# The Chord Detector — Find the chords in audio files

> Automatically detects musical chords from audio sources for musicians. (iPhone/iPad app by Simon Hopkin.)

- Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/the-chord-detector/id420873903 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`)
- Developer: [Simon Hopkin](https://appshunter.io/developer/1544800451)
- Category: Music, Utilities
- Price: $1.99 with in-app purchases
- Rating: 2.20/5 from 23 App Store ratings · 196 written reviews indexed
- Age rating: 4+
- Requires: iOS 9.0 · 26 MB
- Languages: American English
- Released: 2011-02-23
- Data updated: 2026-09-06
- Monetization: free with in-app purchases
- User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/the-chord-detector/id420873903/reviews.md

## What is The Chord Detector?

Chord Detector is an app that will analyse audio sources and automatically detect the musical chords within it.

With Chord Detector you can learn to play any track in your devices music library or Dropbox folder providing its not DRM encoded.

Chord Detector can also analyse and detect the chords within a YouTube video or a SoundCloud sound.

Chord Detector is aimed at musicians of any ability to help you learn to play many more songs, especially those whose chords aren't readily available on the internet.

Please note that iTunes Match and Apple Music is not supported due to technical constraints.

With our update Chord Detection engine its now much quiker and easier to get most accurate results possible (up to 95% in ideal conditions).  Chord Detector can recognise many different chord types including major, minor, augmented, dimimished, diminished7, dominant7 and minorMajor7.

To get started just pick one of the four audio source options:

 ●  iPod Music Library
 ●  Dropbox
 ●  YouTube
 ●  SoundCloud

You can then select any track from your iPod Music Library(†), Dropbox folder, select a YouTube video or a SoundCloud sound.  Chord Detector will then analyse the selected music source and within minutes (if not quicker) you will be presented with a view of the detected chords containing within that music source.

You have the option to view the detected chords in two different forms, scrolling and tabular.  In both of these views you are able to play the track and the chords will move or be highlighted as the song is playing.

You can now start to view the chords of a track when analysis is still ongoing.  Also you can queue up tracks to be processed, so while you are learning to play one song the chords are being generated for your other tracks in the background.

The following controls are available on the chord view screens:-

● Play/Pause - play or pause the track.
● Rewind 30s - rewind the track by 30 seconds.
● Forward 30s - forward the track by 30 seconds.
● Tempo Adj. - slow down the track without affecting the pitch by a variable amount down to 1/4 of its original speed.
● Capo Adj. - transpose the chords according to which fret you want your capo on

Now ukulele, banjo and mandolin chord diagrams are available via an in-app purchase.

† The following audio file formats are supported, MP3, AAC, WAV and AIFF.  DRM protected content is not supported. Tracks must by sync'd to your device.  If you use iTunes Match you must ensure that the track you wish to use in Chord Detector is first downloaded to your device (otherwise you may see a DRM warning)

email: feedback@chord-detector.com 
www: http://www.chord-detector.com 
twitter: http://twitter.com/chorddetector 
fb: http://facebook.com/chorddetector

## Key features

- Automatic chord detection
- Analyze music library, Dropbox, YouTube, SoundCloud
- Real-time chord display
- Tempo and capo adjustment
- Support for various chord types
- Queueing of tracks for analysis

## Pricing and in-app purchases

Base price: $1.99.

**One-time purchases**

| Purchase | Price | Type |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Ukulele Chord Pack | $0.99 | one-time |
| Banjo Chord Pack | $0.99 | one-time |
| Mandolin Chord Pack | $0.99 | one-time |


## What do users think of The Chord Detector?

Overall sentiment: neutral

**Pros**

- 🚀 Accurate chord detection
- 👍 Useful capo and tempo features
- 🎶 Helps learn songs quickly
- 💰 Good value for money

**Cons**

- 🐛 Inaccurate chord detection for complex songs
- 🚫 Incompatible with DRM-protected tracks
- ⚠️ Crashes and stops working after updates
- 🕰️ Slow chord change detection

**Commonly reported bugs**

- App crashes when trying to detect chords
- YouTube/SoundCloud integration no longer works
- Chord detection stops after 25-60 seconds of playback

**Most requested features**

- Add support for more chord types (9th, 11th, etc.)
- Allow editing/correcting detected chords
- Implement a looping/repeat function
- Add support for more instruments (ukulele, bass, etc.)

## Recent user reviews (10 of 196)

All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/the-chord-detector/id420873903/reviews.md

### 1/5 — Didn’t work at all.

*2025-09-12*

Basically stole my $2. Wish I could get it back and the time I wasted.

### 5/5 — This is still my go-to app

*2024-11-03, version 1.3.2*

There are lots of options out there for chord detection but I still find this app the best. The functionality that is most useful:
1. being able to upload any audio file via Dropbox for analysis. 
2. the key change option! This is a function I use a lot to train my ear while learning a song if the band wants to do it in a different key from the audio.
3.  the user interface. It is so much cleaner and easier to read than other apps like Chordify. 

