VHS Synth | 80s Synthwave User Reviews

Customer Experience

Positive experience53.3% of reviews
Neutral10.7% of reviews
Negative experience36.0% of reviews

~ Based on 75 written reviews from the US App Store.

What users say

Is VHS Synth | 80s Synthwave Safe?

VHS Synth | 80s Synthwave appears mostly safe based on user ratings. AppsHunter Safety Score for VHS Synth | 80s Synthwave is 77/100.

This assessment is based on 115 user ratings, with an App Store average of 3.9/5.

Safety Analysis

71.3% of ratings point to a safe experience
5.2% of ratings suggest some concerns
23.5% of ratings point to a risky experience

~ Based on 115 App Store ratings for VHS Synth | 80s Synthwave.

Is VHS Synth | 80s Synthwave Legit?

VHS Synth | 80s Synthwave appears to be a legitimate app. AppsHunter Legitimacy Score for VHS Synth | 80s Synthwave is 85/100.

Based on 85 of 100 points across 7 verification signals from App Store and developer data.

Top reviews

Pricing is absurd

I’ve never seen any other synth with the option to rent it weekly, and this synth is not worth a monthly or even yearly subscription at any cost, compared to the other iOS synths, it should be what the weekly cost is to just buy it outright. You can get synth one (both regular and j6) and a free lo fi/tape effect and get better results that aren’t just playing back multi samples of stuff that was run through a tape vst.
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Scam

They made the newest few updates break when putting it in GarageBand so you’d have to buy their new subscription based app. Pretty scummy.

Love this synth

I love the lo-fi vibes. This is one of my favorites. So far I’ve just been having fun tweaking the presets, there are some good ones. I’m sure I’ll get some great results once I initialize a patch and see what I can come up with. Seems like a very capable little synth with great vibes.

high jacked by audiobus …

i remember this app (& a few others now under the audiobus pty banner) was initially developed & released by audiokit pro a few years ago & after a while considered deprecated & time consuming so I assume in good faith passed on these apps to audiobus pty to maintain to allow audiokit pro to focus on newer apps (of which there is a version 2 of this one & others?)
i gather some other audiokit pro apps were also passed on to some other devs, but i digress..

now there is a subscription gate here & on the other ex audiokit pro apps & the claim this app & others was made using audiokit pro code system implying not by audiokit pro initially now this isn’t exactly true is it & a disrespect to audiokit pro who don’t engage in subscription shenanigans.

this comes across as hijacking to be fair & i dont care about the arrangement/agreement between audiokit pro & audiobus pty as a lay customer who obviously had nothing to do with it & didn’t know anything about it.

“but I need to feed my family” says the audiobus pty dev. well, don’t we all ….

Dass vhs teknik…
Dass oder benetzoid ist grosse kaputznik muss. Dass Uber zuber boomber gerecht. Schnell flammėn, langseim Schön…
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So many great presets. The subscription model is garbage

Bummer how they chose this absurd subscription model, immediate hate from the community and absolute silence from the developer.

I love the presets in this and VHS, they are really really good and there's a preset artist featured (Mark Hupkins) who is an absolute mastermind and doesn't appear in any of the other audiokit apps to my knowledge.

It's a great app, one that I use often- the choir and bell presets are so lush.

It really is a bummer that the subscription mode thing is preventing folks from even considering it- but that's understandable.
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Data collection

Deleted the app once user data started being collected. Wont buy any more.

Love this app. But there is one problem.

