# Synthecaster — user reviews > 40 indexed App Store user reviews of Synthecaster by Daniel Resnick, rated 4.90/5 from 14 ratings. - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/synthecaster/id705067086/reviews - App overview in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/synthecaster/id705067086.md - Rating breakdown: 5★ 13 · 4★ 1 · 3★ 0 · 2★ 0 · 1★ 0 ## Newest reviews (13 of 40) ### 5/5 — Cool app, I mean Instrument *2015-10-03* The design of this app is different but I get it. Non keyboard musicians or not very good with keyboards (like me) can have fun with this. I know I was when I was spending a lot of time just exploring the sounds or more like 'manipulating' the sounds I was hearing. This is a very expressive instrument (acoustic instrument like) and not just a touch this 'button/key' instrument or app. Very cool and I'm glad to try to learn how to play it. ### 5/5 — An incredibly simple, yet powerful MIDI controller and instrument! *2015-09-07* Built in synth engine that is more than adequate and fantastic presets to get one going in a jiff! A must have for any iOS musician or for someone that wants to have fun making music with their fingers. Noise, soundtracks, compositions, solos, bass lines... It does it all! ### 5/5 — Yes indeedy! *2015-08-25* This is a non-keyboard players dream! Very well thought out and put together simple yet full of control over synths.... Thanks! ### 5/5 — Yahoo! This is a great addition to iOS synths! *2015-06-18, version 3.1* This was a huge surprise! And a welcome one. It's clean and straight forward interface and synth engine is a joy to use plus the poly pitch bend is yearning to be stretched and the effects are really useful and well thought out.Yes it is audio buss compatible and is a powerful midi controller that can control or be controlled.and for this price it gets two thumbs WAY up! Peace Christo ### 5/5 — Tiny and mighty *2015-06-02* Midi controller and has a built in synth. Don't try and do runs or span a keyboard on other iOS synths key. Use this instead. ### 5/5 — Good synth, fantastic controller *2015-03-20* I'm so glad I found this app, it's fantastic :) The only feature I miss is the ability to set the number of rotating channels for multichannel midi mode. I really want to use Synthecaster with multitimbral DSI Tetra, but this analog synth only has 4 voices, so it needs only (and exactly) 4 midi channels... it's a real bummer Synthecaster can't adapt to that :( ### 5/5 — Genius! So much fun. *2014-12-15* This app is such a refreshing take on making music. The expressiveness is bar none when compared to traditional synth apps with a piano keyboard. The interface is so simple, yet this app has lots of the nuts and bolts needed to plug into a modern iOS music production system. I like it a LOT. So much creative fun. ### 5/5 — An elegantly assembled and extremely fun instrument *2014-08-04* The best apps are those that embrace the nature interacting with a touch interface, and create something simple and elegantly functional, rather than trying to mix metaphors for the sake of delivering on what is perceived as warm cozy familiarity. Synthecaster gets this so right. The guitar influenced key layout mixed with a simply executed colorful grid, that takes cues from iOS 7's flat graphic quality, make for a fantastic way to navigate, play and manipulate notes. This app represents the first time I have found genuine enjoyment playing an instrument on a touch screen device, because it focuses solely on how somebody can quickly interact with a screen rather than confining the user's movements to a set of imitation piano keys or guitar strings. The app is further bolstered by it's range of options for creating and crafting synth textures, and I was blown away by app's built-in presets at launch. The latest version provides some marked legibility improvements, that make the keys even nicer to navigate. The integration with recording apps is a very helpful addition. ### 5/5 — Simple, aber effektiv!😎👍 *2014-07-14* Der Optik und offensichtlich einfachen Synthesebasis wegen, hatte ich nicht viel erwartet. Aber; Er brutzelt zum Teil echt gut im Ohr. 🔊☝️😜💨 Er macht aber auch seichte Klänge, mit seiner Alltags-Butterbrot-Synthese. Das Wenige ist gut umgesetzt!👂 Ein unterschiedlich scale-bares Keyboard über 3 "Etagen", mit seiner Option zur neigungs-abhängigen Modulation von Syntheseparametern machte mir auf Kopfhörern, nach kurzem Rumprobieren und modifizieren der Presets, richtig Spaß.✌️😎👍 ### 5/5 — Favorite Midi Controller App *2014-05-29* Nice update! Great new stuff for iPad users. Nice update for iPhone, too. Synthecaster is my new favorite midi controller for virtual midi synths. Doesn't hurt that I am a guitar player. ### 5/5 — Robust and easy to use *2014-05-22* There's a ridiculous amount of customization and different synth presets on this thing. The interface is so easy to use a baby can literally play a song with it. I don't really know how to play music but I can spend over an hour at a time just jamming with this app. Highly recommended! ### 5/5 — Layers upon layers of sound exploration *2013-12-25* Easy and intuitive to use, this app packs an enormous range of variables into a sleek, beautiful design. I really appreciate the options to toggle note names and highlight scales in every key. With MIDI functionality added, this app will take you from music theory studies to any party or jam sesh. GET IT NOW! ### 