# SpaceCraft Granular Synth — user reviews > 131 indexed App Store user reviews of SpaceCraft Granular Synth by Mark Watt, rated 4.70/5 from 151 ratings. - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/spacecraft-granular-synth/id1391256308/reviews - App overview in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/spacecraft-granular-synth/id1391256308.md - Rating breakdown: 5★ 129 · 4★ 7 · 3★ 8 · 2★ 2 · 1★ 5 ## What do users think of SpaceCraft Granular Synth? Overall sentiment: positive **Pros** - 🎨 Intuitive and beautiful user interface design - 🎵 Exceptional sound quality and musical output - 👐 Excellent XY pad control system for expressive playing - 💰 Extremely affordable price point - 🎹 Easy to use for beginners and professionals alike - 🔧 Versatile granular synthesis capabilities - 📱 Works across multiple devices (iPhone, iPad, Mac) - 🎯 Instantly rewarding results with minimal learning curve - 🎼 Great for ambient and experimental music creation - 👨‍💻 Responsive and engaged developer with regular updates - 🎛️ Well-designed melodic sequencer implementation - ✨ Capable of creating unique, otherworldly soundscapes - 🎧 Excellent reverb and effects processing - 📂 Good file import/export functionality via iCloud and Files app **Cons** - 🔇 No background audio playback capability - 💾 Cannot save presets or project states - 🎚️ Limited LFO options and control range - 🎛️ Small control windows make precise adjustments difficult - ⚙️ Limited reverb and filter customization options - 📊 Lacks envelope controls and advanced modulation - 🔌 Odd IAA/AU implementation (only works as effect, not instrument) - 🐛 Occasional crashes and audio glitches on older devices - 🔗 Inconsistent AudioShare integration across iOS versions - ⏱️ Latency issues in live sampling mode - 🎯 Cannot load multiple instances simultaneously - 📱 Performance issues on older iPad models **Commonly reported bugs** - App crashes when loading files from nested Dropbox folders - Audio glitches and heavy crackling on older iPad models - Unexpected background audio drone when app not in use - AudioShare compatibility issues across different iOS versions - App resets to factory settings on reopening - Live sampling mode latency and unintuitive behavior - Red playhead sometimes extends beyond range selector - Inconsistent audio input behavior in live sampling - No audio output in DAW hosts on some iOS versions - Crashes when multiple instances launched simultaneously - File import failures on iOS 9 and 10 - Dropbox access limited to iCloud only on some devices - Recording duration limitations on iPhone (1 minute vs advertised 20 minutes) **Most requested features** - Background audio playback support - Preset and project state saving functionality - Faster and more flexible LFO with additional waveforms - Wider grain selection windows for precise control - Built-in delay effect - Amplitude envelopes for each oscillator - Panning and multi-channel routing options - Sample name display in UI - Ableton Link support - Rest notes in sequencer via double-tap - Ability to feed synth output to another synth in real-time - More reverb length options - CC automation recording in DAWs - Bluetooth MIDI support - Custom color scheme options - Broader grain readout curve options - Wider parameter control ranges - True IAA instrument support (not just effect) - Streamlined file import and management - More included presets ## Newest reviews (18 of 131) ### 4/5 — Cool app *2023-01-10* Love the sound and the look but weird glitch where I hadn’t opened the app in about a week and all of a sudden it started droning while my iPad was off and locked at 3 in the morning, gave me a bit of a spook ### 5/5 — Navigate a universe of sound *2022-02-10* A brilliantly fun way to experiment with sound. Looking forward to what’s next. ### 5/5 — Maravilla granular *2022-02-01, version 1.2.2* Su uso es muy sencillo e intuitivo, hecha para perderse horas y horas experimentando con unos resultados espectaculares (y también superiores a los de otras aplicaciones de más prestigio con más presencia en la AppStore). Sin duda, para mí, una herramienta compositiva y creativa de las más sorprendentes que he podido encontrar hasta hoy. Mi enhorabuena al desarrollador de esta maravilla. ### 4/5 — Nice app *2022-01-29, version 1.2.2* iPad mini 1 couldn’t run it properly, sound glitches heavily. Although it runs OS 9.3. On iPhone X it’s stable and fully functioning. I’d prefer more options for reverb, especially I’d like to be able to make it much longer. Also it would be great if you include audio in the background option and screen lock behaviour control, like in SynthOne e.g. ### 5/5 — Klasse App! *2022-01-17* Das ist fast ein Tasty Chips GR-1! Macht auf jeden Fall viel Spaß damit zu spielen :) Und am kleinem iPhone Display