I’ve been using this app for a couple years now and it is amazing. I just learned how to use it in GarageBand. After I updated my iPhone 16 Pro Max to iOS 26 the app will no longer work in GarageBand as an Extension. Here is the error message that I get every time I try to load it as an extension. “Audio Unit Extension Quit: The Audio Unit Extension has quit unexpectedly. Tap Reload to reload the extension, or tap Disable to disable the extension and continue.” I would love to continue using this app as an extension in GarageBand. Would you guys please fix this? Thanks much.
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Bad

Very bad

Time Travel

This app has so much to offer ! Two banks, multiple samples, comprehensive effects - and a serious MIDI implementation. Top marks team ! 😎

Thieves

My purchases and downloads were taken away after subscription model 0 Stars

Way to kill the vibe (subscription model nonsense)

I owned this - until they decided to try and monetize even further by converting it into a subscription based app! Now it’s gone from my devices forever. Cautionary tale for other devs.

Great Synth

Great Synth.

Data Tracking

Seriously? You need to track what musicians are doing, huh? No thanks.

Rent seeking

I bought this app when it came out, and it’s has a few presets on it that I liked and used. Then the developer broke all of my projects that used it when they switched over from AudioKit because AUM doesn’t recognize it as the same app. Now all of my saved presets are behind a paywall, making it harder to fix all the projects that got broken. I won’t be paying rent for a mediocre app I already paid for, even if it means I’ve lost some songs.
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User Data Now Tracked (?)

What’s with user data now tracked?

Shame… I really liked this app.

Deleted.

Scam

Paid for the app when it was released. I don’t expect magical updates and features for life - but I did expect the application I paid for to remain on my device and usable. Now it has tracking software in it and I can’t use the app unless subscribing to pay for something I already have? Restore purchase does nothing. New owners seem to be out for a very different goal than the creators.
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Dissapointed

This was one of my most used apps. Some of the absolute best patches in the App Store. Nearly every project I worked on had an instance of this app. Since these new developers took over for AudioKit this synth doesn’t open in any of my projects. Whether it be GarageBand, Logic, or Cubasis. No amount of updates or deleting and reinstalling has helped. It’s such a disappointment and headache.
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Some Updates:

Old Review: But now, it seems like the new company’s transforming it into a subscription only app. I paid for this for when it first released back in 2022. Why should I pay for a monthly subscription that closes off my ability to use all of the presents and banks for something I’ve had for years? It just feels like an insult and a slap in the face to me for those reasons, as I’ve been using those banks for years. Please drop it and restore the banks and presets to those who’ve already paid for the app, otherwise, I’m keeping my rating as is. Edit 1: According to an email I got from customer support after I sent one airing out my grievances, from what I can gather, they’re working on developing versions of the apps they acquired where users who paid for the apps originally will have full access without the need for a subscription. If that’s the case, then I’ll change my rating later on when it’s been reflected in the AUv3 version of the apps. That said, in the meantime, I do appreciate the response I got in that email. I really do wish for the best for this app.
Edit 2: They fixed the issues I’ve been having with the Presets and Banks outside of the starter bank, as well as the New Init, New Bank, More and FX buttons in the AUv3 version with this most recent February 26th update. While I’m still not crazy on the freemium idea, I do appreciate that, as I said, they were willing to listen to me and let me show my problems via email and worked to fix these issues, so, I can let that slide for now. So, as such, I’m returning my rating to as it originally was when I bought the app in 2022: 5 stars. I really want to thank you guys for taking the time to go above and beyond. It really means a lot.
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Good, but not the best

Ah, VHS Synth. Earlier today, I rated another old AudioKit app(Bass 808, if you wanna try to find it) and I’m ready to rate another one. The problem is not the subscription, that is fine. I’d even say it’s what you should do if you’re gonna put a subscription on your synth. It’s that some of the sounds just aren’t that amazing. It’s a decent app, and I’d say it’s a middle ground for all synths. If you’re better than this, you are a worthy app. If you are worse than this, you, well, aren’t that great. VHS Synth isn’t bad, and I use it sometimes. But to say it’s one of the best is insane.

With that being said, this is a 3-star app.

And yes, all my AUv3 ratings end with that. You can check.
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Not showing up in Logic

It’s always a new problem with audiokit. This app and some others from audiokit after working for over a year all of a sudden isn’t showing up in Audio Units in login pro for iOS