# Hook - Live DJ and Mashup Workstation — user reviews > 36 indexed App Store user reviews of Hook by Retronyms Inc, rated 3.67/5 from 33 ratings. - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/hook-live-dj-and-mashup-workstation/id1067503078/reviews - App overview in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/hook-live-dj-and-mashup-workstation/id1067503078.md - Rating breakdown: 5★ 17 · 4★ 4 · 3★ 3 · 2★ 2 · 1★ 7 ## Newest reviews (12 of 36) ### 3/5 — Hard to recommend *2021-03-16* The main reason I bought this app was for the Spotify sampling feature, which works but not how it looks like it should. Playlists don’t seem to load, so the only music I can get is via directly searching for it, and then it only gives a limited section of the song to clip from. This would be fine if the app didn’t crash randomly while working on getting the perfect clip from a song. If i’d seen it hadn’t been updated in 4 years I would probably have given it a miss. ### 4/5 — Doesn’t work *2018-02-10, version 1.0.1* 02-10-2018 4:16am Thank you for your response. I will email for further support to see if we can correct the issue I am having. Everything is working except for being able to import my AudioPaste items. Cannot import samples. AudioCopy import for all of my Hook enhanced music samples fails to connect. Eagerly awaiting an update to this app. **Developer response:** Hey! Thanks for letting us know about this problem. Please try to uninstall and reinstall hook. That should do the trick. PLEASE remember to backup your projects before deleting the app. If you continue to experience this bug please contact us at support@retronyms.com -Niki (: ### 2/5 — Poor *2016-12-18* I had left a lengthy, informative review for this app but as the 'nickname' I selected was already taken, my review was wiped off at submission. Thanks apple. So to cut a long story short, this app is okay if you're happy to use just loops from sample packs. If like me you wanted it for the Spotify sample feature, be warned that you can only sample from a pre-determined portion of a track, and you have no control of this. Any digger knows that 99% of samples are found at the start of a track, but everything I've loaded into the app from Spotify has been a random portion of a song usually midway through, never from the start of a song. I get that Spotify won't want people to rip whole tracks, but anyone with even a simple setup can rip whole tracks a ton of other ways anyway. So, I'm not saying it's my god-given right to sample from Spotify, but if an app tells me I can do just that, I pay £10 only to find that I can't, I'm pretty annoyed. On the plus side, I've found this app less buggy than iMPC pro, but that's not saying much. I hate to leave negative reviews and rarely leave reviews at all, but when something is marketed as one thing and then is found to be another I feel compelled to speak out. If I'm wrong about this or its sorted in an update, I'll happily amend my review as this app is fun for triggering samples, but as the main feature I parted with my hard earned cash for is not what advertised, it'll be useless to me. ### 2/5 — Producer *2016-12-05* Like most of Retronyms' apps, Hook promises great things but falls short workflow basics. The most significant example of this would be the sound library. Importing samples via Audiocopy and iTunes file sharing will give you access to your own sounds, but they will be placed several folders deep in a senseless hierarchy that cannot be edited. Is it too much to ask to be able to organize your own sample library? To work around this, one can create a folder structure and put it all in place using an interface such as iFunbox. However even with a folder structure in place, the folders and samples will appear with no sensible means of filing so searching for a sound in a large library is a lot of work. alphabetical order would seems simple enough, but no...it's random. Also, after slicing and editing a sound, which has to be done for EVERY custom sample in order to play correctly as a time and pitch adjustable loop, the new corrected sound cannot overwrite the original...and usually doesn't work correctly the first couple tries for no apparent reason, resulting in a loop that doesn't retain the slice edits made. Once you get that right, you can browse the random list of samples and delete the original to save space, but it's tiring and clunky. And every time a deletion or save is performed, you are left in your current folder with access to no other files, so you have to browse OUT of the directory and back in to continue browsing... imagine that when using the default import folder structure that buried your samples deep within a redundant hierarchy 6 levels deep. You spend more time trying to retrieve a sound than making any music. And after all that time spent, when the app crashes for no reason, as it does frequently, you lose your setup and have to start again...so if you get anything going, SAVE OFTEN. Comparing this app to Ableton Live is a joke, like saying Draw Pad is the AutoCAD or photoshop of iOS. But it indicates that Retronyms is marketing this app to serious music producers....and again it has the potential to be a great tool for sketching and even performing your ideas in a familiar and powerful environment... but the workflow for anything serious is a disaster, making the app feel unfinished. I own every retronyms app and every upgrade feature available, and they all suffer from the same problems, including Tabletop iMPC pro and Audioshare.... GREAT ideas and potentially excellent pro tools with good features, but no thought put into the basics, and frequent crashes. FINISH this app, Retronyms crew... make it great like iMini, which does prove