lässt es sich trozdem bequem genug bedienen, was es nicht so oft bei solchen Apps gibt. Danke an den Entwickler! ### 5/5 — 5 star rating is not enough for this awesome app. *2022-01-13* I don’t know where to begin in describing this app, how about…those that can remember the early Moody Blues albums, where one song would merge with another song seamlessly using a beautiful carefully arranged orchestral link that would end up sounding like a space ship (I think…therefore I am), or perhaps maybe a thunderous Tangerine Dream track that morphs into a calm soothing sequenced melody, or perhaps the feeling of effortlessly floating around in space. On the other hand this app can also produce sounds of evil beings roaring at each other on a far distant planet and then seamlessly change into a calming flute playing next to a gentle stream by just moving the cross point on the wave file. This brilliant app is going to come in so very handy for creating beautiful soundscapes and intro/endings in just seconds. Without Spacecraft it would not be possible to produce this quality of sounds without having to spend hours or even days using all my other synth apps combined together. I imported one of my own Cubasis3 mixdown arrangements into Spacecraft, I then asked my wife to listen to it without telling her what was playing, she really liked the complex and weird soundscape that she could relax too, it also reminded her of something she had heard before 😏that definitely convinced me I made the right choice in buying this app. I take my hat off to the developers, I would give 10 stars if I could. ### 5/5 — Klangwelten *2021-10-29* Selten habe ich 10€ so gut investiert. Man kann sich fast verlieren in diesen Klangwelten. ### 4/5 — Love it, but *2021-10-07, version 1.2.2* Could you please integrate some compatibility with AudioShare? I have had a bit of a headache getting my sounds in and out of this program and that would help a lot. ### 4/5 — Nice implementation of granular synthesis *2021-09-01* This synth offers a very easy introduction to granular synthesis and is mighty fun to use. With Spacecraft, you can create very wacky soundscapes that are just as good for art installations as they are for electronic music - and you can do it very, very easily and intuitively. Unfortunately, there is still a lack of setting options and control ranges here and there. Personally, for example, one LFO is too little and the control range is too small. I would like to have it a bit faster. I am also missing envelopes and a useful filter section. However, some of the missing features can be realized via other plugins and signal routing. Oh well... Background playback is also missing for me... The price is very fair. Above all, it is not one of those subscription models that stink to high heaven. I would encourage the developer to continue his work on Spacecraft. It's a great musical tool. Thanks for that. If background playback and at least the filter section are added, I'll give it the full 5 stars ;-) ### 5/5 — The best *2021-07-18, version 1.2.2* By far the best granular synth on IOS. Good job Mark and thank you ### 5/5 — Invaluable app! *2021-06-01* This is an incredible granular tool that has essentially led to me rethinking my whole creative process - simply amazing! ### 4/5 — great app *2021-03-04, version 1.2.2* got it for my ipad; just amazing both for live performance and composition; room for improvement tho: need panning (route each sample to a different channel) and sample name should show in the UI 😀 ### 4/5 — Great textures *2021-01-04, version 1.2.1* Very cool. Fun to experiment with. Great responsive developer too. ### 5/5 — Superb *2021-01-03* This and Tardigrain are the best granular tools :) on my 2018 iPad Pro 11 the new filter algorithm works great. Thanks! ### 5/5 — Thanks for the awesome update for the new year *2021-01-01, version 1.2.0* Absolutely fabulous synth! Happy New Year! Can’t wait to see what’s next! ### 5/5 — Exceptionnel ! *2021-01-01, version 1.2.0* En un mot: bravo ! ### 5/5 — One of the best apps to create Ambient music *2021-01-01, version 1.2.0* I’m using this app since 2019 and everytime I find a new way to use it for making Ambient tunes. Simply amazing. A must have in your iPad. ### 5/5 — Simply Genius App *2021-01-01* This app is simple to use and is genius. Instant results but a lifetime of possibilities. If you are thinking about buying it then do it now. In 5 minutes your mind will be blown and your life will be richer for it. Absolute bargain. ## Most critical reviews (10 lowest-rated) ### 1/5 — Stand Alone Won’t Play In Background *2022-11-01, version 1.2.2* Still!! Deleted for the last time. There’s too many better granular apps! ### 1/5 — Was great until last update *2021-03-26, version 1.2.2* Now theres no audio in the