5/5 — Great App , even better with the update And now the iPad version makes it even more versatile *2013-12-11* Great update to this app, now even better than ever . ## Most critical reviews (10 lowest-rated) ### 2/5 — Good app let down by limited midi *2026-03-01, version 3.5* Unfortunately despite stating it has full midi core functionality it’s only as a controller. This is at odds with many others like Synth one J6 or midi org 24. The pitch function tied to x/y movement often sticks requiring closing and restarting the app. The rest of the functions are ok especially if using on a phone. ### 3/5 — Low quality of sound *2014-05-23* Good control, but pure low quality 8-bit sounds. Also it would be nice to have ability to adjust number or rows and columns. ### 3/5 — Crashing after latest update *2013-11-26* After updating to current version... Nov 25th 2013, app now crashes upon start. Prior to the update it launched without issue. Rebooted iPad.. Tested on both gen 2 and gen 4 with same results. Hopefully will get fixed quickly. ### 3/5 — So much potential, but... *2013-11-14, version 1.1* Needs midi out. ### 4/5 — Time to be a plugin *2025-10-30* It’s good to see this is still around after all these years. But now it’s time to put the whole thing in an AUv3 wrapper so we can use it in our other software. ### 4/5 — Bargain gizmo, brimming with possibility *2017-01-11, version 3.3* Got this on the off-chance it was any good, and was pleasantly surprised. Easy interface and fun for the sonic dabbler. Just not sure how to get sound from more than one midi out. But, it's a really encouraging start! Nic ### 4/5 — Nice app *2015-10-13* But it not a guitar at all. Real guitar has a EBGDAE tuning, but here it a FCGDAE. ### 4/5 — Just awesome. *2014-07-16, version 2.2* Here we have a true iOS synth app. What I mean is that the developer did not try to mimic or emulate a hardware device. Instead he did what he should have done, which is that he made a well-designed iOS app that just so happens to be a synthesizer. It uses standard-issue iOS 7 interface elements for everything except the keys themselves, which are a fairly unique layout that works well. But where this app really shines is that out of all my iPhone synth apps it's literally the only one that supports Apple's IAA protocol (in-app audio) meaning it's the only iOS synth app that I've found that can communicate with my Multitrack DAW app. I was able to use this to lay down some bass synth tracks under a recording I did. I found that this was extremely useful. However on the down-side, it only seems to work in 16-bit, 44.1khz mode with Multitrack DAW. When I had the DAW app set to 24-bit, 88.2khz mode, it would not launch. In 24-bit, 44.1khz mode, everything sounded like it was going through a grain filter (nasty). It works fine in 16-bit, 44.1khz mode over IAA, and I don't know if this is a limitation of IAA, or Apple's synthesis APIs, or of the Synthecaster app itself. But it certainly limits its usefulness in these situations. I'm deducting one star from it for this, but I'd put it to five stars if this ever gets resolved (as its only a minor quibble). ### 5/5 — 😄 geil. *2020-08-26* Wie geil ist das denn? ### 5/5 — Очень понравилось! *2019-02-25* Потрясающе! ## Most praised reviews (8 highest-rated) ### 5/5 — Well done. *2018-05-03* I love alternate controllers and this is a straightforward one with a surprising amount of customization available under the hood. I recommend trying it out. ### 5/5 — Small but cool *2018-04-22* So many nice sounds and so convenient controls in so small app. That said, you are free to customize the tuning however you wish, like with string instruments (of course, with semitone step). Buy it, pal. * i only wish it would start upside down when screen rotation is locked, that is respecting ipad cover used as a stand ### 5/5 — A little gem *2017-09-05, version 3.3* This is a great sounding synth I highly recommend. You can get some terrific sliding, wailing lead sounds. A bargain. ### 5/5 — Great fun, cheap, yet 'feels' expensive! 👏🏻 *2016-01-08, version 3.3* Great little app, lots of nice touches and is way too much fun to use for only 79p! ### 5/5 — Powerful, Fun, and Highly Customizable *2015-12-25* So far so good! I've been playing around with this App for a few days on my iPad Air 2 and I'm really impressed. It's really a great way to jam when all I have is my iPad, offering a wide array of customizations for the interface and the instrument. I've also successfully used it to connect over network to my MacBook Pro and control Ableton Live 9, so I'll likely be using this to write and record as well. Highly recommended. ### 5/5 — A brilliant App *2015-11-18* I practice using this App every day. You can play guitar parts easily because you can set the rows to mimic a guitar fingerboard. I prefer it to Geo synth because you can bend notes properly plus the inbuilt synth sounds better. I often use it to control synthesizer apps in my recordings and the instruments in Garageband and Cubasis. I've also been in touch with the developer and he was very helpful. Well done! ### 5/5 — おしゃれで楽しいシンセアプリ *2015-10-14* 最高です。ちょっと音を確かめたい時に重宝します。鍵盤でなく斬新なスタイルなのも気に入りました。 ### 5/5 — Hey! Nice surprise! *2015-10-10* Really well thought out UI. Simple with a lot of options. And sounds great. Very well done developers. Great job and thank you! --- *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 2026-08-16.*