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Scaler 3 Reviews: Is It Legit?

Scaler 3
Scaler 3
Scaler Music
📊 Productivity
🎵 Music

Customer Experience

Positive experience50.0% of reviews
Neutral25.0% of reviews
Negative experience25.0% of reviews

~ Based on 20 written reviews from the US App Store.

Is Scaler 3 Safe?

Scaler 3 appears safe based on user ratings. AppsHunter Safety Score for Scaler 3 is 91/100.

This assessment is based on 162 user ratings, with an App Store average of 4.7/5.

Safety Analysis

92.0% of ratings point to a safe experience
4.3% of ratings suggest some concerns
3.7% of ratings point to a risky experience

~ Based on 162 App Store ratings for Scaler 3.

Is Scaler 3 Legit?

Scaler 3 appears legitimate, with a few gaps. AppsHunter Legitimacy Score for Scaler 3 is 75/100.

Based on 75 of 100 points across 7 verification signals from App Store and developer data.

Top reviews

Most RecentHighest RatedLowest Rated

Great idea, but almost unusable execution

This has to be one of the most poorly thought out UXs I've ever used. The app starts with (and I'm not kidding) a 40-page slideshow with a seemingly random collection of little facts about the UI, with no clear "what you're supposed to do" ever presented

So you finish the 40-page slideshow but you still don't know how to actually use the app. Your choice is to go watch an hour of video or figure it out yourself

I chose to figure it out myself, which was a huge mistake, not least because the iPad port of this app seems like an afterthought. There's all sorts of hidden functionality that you just have to know how to do. There are weird oversights like the inability to scroll lists of chords horizontally

Take even the most basic of tasks. I've been at it for an hour and I still can't figure out how to delete a chord from my working chord progression down on the bottom.

Or Say you have a couple of chords that you like and you want a freeform exploration of what should come next. I guess you open up the creative tab. I don't know if that's right, but if you do that, there's no clear connection between the chord visual aids and the actual working set of chords you've selected. Rather than just clicking through the recommended next chords using the little chord maps, you have to go and find the scale of your chord and hope that it's in the visual cloud.

I know these examples are hard to follow, maybe it just takes more than an hour to figure out how to use this thing,

but that should give you an indication of just how hard this app is to use

Would highly recommend some investment in UX thinking here. The app looks pretty,But this app needs someone on the team thinking about the user journey, user goals, intuitiveness, etc.

If I wanted an inscrutable UI that I had to fight, I'd go use Rapid Composer.
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potahtochippotahtochip

Response from developer

Hi, thanks for the comment. Overall it seems you're struggling with Scaler 3 itself. Not going to lie to you, this is not a program you will learn in one hour. The 40 page slideshow is really helpful for coming back to and learning its power features but it's only the first few pages that cover gestures. Scaler 3 will love you back if you learn to love Scaler 3. It's a very powerful program that is used by many of the world's top producers and composers. We try our best to help people learn and use Scaler 3 to its max potential. Really hope you get to love it.

Interface kind of sucks

I was hoping for something much better not the same bloated UI from the Mac app.
AlittleHAlittleH

Good but not good

Scaler 3 appears to be a powerful and potentially excellent music-production app, but its interface on iPad is far too small to use comfortably. The text and controls are extremely difficult to see, even with glasses, and the problem becomes worse when Scaler is opened as a plug-in inside Logic Pro. There is no effective GUI-scaling option to correct it.

An app can have wonderful features, but those features are of little value when the interface is nearly unintelligible and the touch targets are so small. Please add adjustable interface scaling, larger text, and a properly touch-optimized iPad layout. I would love to use Scaler 3 regularly, but in its present form, the eye strain makes that unrealistic.
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Real MoorpheusReal Moorpheus

Freezes on iPad Pro

Great concept, but clearly this has along way to go in terms of stability. In the first hour, I experienced tons of lag and freezing on my iPad Pro with no other apps running. Also, the tutorial is lengthy and not very helpful or hands-on for beginners. It was REALLY fun to use for about 20 minutes… But now I feel I wasted $20 on something that’s likely not gonna get used. :(
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Motor DMotor D

Response from developer

Hi Motor D. We haven't had any issues running Scaler 3 iOS on iPadPro. Have you quit out of all apps and restarted your iPad? We're confident this will resolve any issues you are having. If issues persist please do report them to us by creating a support ticket on our site or report them over at forum.scalermusic.com Hope that helps.

The gold standard for composition on iPadOS

Big big thank you to the Scaler Music developers for not only bringing Scaler 3 to iPadOS, but continuing to issue these updates and maintaining parity with the desktop version. I’ve been a Scaler user on MacOS for many years now and having a fully functional mobile version on my iPad is so valuable. Being able to develop new ideas literally anywhere, anytime, and bring them back onto my Mac whenever is a workflow paradise. If you’re into making music, give Scaler 3 a very serious look - it works so well for all styles/genres and will help you learn more and more about music theory while you’re using it. Worth every single penny and more.
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WarpFactorJeffWarpFactorJeff

Response from developer

A big thank you to you for your support. We care deeply about Scaler 3 and this type of feedback really helps drive us. Thanks.

