Pricing!
Nice concept
Response from developer
Thanks for the kind words about the design and the sounds. Lifetime is not the only way to get Pro, and it is not needed to use the app fully. There is a monthly plan and a yearly plan, both priced to be accessible, and most people start with the monthly one. Lifetime is a separate option for anyone who does not want a recurring payment at all: bought once, never renews, yours permanently. That is why it sits above a year of the subscription rather than below it.
Impressive app!
One difficulty with using sequencers is that you need a good balance between usability and depth. Too technical and deep and you get stuck in programming stages and experiments. Too superficial and you end up with the same bloopy sequences or beats again and again.
Here you can quickly find a key, lay down one or two types of sequences (e.g. acid line, general bass, or stabs, basic euclidian) and then randomize, create quick variants, and apply various mutations. Even better: you can work out sequences on phone (and now ipad) with stock sounds to use later once you’re back working with hardware. All of these features push you towards making music. For example, you can’t edit the stock sounds and the core sequence types are deliberately constrained (e.g. a single euclidian sequencer has three pulses at a time).
I’ve used the app quite a bit in the last week and have found a couple minor bugs, usability issues, and had a couple of ideas for development.
Possible bugs: Sometimes stabs pitch up and down an octave when you enter them or randomize. It’s not always clear why. The visual representation has also been inconsistent on them sometimes. I also love the new iPad release generally (was using phone version on iPad) but I’ve noticed if I add variations (which introduces a new bottom row to the rack card) the display cuts the very top and bottom off of the display. Still perfectly usable, but might benefit from being longer.
Usability: I like the ‘halo’ gradient effect when you touch the screen and make selections. It works well on the dark versions of the app. However, on the light versions, the halo obscures the display enough that it can be difficult to navigate some options.
Ideas for development: I much appreciate the minimal approach and like the choice to avoid too much customization. Suggestion 1: I would love to be able to offset the start of a sample (e.g. to start a bar or two into the sequence). Suggestion 2: in the chord sequence, I would appreciate the option to select ‘silence’ or ‘no chord’ for a section of the sequence. This would allow for sequences with breaks.
Thanks for your work on this, keep it up!
Response from developer
Thank you so much for the high praise and for such valuable and helpful feedback. The ideas you suggested will definitely be considered for future improvements to Sequentia. And thank you as well for reporting the bugs - they will also be carefully investigated in detail.
Very intriguing app, but…
BTW, this does really appear to be a well thought out, polished app that’s worth investing time into learning but the pricing model as it is now is probably gonna be too much of a barrier. I’d love to be able to outright own the app, but for now I’ll probably continue testing the free portions as long as possible, to get a better feel for what’s on offer here. Kudos to the dev if there’s no time limit or major restrictions for checking it out.
My advice to the dev would be: you have a legitimately interesting app here and to consider a rent-to-own option and/or dropping the full price to $30 max. Again, I sympathize with the plight of a solo developer, but some of the best iOS music making apps are a fraction of the cost of this one. I mean access to Apple Logic on iPad costs me $4.99/month.
Either way I’m really interested in testing out this app and will support it the best I can if the functionality matches the presentation, but the pricing does seem a little out of sync with market.
Response from developer
Thanks for the feedback. Lifetime is not the only way to get Pro. There is a monthly plan and a yearly plan, both priced to be accessible, so everyone can pick what fits their budget. You do not need the Lifetime version to use the app fully. The monthly Pro subscription unlocks everything.
so much fun
The UI is fun both on iphone and tablet.
Amazed by every single update!
Response from developer
Thank you for the great review! 🖤 We definitely plan to add a "run in background" option in the future. Due to technical constraints, an app must generate its own audio to remain active in the background. To make this possible, we are working on a major update that will introduce a full internal audio engine. This will achieve two major goals: it will officially enable background operation, and it will allow musicians to create, hear, and save ideas entirely standalone, without needing to connect external MIDI devices. Stay tuned!