you can do it... i hesitate to purchase your WeJ device for this reason. Slick marketing and promise of great things for pro users... but what obvious workflow features have you dropped the ball on? ### 4/5 — All around fun *2016-10-19, version 1.0.1* Hook is a lot of fun. It takes some practice to be able to fully understand the possibilities. I can tell that Hook really needs to be operated with Wej. If I could afford one I'd get it in a heart beat and have mini performances at the club I work at in between shows. I would like to see more in depth tutorials from Retronyms developers ### 2/5 — Same Old Retronyms *2016-10-05* It's the old story, I'm afraid. So much potential, not realised. Buggy and lacking essential connectivity options. If it follows the usual Retronyms pattern, it will cease to be supported by Christmas. ### 3/5 — It's a start... *2016-08-17, version 1.0.1* I love how you can label your track columns, and how the cell matrix is much larger than that of your typical 4 x 4 MPC. Being able to see the file names while simultaneously seeing the loop progress bar for each cell is also nice. It's a lot of fun playing around with the demo projects, and using the gate and beat-repeat FX. There are a lot of great features for the price. However, poor latency is a big issue for me. Additionally, importing sounds is very cumbersome, especially since inter-app importability is not 100% functional. And lastly, the time-stretch feature seems flawed. I had difficulty syncing loops that were originally recorded with different tempos. ### 4/5 — Fantastic BUT...... *2016-07-29* I really awesome fun piece of software here. Has a few teething probs 1- sometimes the audio does not play on my IPad air and app crashes 2- Why on my IPhone 6 plus the app does not have the other demo sessions that i paid for on the IPad version 3- Not really worth $20 at the moment as it is please fix and complete all of these and it may be worth buying for others ### 3/5 — Not for serious musicians *2016-07-28, version 1.0.1* Although this app does have interAp audio it is not for serious iOS musicians. When I read "Clip launching capabilities like Ableton Live" & Ableton Link feature, I was under the impression that this app would be able to record perfect loops with InterAp audio but that is not the case. Recording audio from other apps is... to say the least unintuitive! The sampling capabilities are not up to par, you're not able to play the sample you have recorded or take only the pieces you want. It is very limiting. This app is basically the MPC up and it crashes just as much. if you're like me and you like to make music on iOS and are looking for a way to bring all the amazing apps that are out there together into one place this is not the app for you. I know this app is not supposed to be for serious musicians it is supposed to be something fun to play with I am just writing this review as a warning so that you don't feel like you wasted your money as well. Even as a fun toy this app is over complicated it is not user-friendly, but in time it has a lot of potential and can be a great app if it's geared more towards professional musicians. Bugs: iPad Pro version 9.3.3 Spotify prompts you with a login screen even though I'm already logged into the Spotify app Apple Music shows my playlist but they are all empty and I'm not able to choose any songs While trimming my sample the app kept crashing, resulting in loss data ### 4/5 — Important Music App for musicians *2016-07-27, version 1.0.1* Deserving of five stars if it had good documentation. It does not. It is an Ableton Live derivative that delivers. IMPC PRO users have an advantage as menu organization is similar. It works well especially as a performance app as opposed to a composition tool, but certainly usable if you are not a DJ. ### 4/5 — I can see this taking over If they keep improving. *2016-07-24* Part ableton, part gadget, part bloc waves and with the potential to better than all and give even the mighty Ableton a run for its money. The import / export routine is easy Organization of tracks is good, but arrangement, titles and the feeling of complete control of each part would be great. I'm early into this app, so will stop here. If you like Ableton, this may be for you If you like making jail on the iPad this is a must ### 3/5 — Seems fine *2016-07-23* I think it's off to a good start , crashes often but updates are already coming out . Could benefit with a bit of ui refinement too. Should be interesting to see this develop. ## Most critical reviews (10 lowest-rated) ### 1/5 — Rip Off If You Want To Use This On Ipad! AVOID! *2020-04-29* This is ONLY FOR USE WITH A SMARTPHONE. The developers have not made this clear! if you try and use this on an ipad the screen is TINY! not impressed! ### 1/5 — App hasn't worked for over a year now *2020-03-28, version 1.0.1* This was a truly fun app when it first came out. Played with it all the time. Spent ton of money on the additional sound packs. At an average price of $5-$8 per pack I now own close to 40 of them. However, the app has not been updated since July 2016! That would be fine if it still worked but it will not import ANY of those purchased packs anymore. App freezes upon import process then comes to a crashing halt. Only way to deal with the crash is to power down and restart the entire iPad. I have contacted tech support more than once. Sent them the various crash logs. Now they seem to think it's better just to ghost me without any further emails or tech support what-so-ever. Been a loyal customer to this company for many years and have bought LOTS of their products - software and hardware. Have spent hundreds of dollars with them. DO NOT PURCHASE THIS APP. YOU WILL REGRET IT AND