Awesome Great Tool*

First I want to say, the engine, the performance and depth is here. The tool is wonderful and is pretty much the start of most of my workflows. Now the asterisk.

*This port is VERY touchscreen unfriendly. I highly recommend a working mouse to get the most out of it in current state.

That out of the way, I still recommend this tool if you can get past the annoyance of not working purely from the touch screen.
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DiresageDiresage

Works great: updated review

I had some issues with what I thought was scaler 3 not recording midi performances correctly but it turned out to be a Massive X patch. So now I update my review to 5 stars. I’m happy to report that it is working correctly for my needs now. I’d love to see more progression libraries added, but only because I am horrible with theory and mixing and matching chords is not something I have a lot of time for right now, unfortunately. I do love the ability to plug Scaler 3 iPad into macos and use it to record midi into Bitwig. It keeps me from having to drag around midi or manage routing Scaler 3 vst as a separate track piping midi into an instrument. I just plug and go. Bitwig makes this easy.
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HumbleMemeFarmerHumbleMemeFarmer

Response from developer

Thanks for updating your review and appreciate the feedback! There's lifetime of potential chord progressions in Scaler 3 and the Explore Page is a great next step as it colour codes the next 'most compatible' chord. So you can be 'safe' (darker blues) or 'experimental' (lighter greys) whilst being guided. Check out some videos on the 'Explore Page' on the Scaler Music YouTube channel!

Appears to be promising.

Appears promising, but when I close the ipad with my case and later open the app there is no sound. i have to close the app to get sound.
NegroHalconNegroHalcon

Response from developer

Hi, please download the latest version 3.2.4 from the App Store and restart your iPad. We found a few edge case background audio issues using third party peripherals which we have now resolved. Hope that helps!

Love this exists

Great tool.
dh4675dh4675

Scaler 3

LEARN Scaler 3 Change your musical life.
tjohn01tjohn01

Love, but fussy

Was getting into building a progression, then gave up due to the fussy touch interface. Got to point where I couldn’t even restore the zoom on a progression, or so it seemed. Tap and hit areas need refinement or just simplified to remove ambiguity. Generally love scaler, but it’s really easy to get mentally distracted since you accidentally tapped something. Pencil recommended.
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Grr415Grr415

Response from developer

Hi, try double tapping the scroll bar to restore the default zoom. We have gestures video releasing soon on YouTube but it's worth watching the tutorial or running through the first 7 slides of the onboard tutorial. Hope that helps and hope you enjoy your Scaler 3 journey!

Great , but few problems on navigation

Great and usefull app. However still needs improvment on navigation (drag and drop, horizontal/vertical scroll, push back/forward midi tracks, etc) and screens, especially on ipad mini....
Latorre.musicLatorre.music

Great beginnings

So far so good. Would absolutely love to see support for right clicking when using a mouse. I use the iPad Magic Keyboard case with trackpad and sometimes a wireless mouse. Needing to put my finger back on the screen to see ‘right click’ context menus breaks my workflow. Some love for the Apple Pencil would also be great. Since this is iPad exclusive I think it would be worth the dev time. Logic for iPad has some great Apple Pencil features I would love to see here, like hovering showing more context. This is really in between 3 and 4 stars for me — and seeing mouse/pencil support would easily bring this to a 4 or a 5
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C&e&eC&e&e

Great bunch over there

These guys really know how to make a user friendly experience to keep the creativity flowing.
Joey StadikJoey Stadik

Make the FONTS BIGGER BOLDER & BRIGHTER

App would be much more fun to use, except it’s an eyestrain.
optahealthoptahealth

iPad interface needs work

Chord delete takes multiple repeats to actually delete the chord
OnetruemikeOnetruemike

Response from developer

Hi Onetruemike. We noticed that users keeping their finger on the contextual menu was not behaving as expected. That has been improved and 3.2.2 now available on the AppStore. Hope that improves the experience for you. Thank you.

featured but flawed

Scaler 3 is fully featured but lacks a touch friendly interface. Even with an apple pencil I find myself having to press a button multiple times before it registers. The UI is far too small for iPads.
TheJoYoTheJoYo

Response from developer

Hi TheJoYo. We noticed that users keeping their finger/pencil on the contextual menus was not behaving as expected. That has been improved and 3.2.2 now available on the AppStore. Hope that improves the experience for you. Thank you.

An amazing app at an affordable price

If I were stuck on a desert island with only one music app, it’d be Scaler 3 from Scaler Music.
Packed with features yet impressively optimized as an iPad app, it surprises and delights. From beginners to pros, it’s the ultimate tool for sketching ideas and scores.
It effortlessly handles simple to complex chords, vast instrument libraries, key changes, articulations, and more—plus seamless MIDI integration.
This app could easily power an entire music theory course.
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_IYQ2__IYQ2_

Fantastic musical exploration and play tool

Had the desktop version for months and been playing with the beta on iPad, and still feel like I’ve barely scratched the surface. What a behemoth (and even at full price of $20 on iPad, a steal in my view).
MblejerMblejer

Excellent

Have Scaler 2 and love it.
Scaler 3 is even better!
BRAVO1
👍!WOW!👍!WOW!