daws. ### 1/5 — Unhappy *2019-11-29, version 1.1.1* Just bought it for garageband absolute junk does not work in garageband if your buying for garageband go flush your money down a toilet you’ll be happier will be getting my money back ### 1/5 — Does not support Audio Share *2019-11-01, version 1.1.1* The app does not support audio share. The description is very misleading. Will be requesting a refund. ### 2/5 — Mr *2019-01-20, version v1.0.9* Crackles all the time. Used to work fine on my iPad mini but since updating w app it no longer works. ### 3/5 — No IAA input?? *2019-12-10, version 1.1.1* Great app but I really don’t understand how it’s possible that the IAA input is not implemented. The manual states “ AUv3 Instruments do not have the capability to receive audio input.”, which is not true, I can name many AUv3 apps that can do it, Tardigrain is one of them. Yes, you can do it is SC when it’s in effects slot but the whole integration with Audiobus is rather clunky, this could be a problem with Audiobus actually, but that is the very reason the app should not rely on other apps and have the IAA input implemented in a standard way. The Live Sampling mode is either not well explained, not intuitive or acts inconsistently. When you press record the crosshairs automatically are placed to the most right of the Performance Panel. You’d expect that at this point you’d hear the incoming audio with the effect of granularization happening instantly, but that is not the case. The reason is the horizontal axis of the crosshairs is set at the minimum level (meaning it is muted), as soon as you touch the crosshairs to adjust it they begin to move and you are no longer at the right most position in the Performance Panel. I figured out that you can first set the position of the crosshairs, THEN hit record, but then still the sound is not heard UNTIL the growing red rectangle range seen in the range selector reaches the play head/crosshairs (represented by the red line in the range selector). This is NOT intuitive, furthermore, the time it will take for that expanding red rectangle range to reach the red mark depends on the length of the previous audio sample already loaded. For whatever reason, sometimes the red mark ends up being outside of the range (the red rectangle range stops expanding just short of reaching the red playhead mark). Even when it finally produces sound, there’s latency. This is bad for an effect application, especially in a live performance setting as you’d expect instant result of the app. This combined with the fact that it’s difficult to set exact points within the windows (all windows are too small for setting precise crosshairs positions) makes it difficult to have a true control of this app. The use of the app as an effect is poorly documented in the included manual. The manual also does not provide much needed suggestions about how the app should be used as an effect in the most commonly used hosts such as AUM and Audiobus. I also have to say that generally speaking, the granular synthesis is actually only a small part of this app. I think it’s more of a delay / looper app rather than a true granular synth - nothing wrong with that, it’s all about making music after all and it does not matter what the actual process behind it is. All I’m saying is that this app is not using its potential, the range of adjustments in the x/y grains window is not broad enough (and once again, the small windows limit ability to create subtle variations to the sound). Having said all this, I do think it’s a very cool app, somewhat contrary to what I said above, I think the layout of the interface is very well thought out, with a good ratio of functionality vs complexity. Excellent “keyboard” idea, it fits surprisingly many notes into a small window. Tiny but mighty envelopes. Good save/import/export implementation. The LFO is very intuitive and additionally represented in the Performance Panel. Last but not least, this app sounds great! There are no clicks, pops. The app is pretty transparent in the sense that it does not impose its own sound signature on everything it creates (something that is a bit of a problem with other granular synthesizers). *****A killer feature would be an ability to feed the output of one synth to the other (meaning, feeding synth B to synth A and vice versa in real time) and either use as a starting point or use the sound to modulate one of the parameters . **** I will thoroughly test the app and revise this review, but for now 3 starts is all I can afford, especially that the app is no longer $3... ### 3/5 — Скудный набор функционала *2019-08-29, version 1.1.1* Программа отваливается при использовании пресетов MIDI Play Me ### 3/5 — Sounds great! Can't save or import anything on iOS 9 or 10. *2018-10-15* I like this