WISH YOU HADN'T IN THE END! **Developer response:** Thank you for reaching out to us with your feedback. We appreciate the time and effort you and all of our Music Makers have invested in our apps and writing reviews. We are constantly working to fix bugs in Hook when they appear and your feedback is a vital part of this process. Please reach out to us at support@Retronyms.com with your experience so we can get the details of your situation and work on a fix. A few recent bugs with AudioCopy interfered with the downloading of sound packs and we will work with you to make sure you don’t miss out on some of the best sounds around. The world would be dull and boring without Music Makers like you. Cheers -Robert ### 1/5 — App crashes *2019-11-09, version 1.0.1* I’ve tried to add music from iTunes and the app crashes. I’ve tried both versions for the iPhone and the iPad only version with the same result. How can I get my money back. DO NOT BUY OR USE THIS APP. Highly disappointing. **Developer response:** Thank you for reaching out to us with your feedback. We appreciate the time and effort you and all of our Music Makers have invested in our apps and writing reviews. We are constantly working to fix bugs in Hook when they appear and your feedback is a vital part of this process. Please reach out to us at support@Retronyms.com with your experience so we can get the details of your situation and work on a fix. The world would be dull and boring without Music Makers like you. Cheers -Robert ### 1/5 — 🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨 *2018-11-30, version 1.0.1* I wish that the loops that come with it would've been like you did with iMPC Pro 2 that we can download the content from AudioCopy So that we can pick and choose what we want to import into the app I hate taking up space on my device with loops I don't plan on using I understand it's probably too late to implement that now but you can still give us the option of deleting the content that it comes with Please! **Developer response:** Thank you for reaching out to us with your feedback. We appreciate the time and effort you and all of our Music Makers have invested in our apps and writing reviews. We are constantly working to fix bugs in Hook when they appear and your feedback is a vital part of this process. Please reach out to us at support@Retronyms.com with your experience so we can get the details of your situation and work on a fix. The world would be dull and boring without Music Makers like you. Cheers -Robert ### 1/5 — Spotify import needs work *2018-01-15, version 1.0.1* Spotify import is the key feature that differentiates this app from Novation Launchpad. Yet it is disappointingly unusable. No waveform zoom and no beat grid make it impossible to grab loops with any precision. Sure you can sit there all day nudging blindly by ear, but why? Even a manual beat grid+pinch zoom would be a huge improvement... I will update this review if the import situation improves. ### 1/5 — Needs an update to address issues *2017-05-23, version 1.0.1* They have a good idea here. Unfortunately like their other apps it crashes a lot. It's unfortunate. It seems like alot of these app developers are just interested in the money grab and not making a stable tool that professional musicians can actually use. There's nothing fun about spending 15 minutes on a killer idea only to have the application crash on you. Start over and do it again crashes again. Start over do it again crashes again... ridiculous... ### 1/5 — Potential *2016-08-11* Retronyms need to do a lot more testing before they release apps. I purchased imp pro ( total crap !!!! )then got sucked into buying this, as I wanted a way of launching clips like Ableton. The user interface needs major work. No zoom in and out. Effects sound bad as does overall sound quality. Do not buy until you see a good review. ### 1/5 — retronyms whither goest thou *2016-08-07* I really wanted to like this app, it seemed to cover many of the virtues omitted by the others, but is a massive disappointment. It is buggy in the extreme and downright embarrassing if you are performing a live gig. Many of the sounds breakup and crackle (the more you use the worse it gets), also the keys tend to lock up and believe me that is the last thing you want to happen. I find that in its present state it is unusable. I am using this on an iPad three with 32 gigs of memory and the latest iOS update. I also use retronyms hardware which is first class, which leaves me to wonder, after all the hype, what they were thinking off when they issued this lamentable offering. ### 1/5 — Importing samples *2016-08-06, version 1.0.1* Importing your own samples is super slow. Regular audio paste doesn't work and audioshare which is developed by this company, also isn't useful. There are many bugs in the system when importing your own audio. Making a loop correctly play just depends on how lucky you are. The settings are not all the same yet the way it plays the audio isn't consistent. I have exported loops from the same app and receive different outcomes. Beat matching doesn't work. It changes the speed and tempo of the tracks I import every time. ### 1/5 — Do NOT buy this for its sampling features! *2016-07-28* Sampling is very limited. Read on for more of my nightmare. Running this on an iPad Air 2 should be a dream. Instead, it constantly crashes. While editing samples - crash. While recording audio through the iPad's mic - crash. While using the flux fader - crash. Stutter effects - crash. Why does Retronyms do this AND charge $17.99 for buggy code? On top of that, there is ZERO way to choose what section of a song I want to sample from Spotify or iTunes! I know the app is called "Hook", but did you guys