auto save and auto-resume upon open options Otherwise, I’m having fun with it! ### 3/5 — Room for improvement *2025-10-23* I am using Dawn Beat for a Short time now with my iPad and overall I like it. What would definitly have to change is that I can not select 2 Bars for a Sequence. The Browsing in my files folders could be easier (Currently I can not easily navigate back one step when I am in a folder). I like the layout and there are a lot of options to get creative. ### 5/5 — Thanks *2025-10-04, version 1.3.04* Thanks for adding the ping pong option. ### 4/5 — Outstanding! *2025-10-03, version 1.3.04* Beyond obvious comparisons with some other sampler apps, this one is a heavyweight all on its own terms. The ability to host AUv3’s internally makes it a perfect sound design/loop maker app, for starters (the big Render button isn’t buried in submenus here.) When you host a sampler inside a sampler wonderful, unusual things can happen… that’s all I’ll say without giving away too much. ;) Would love to see a bit more stability - occasionally sessions with two or more AUv3’s inside will cause it to crash. Big Up to the developer! ## Most critical reviews (10 lowest-rated) ### 1/5 — Fix auv3 *2026-03-23, version 1.3.10* Fix the auv3 interface on MacBook that isn’t working at all!!! No point of having that if u can’t use it on a Macbook ### 1/5 — Bugs *2025-11-07* I was very happy with this sampler app but since the last update, the Fade out Fade in option doesnt seem to change anything. It's just the waves changing but not the Sound. I am a bit disappointed, since I paid for the full version. ### 1/5 — Bug dernière version *2025-10-18* Depuis la dernière version du 17 octobre 2025, le Dawnbeat player ne fonctionne plus avec Audiobus 3 😢 ### 1/5 — Does not work at all *2025-10-15, version 1.3.04* Whenever I open the app, and try to record/add a sample, it crashes the app. It doesn’t even work on my iPad. All of my devices are up to date too. (iPhone 15, and iPad 10th generation) ### 1/5 — Könnte toll sein *2025-10-08* Dieses AU3v ist unter Loopy Pro 2.0 auf dem IPad 11 nicht ohne Fehlermeldung zu laden. Wenn der Platzhalter angelegt wurde und Loopy neu gestartet wird, lädt die App. Wenn im laufenden Betrieb die App dazu geladen werden soll, tut sie das nicht. Auch beim Versuch Presets zu laden, Absturz der App ### 1/5 — Stürzt leider ab *2025-09-11* Super Konzept, leider schon am ersten Abend 6 x abgestürzt. So nicht wirklich zu gebrauchen 😔 ### 1/5 — App started crashing the moment I paid for it lol *2025-06-30* I thought I found a reason not to buy an sp404 when I started playing with this but I guess that dream was short lived, I put 3 samples from my videos into this thing and 3 AUs and it starts crashing literally 2 seconds into the app being used, PLEASE do not buy this until the devs fix their stupid app. This was so promising but it’s immensely disappointing that the features you have to pay money for ( AUs ) are the reasons you’re never able to use the app again. ### 1/5 — Schade *2025-03-21* Leider nur noch Abstürze(iPad Mini 6 + auch beim iPad Pro M1) und somit nicht zuverlässig und für den Live Gebrauch unnütz. ### 1/5 — Crashes *2024-10-27, version 1.2.3* Every time I go to open my saved song it crashes (it also kept crashing while I was trying to program the sample pads…) ### 1/5 — Unstable *2024-05-16* A powerful sampler that’s extremely unstable. Often times audio will quit working mid project and the app will crash without warning. Projects will also corrupt and be unable to open with no chance of recovery whatsoever. Songs will sometimes bug due to the compression causing a constant nonstop buzzing noise. Sections of samples will go mute for no reason after saving with no way to undo. I’ve left so many beats using this app because of how unstable it is. ## Most praised reviews (10 highest-rated) ### 5/5 — Hardware rival *2026-06-22* Dawnbeat makes me wonder if there is a need for hardware samplers. The features of this sampler rival hardware versions especially considering portability. Dawnbeat is also easy on the eyes. The user interface and color customization make it easy to adjust for your visual needs. Give it a try. The ease of use is a win for me. ### 5/5 — Super amazing sampler *2026-05-30* Opened it back up today and looks like the bugs I reported are fixed plus there's newer stuff. Cheers! ORIGINAL REVIEW: I love this app. Hoping for an update that fixes ran into bugs. Present bugs: unplugging/plugging in headphones killing audio playback, locking the device and reopening into app killing audio playback. ### 5/5 — Wow - Thank you *2026-04-30* A FANTASTIC Gem ### 5/5 — Amazing sampler *2026-03-21, version 1.3.10* I love the design of this app. Please just add an arpeggiator. ### 5/5 — One of the best Sampler App and YES HAVE AUV3 *2026-03-20* From my view, better than all the other apps I tried in a affordable. Tested all the most known and Dawnbeat was the easier and best to record, edit, config effects, the sequence as fast as the ideas come, so it’s very friendly to our creativity. Have ALOT of functions and effects with a very versatile use! AND YES, HAVE AUV3 SUPORT! Working very well with LOGIC PRO for iPad. I would love if they made as AAX plug-in to use I’m my PRO TOOLS. hehe ### 5/5 — Glitchy but super amazing sampler *2026-01-04, version 1.3.09* I love this app. Hoping for an update that fixes ran into bugs. Present bugs: unplugging/plugging in headphones killing audio playback, locking the device and reopening into app killing audio playback. ### 5/5 — Bester Sampler? *2025-11-29* Dafür dass es kostenlos ist, ist es ein Hammer Sampler!!! Danke schon mal an den/die Entwickler für dieses Investment!!! Die Oberfläche ist übersichtlich und gut leserlich. Es passt alles echt soweit und ich bevorzuge Dawnbeat allen anderen gegenüber. Manchmal hängt sich der Sampler in Cubasis auf. Ich denke dass das sicherlich bald behoben ist. Was noch cool wäre: ein verbessertes hinüberziehen von eigenen Samples. Midi Aufnahme bei aktiven Sequenzer in Cubasis. Draw Funktion im Sequenzer sollte nicht nur zeichnen, sondern bei erneuten Klick auch löschen können. Das wäre noch sehr nützlich. DANKE ### 5/5 — Cool app *2025-11-27, version 1.3.09* I’m really enjoying this app ### 5/5 — Bit of a Learning curve but better, more complete and more complete than any other sampler on iOS. *2025-11-22* I’ve used multiple DAWS, apps, and software to make music for over 15 years. Dawnbeat takes it back to the days of the workhorse quirky programming that produced the SP-303 and other legendary machines. There’s a steep learning curve currently. But It is clearly a passion project to make the most complete sampler on the AppStore with plenty of flair. You get all the features you would expect from modern samplers such as auto chopping and a slew of onboard effects. But you also get Au app integration included. No 3rd party link needed. Also if you forgot to press record. It automatically can load the last bit of jamming you did. Definitely not as easy to use as Koala but my god is there more charm and functionality included. ### 5/5 — Richtig nices tool *2025-11-13* Macht Spaß / Sound gefällt mir besser als bei Koala / could yoy please ad Midi Support for Wave adjustierte? :-) --- *Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-08-18.*