simpler-than-iDensity granular synth quite a lot. It is more immediately intuitive than Tardigrain without losing the wonderful unpredictability of granular synthesis in producing interesting, beautiful, arresting, terrifying sounds. The interface is one of the better distillations of granular parameters that I have seen so far on the App Store. Unfortunately, Spacecraft does not truly support Audioshare; it supports Apple's Files app, leaving users on iOS 9 and 10 with only iCloud for sound import/export. Nor does it store presets internally. Those have to go on iCloud as well. I don't use iCloud, and don't see much point in uploading my samples there to redownload them into a single app when Audioshare has everything already here on my iPad. So for now, Spacecraft is a demo on my iOS 9-running mini. A really nice demo--I hope to be able to make better use of it soon. ### 3/5 — ganz okay *2018-08-03, version 1.0.4* ... ### 3/5 — Amazing *2018-07-19, version 1.0.4* I’ve been doing sound design for years and this is one of the most impressive granulars. Sound quality and UI are solid. Buuuuut... would change the game with full Audiobus and DAW compatibility. Also think about recordable parameter automation. That would make it insane. Well done!! ## Most praised reviews (10 highest-rated) ### 5/5 — Absolutely amazing *2026-03-05, version 1.2.2* The best imho granular playground ### 5/5 — Continues to impress *2025-10-18* Spacecraft may have simple engineering on the back. It’s 2 granular elements. One is green and the other is purple. What continues to make it fascinating to play with is how so many parameters are mapped out as X/Y pads. This very intentional choice makes playing with your whole hand (or both hands on the iPad) possible where every finger tip is controlling 2 things at once. I can’t say that about any other granular synth. I’ve shared it with friends a lot over the years: they’re always first impressed with how wild it looks, and then taken back by how good it sounds. ### 5/5 — Excellent! *2025-05-14, version 1.2.2* Thank you for creating this wonderful Synth. It works on very old iOS devices to the M1 Mac Mini and beyond. I love the versatilty, sound, MIDI Control. ### 5/5 — Great *2025-01-06, version 1.2.2* Unique and beautiful design, and wonderful sound manipulation make this a perfect app. ### 5/5 — Still granular after all these tears *2024-01-20* If I am looking for something a little bit left field in a composition then Space craft is my go to app . It is easy to use, well supported and very very versatile. Thanks for the last five years of support Dev.👍🙏🙏🏿👏👏 ### 5/5 — My Go-To Granular *2023-11-13* After a rocky start years ago with the Wooji Juice abandonware granulars (great UIs, less great UX) I was spooked by ios granular synths for a while, thinking they’d all be hampered by limited real estate on an iPhone. Then came Spacecraft. It’s just fun to play with from the get-go. Plug in any old sound and take a bath in the shimmery glissandos, dance down dreamy arps… need a drone or ambience? No problem. Play it with a key controller and prepare for hyperspace rhapsodies! Few apps are totally perfect, and I think file import & management could probably be streamlined a bit; these are relatively minor though, especially using Audioshare in conjunction with the general workflow. But i use this app quite a lot for adding interest to tracks in the zone between a melodic element and a background fill kinda way. Also plays nice with downstream processing like gates and automated filter curves. 😘 Love it! ### 5/5 — ❤️ *2023-04-06* favourite ipad synth ### 5/5 — My favorite app and I have a ton of music apps *2023-01-06* Much thanks to the developer for such a unique and musical granular synth. I know there is a version 2 on the way and am looking forward to it. Is there any way we could see another new app based on granular synthesis in the future? Granular is my preferred method of creating and there are only a couple apps out there. But you are the master Mark and wonder what else you could create. Thanks and please consider ### 5/5 — Update iPhone 13 Pro *2022-12-22* Issue has been fixed concerning the AudioShare not being available for access through SpaceCraft, thanks! ### 5/5 — macht glücklich *2022-03-29* Habe erst an der Oberfläche gekratzt, aber bin schon völlig hin und weg. Habe die App mit Fugue Machine angesteuert. Keine weiteren Effekte, kein Chichi, und klingt trotzdem so musikalisch und schön, dass ich gar nicht mehr aufhören möchte. Die Bedienung über die XY-Pads ist einleuchtend, feinfühlig und lädt zum Erkunden des Klangmaterials ein. Kann stundenlang durch das Klanglabyrinth navigieren, es gibt immer neue Überraschungen. Faszinierend. --- *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 2026-09-05.*