# Symphony – Music Notation — user reviews

> 204 indexed App Store user reviews of Symphony by Xenon Labs, LLC, rated 4.40/5 from 515 ratings.

- Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/symphony-music-notation/id951251308/reviews
- App overview in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/symphony-music-notation/id951251308.md
- Rating breakdown: 5★ 323 · 4★ 133 · 3★ 37 · 2★ 6 · 1★ 16

## What do users think of Symphony?

Overall sentiment: positive

**Pros**

- 👍 Easy to use
- 🚀 Intuitive interface
- 💡 Versatile features
- 🎨 Great for composing on the go
- 🎶 Helpful for learning music
- 💻 Seamless integration with other apps

**Cons**

- 🐛 Frequent crashes and bugs
- 🔀 Orientation and layout issues
- 🔍 Difficult to navigate and find features
- 🎹 Limited MIDI and playback capabilities
- 📄 Formatting and printing problems

**Commonly reported bugs**

- Notes stacking up when playing the piano
- Disappearing score symbols after saving and exiting
- Clef changes not showing up in the app
- Playback issues with continuing mid-bar
- Lag when re-entering the app

**Most requested features**

- Add support for repeat marks and other advanced notation
- Improve voice management and editing tools
- Implement better file organization and folder support
- Enhance MIDI and audio export options
- Provide more customization and personalization settings

## Newest reviews (16 of 204)

### 2/5 — 구매 후 업데이트가 한번도 안 올라 오네요

*2023-09-17*

프로로 구매했는데 그 뒤부터 한번도 업데이트가 없었어요. 제대로 사용하도록 업데이트해 주세요.

### 4/5 — Symphony

*2023-04-05, version 5.3.7*

I find this a very useable, versatile app. Very pleased

### 5/5 — Useful

*2023-03-20, version 5.3.7*

Good app. Useful on the go

### 5/5 — Return User

*2023-02-13, version 5.3.7*

I’ve used Symphony in the past. Amazing they unlocked all the features even if you originally downloaded the free version. Looking forward to a reintroduction of this superior music software.

### 5/5 — Ecent

*2023-01-12, version 5.3.7*

Solid for its price

### 5/5 — Great App!!

*2022-12-02, version 5.3.7*

I use this for mostly sketching on the run.  Awesome app👍

### 4/5 — Easy

*2022-09-25, version 5.3.7*

Facilita mucho
Gracias

### 5/5 — Great App

*2022-07-17, version 5.3.7*

Great App for making your own backing tracks for vocal performances!

### 5/5 — 提示需要评论解锁大家都觉得继续继续继续继续吃醋醋醋

*2022-06-26*

继续继续继续继续继续复习的经济学家嘟嘟的经济学家心如刀绞出血继续继续复习就都觉得继续

### 4/5 — BUENA APP

*2022-05-09, version 5.3.7*

La tengo desde hace tiempo y funciona muy bien.

### 4/5 — Very cool program

*2022-04-20, version 5.3.7*

As much as I love music, I don’t know jack about the mechanics of creating it.

The fact that little dots on paper can translate into audio pleasure is like sorcery to me. I love using this program to delve into the magic of music.

### 5/5 — Works great!

*2022-03-21, version 5.3.7*

I have really enjoyed using Symphony for writing simple arrangements for my kindergarten and preschool class performances. I like that I can print music and also make mp3s for the kiddos to practice to. Yay!

### 4/5 — MIDI BLE OUT

*2022-03-17, version 5.3.7*

I very miss MIDI OUT function for iPhone’s app.

### 5/5 — Fantastic

*2022-02-02, version 5.3.7*

This is a pretty cool app with some great features. Thanks very much

### 5/5 — great tool

*2022-01-17, version 5.3.7*

awesome scoringtool

### 5/5 — Treasure for visually impaired users

*2022-01-16, version 5.3.7*

I'm a blind professional musician and could not do without this app. It is refreshing to see care in including visually impaired people in design and even in documentation. Great potential and value.

## Most critical reviews (10 lowest-rated)

### 1/5 — Buy a coffee instead

*2025-02-05, version 5.3.7*

This is hands down the dumbest app I’ve ever purchased. I may never buy another app knowing this kind of garbage is for sale in the App Store.

### 1/5 — very hard to use

*2024-02-11, version 5.3.7*

the idea of the app is good but the design is very bad and unprofessional. it’s even faster to write on paper than using this. for example, once you click a note or something else by accident(which happens a lot bc the notes are close to each other), there will be a pop-up that lets you do “operations” on that note(like making a sharp) , and the point is u need to click on somewhere else at least SIX times to make every pop-up disappear so you can continue. it’s obviously due to bug and that wastes 90% of the time. why can’t you just add a sharp note and a flat note?