actually think it was a good idea to make it so a user can LITERALLY only sample a song's hook??? Talk about digital kneecapping. The sampling functionality is too limited, which I can only guess is to force you to buy sample and loop packs from Retronyms. ## Most praised reviews (10 highest-rated) ### 5/5 — High Quality Application *2020-07-11, version 1.0.1* Update- Had a chance to rediscover Hook recently and it remains one of the best performance/Dj remix tools on iOS! Using the mixer to incorporate internal and IAA effects on specific loops and one shots makes Hook unique and a stand out as compared to other similar apps. Being able to tune and apply individual effects on each sample (in real time) while tracks are playing allows spontaneous creativity that is also quite special. I hope this app continues to be supported and the developers incorporate AUv3!- Hook is a high quality app right out of the gate. It is a terrific beat mashing machine ideal for creating original remixes. Sound quality of the app is first rate. In the right hands, Hook could easily help to generate some income. With the app running on two separate devices synchronized with Ableton Link you could have a formidable DJ rig going. Wish list- ability to sample live and load samples while music continues to play. This would make it a true all in one DJ application in my opinion. Hook works really well within the growing Retronym ecosystem! Combined with Tabletop or iMPC Pro, Hook becomes a serious creative reservoir of fresh new musical ideas. Spotify is a nice feature for the remix crowd. Inter app audio makes Hook useful for all genres of music. Kudos to the development team as it is evident a lot of thought went into this fun and useful app. **Developer response:** Thank you for reaching out to us with your feedback. We appreciate the time and effort you and all of our Music Makers have invested in our apps and writing reviews. We are constantly working to fix bugs in Hook when they appear and your feedback is a vital part of this process. Please reach out to us at support@Retronyms.com with your experience so we can get the details of your situation and work on a fix. The world would be dull and boring without Music Makers like you. Cheers -Robert ### 5/5 — Variation of Novation Launchpad *2018-02-18, version 1.0.1* Awesome app, I had written a review stating I was unable to connect to AudioCopy in the past but after messing around with app, I was finally able to establish a link, the key was to do audio past from library and not sounds section, which periodically I was able to do successfully. Very happy now.... **Developer response:** Thank you for reaching out to us with your feedback. We appreciate the time and effort you and all of our Music Makers have invested in our apps and writing reviews. We are constantly working to fix bugs in Hook when they appear and your feedback is a vital part of this process. Please reach out to us at support@Retronyms.com with your experience so we can get the details of your situation and work on a fix. The world would be dull and boring without Music Makers like you. Cheers -Robert ### 5/5 — Dominant & Fun *2017-04-15, version 1.0.1* Add IAA & Audiobus and you take the title now with Looperverse. Love it. ### 5/5 — Turns iPad into a live instrument *2016-12-29, version 1.0.1* I come from a live instrumentation background (played guitar mandolin and fiddle in bands) and while I've enjoyed making electronic music, I've avoided getting serious about it cuz I don't want to bring a laptop on stage and just press play and jump around. Hook allows me to actually "play" my songs live. I can mess up or end up in a hole, and I need that threat to feel satisfied when I pull it off! It can be buggy, crash or exhibit weird behavior - but it's still pretty new, they're working on new updates all the time, and no instrument is perfect - how many times have you broken a string on your guitar on the first song of the set? ### 5/5 — Yeah *2016-07-26, version 1.0.1* This is a full-featured mashup/dj daw. It’s best in class. I can grab a hook out of iTunes or Spotify in 10 seconds. The nonlinear transition /drop tool is killer. Very user friendly. ### 5/5 — Awesome! *2016-07-26, version 1.0.1* Hours of getting lost in music bliss await.... ### 5/5 — Great app *2016-07-23, version 1.0.1* Great start, couple things I would love to see. 1. Set key key metadata if none exists. I know the key of my loops since I made them, would love to be able to tell the app. Kind of a must even. 2. MIDI control over the cells, I know that was not in the original plan but I would like to use my launch pad with it. 3. Inter app audio recording in the same way that iMPC Pro does it. As in, being able to hear your track play while recording. I'm not sure why it's not like that. Anyway great work, keep it up! ### 5/5 — Incredible feature set *2016-07-23, version 1.0.1* Impressive app. My new favorite tool! Can’t wait for a Wej. ### 5/5 — Tried it! Loved it *2016-07-22, version 1.0* Just downloaded Hook and can't wait to use it. So far everything is working great. FUN! ### 5/5 — A Winner *2016-07-22, version 1.0* I just started using the app, so more to come. I love 2 things so far: 1. it separates the Classes of Loops from an AudioCopy Store album onto separate tracks using audiopaste , forming a two dimensional array of Tracks and Sounds; individual Loops on a track can be easily moved to different tracks; 2. Using the same 2D array, It allows for many cool transitions between an "alpha" deck collection of selected Loops to a "beta" deck collection of different selected Loops. And lots of carryover of features from impc pro, tho not all. --- *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 2026-06-10.*