I’ve noticed that more recently the YouTube option has stopped working and that perhaps the app developer has lost interest in keeping this app updated. I think that is a real shame as it is a winner.

### 1/5 — Полная дрянь.

*2024-04-25*

Не работает совсем. Запросил возврат

### 1/5 — Used to be great - not now

*2023-04-27*

Too bad developers mess up a good thing! Used to be 5 stars. I had to give it something, a negative five fits better.

### 1/5 — Chord Detector bummer

*2022-09-07, version 1.3.2*

Used to be so useful, now crummy.  Cannot upload music from YouTube at all.  You wrecked it.

### 1/5 — Chord Detector does not work

*2022-07-21, version 1.3.2*

As noted by other reviewers, Chord Detector no longer works. For whatever reason, the developer hasn’t updated the software to work with YouTube.

### 5/5 — definitely helpful

*2022-06-24*

if u use it with itunes content you own, easy. i like how it works. sure its not perfect but for 2 bucks it was a great buy

### 1/5 — Connect to content

*2021-09-12*

It keep on saying won’t connect to content.  Please fix this issue

### 1/5 — Please change it back!!!!

*2021-04-16*

It makes me so sad this used to be my goto app wen playing guitar it helped me become the guitar player I am today and it makes me so sad idk wat the frick you guys did but you had an awesome amazing tool I wud gladly pay for it idky you fuct w it but you had something special and it’s unfortunate for all the newer guitar players that won’t have that at their disposal as I was so fortunate to have. It made learning and playing fun, a breeze and enhanced my practice time please please look into yer database have a heart with one’s and zero’s and change it back.

### 5/5 — Très bonne app

*2021-02-04*

C'est exactement ce que je cherchais : fonctionnement très simple. Le fait d'ecouter la musique en même temps que défilent les tablatures est une aide précieuse.

## Frequently asked questions about The Chord Detector

### What does the Chord Detector app do?

The Chord Detector app analyzes audio sources, such as music files from your device or cloud storage, YouTube videos, and SoundCloud tracks, to automatically detect and display the musical chords within them. This helps musicians learn to play songs more easily, especially those without readily available chord charts.

### What audio sources can Chord Detector analyze?

The app supports analyzing music from your iPod Music Library (MP3, AAC, WAV, AIFF, DRM-free), Dropbox folders, YouTube videos, and SoundCloud sounds. Note that DRM-protected content and Apple Music/iTunes Match tracks synced via the cloud are not supported unless downloaded to your device.

### How much does Chord Detector cost?

The base Chord Detector app is free to download and use. However, additional features like ukulele, banjo, and mandolin chord diagrams are available via an in-app purchase.

### Can I adjust the playback speed or transpose chords?

Yes, the app offers controls to adjust the tempo of the track, slowing it down without affecting pitch, and to transpose chords according to capo placement. This allows for a more personalized learning experience.

### What types of chords can the app detect?

The app's updated engine can recognize a wide variety of chord types, including major, minor, augmented, diminished, diminished7, dominant7, and minorMajor7 chords, providing accurate results up to 95% in ideal conditions.

## Version history (last 5 releases)

### 1.3.2 — 2021-12-01

Minor stability fixes

### 1.3.1 — 2020-07-31

Fixed iOS 13 issues and removed redundant input sources

### 1.3.0 — 2017-08-11

Updated to support 64bit

### 1.2.11 — 2014-11-08

iOS 8 and iPhone 6+ bug fixes

### 1.2.10 — 2014-07-02

Bug Fixes

## Apps similar to The Chord Detector

| App | Rating | Price | Category |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [Ultimate Guitar: Chords & Tabs](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/ultimate-guitar-chords-and-tabs/id357828853) | 4.7 (474,918) | Free | Music |
| [Chordify: Songs, Chords, Tuner](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/chordify-songs-chords-tuner/id1073624757) | 4.7 (33,552) | Free | Music |
| [AI Chord Finder: Guitar Tabs](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/ai-chord-finder-guitar-tabs/id6462842110) | 4.5 (108) | Free | Music |
| [Chord ai - Play any song!](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/chord-ai-play-any-song/id1446177109) | 4.6 (5,904) | Free | Music |
| [Guitar Chord Finder : Fabulus](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/guitar-chord-finder-fabulus/id1559087405) | 4.5 (70) | Free | Music |
| [Guitar: tabs, chords & games](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/guitar-tabs-chords-and-games/id1365011081) | 4.5 (40,411) | Free | Music |

## More apps by Simon Hopkin

- [Tempo SlowMo Original - BPM Slow Downer](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/tempo-slowmo-original-bpm-slow-downer/id635275615)
- [Chordial - Chord Dictionary](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/chordial-chord-dictionary/id647573181)
- [Quick Flick Reactions! - Reflex Test](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/quick-flick-reactions-reflex-test/id955789359)
- [Jellyfish AI Calorie Counter](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/jellyfish-ai-calorie-counter/id6504708714)

All apps by Simon Hopkin: https://appshunter.io/developer/1544800451

## Related topics

[chord detector](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/chord-detector) · [the chord detector](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/the-chord-detector)

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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 2026-09-06.*