### 1/5 — Anti-intuitive

*2023-10-09, version 5.3.7*

Like the hasty first draft of a Where's Waldo paintball collage.  No instruction page or key to simply getting the desired notation symbol to appear where you're touching your finger on the staff.  Arbitrary and convoluted.
Don't even think about it.  
Which was the programmers' work ethic.

### 1/5 — Says it’s the Full Edition (I paid for it), but I wonder

*2022-09-28, version 5.3.7*

I cannot display the full score except when I save to pdf as it’s horizontal scroll only. Can’t see how to get my money back.

### 1/5 — I believe this is the worst app ever cost not much

*2021-03-04, version 5.3.7*

It cost not much but the most complicated crap app ever
Don’t even have a midi input by good old usb. Only blue tooth which we all know it’s not the best

I wouldn’t recommend it.

### 1/5 — Symphony

*2020-03-23, version 5.3.2*

I just purchased this app and right away a bug showed up:
When playing the piano on the app to enter notes, it would stack up notes on top of each other. I restarted the up and selected a new project but still had the same issue. I don’t want to get into further details about this app is missing, but I could name a few important ones for orchestra writing.  I just wasted $7 dollars and glad that I did not buy the symphony pro, which the developer has not announced the difference between them.

### 1/5 — Like writing a song with invisible ink.

*2019-12-01, version 5.3.2*

I spent six months studying fugue composition. Quite a lot of writing if done by hand. Paid more than I usually do for an app to have the basic function of knowing that what I wrote would be there after I wrote it. In the first 48 hours this app crashed 18 times while I was composing for string quartet. Restart and bars are missing. Completely unacceptable. Full stop. If you can’t improve on the pencil, you should not be building apps. Higher functions like individual note selection are absurd... select a note, it creates a new one a flat 2nd above or below. Delete, try to select again, same. Repeat until you forget the melody you were trying to capture. But the lamest thing about this entire app is, it doesn’t have the simple function that musecore does, select a note or group of notes and add any harmonic interval. So add the same melodic intervals to bar os bars in a fifth, seventh, etc... when scoring, time is critical. This app would be disastrous in a real project environment with a deadline. Stop beta-testing on the public after launch. Get your ____ together before you take musicians money. Jerks.

### 1/5 — 환불 요청 합니다

*2019-11-26*

사용법이 어렵네요 부탁드립니다

### 1/5 — Not working

*2019-11-03, version 5.3.2*

I bought this and it just won’t open?

### 1/5 — worst App

*2019-09-24, version 5.2.11*

Dont Buy this
Its not a good application

## Most praised reviews (10 highest-rated)

### 5/5 — 超好的打谱软件

*2026-07-05*

太好用的打谱软件了

### 5/5 — Good app

*2025-10-18, version 5.3.7*

Good app

### 5/5 — The best notation App

*2025-10-15, version 5.3.7*

Love it.  A top App for those who want to create their own notations.

### 5/5 — It works!!

*2025-03-12, version 5.3.7*

I needed something like this for several varied situations and so happy to have it. Thanks.

### 5/5 — No clutter ..

*2024-06-28, version 5.3.7*

Masterly and simple to use ..

### 5/5 — Good

*2024-04-20*

Thanks.

### 5/5 — 很好

*2024-04-15*

不错

### 5/5 — New user

*2024-02-10, version 5.3.7*

This looks the part and could be very useful.

### 5/5 — 아이패드에서 사용해야 하는데 잘못 구매 했습니다ㅜㅜ

*2023-11-07*

프로도 구매했는데 이거는 환불 부탁드립니다..!

### 5/5 — An inspiration pad in my pocket

*2023-06-11*

For years  (decades) I have been sketching music ideas on little inspiration pads: staff paper with a few lines using pen or pencil. Of course, as easy as that was it meant that it all had to be redone later - transcribed into something and I needed to have a pad with me. More than once I had to create staves using the same a ruler on whatever paper was available. 

Now I can sketch tunes anywhere on my iPhone or iPad then export as a music XML file and import it into Finale  on my notebook. Since the phone is always with me, so is my inspiration pad!

Although I don’t absolutely need it, it is nice to be able to playback the melodies, especially when I’m working with lyrics. It’s an added touch. 

The app is very easy to learn, intuitive, and I picked it up in about an hour.  Plenty of onscreen props and tips/hints to get started in a hurry.  Its autosave feature is a blessing!

I’m using the full version 5 because it’s really a sketchpad for me. It is super cool and has already proven to be very useful as I am in the middle of writing a bunch of songs for a musical.  

Thank you very much.

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*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 2026-08-31.*