Comparison

Synesthesia vs Music Strobe

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Synesthesia

Experience music through a spectrum of colors, mimicking the sensory phenomenon of synesthesia. Use it as a dynamic mood light, a calming night light, or to visualize the pitches of songs and instruments.

Highlights
  • Music visualization
  • Mood lighting
  • Night light functionality
  • Pitch to color mapping
  • Microphone access for real-time audio
Features
Read full description

Synesthesia makes listening to music a colorful experience and is a wonderful mood light and soft night light when you want to calm down. Do you want to see colors when playing certain tones like people with synesthesia / chromestesia do? The app "Synesthesia - See the music in colors" enables you to experience music in color as well. Whether you use it to train you perfect pitch, to help you remember melodies or just for entertainment as a light organ while listening to your favorite songs - Synesthesia helps you to see the current pitch in colors. To experience the colors simply allow the app to access the microphone on the first start and then play your instrument or a song, sing, ... or just enjoy many color changing patterns even without music as a mood light or night light. Please note: People with synesthesia may experiences different colors for the same pitch. The app therefore uses it's own color scale (each musical note C displays a red color for example). Some of our users use the app as an replacement for their old light organs ... so that should work very well ;-) If you like music apps be sure to check out our other apps as well -> Piano Champion, Guitar Champion, Drum Champion, Voice Back .... and many more to come

About

Music Strobe

Create a dynamic light show for your parties by syncing visual strobes with your music. Adjust frequencies and volume sensitivity for a personalized experience. Choose to use your device's camera flash or screen for illumination.

Highlights
  • Music-reactive strobe effects
  • Adjustable frequency control
  • Automatic volume adjustment
  • Camera flash or screen illumination
  • Customizable strobe patterns
Features
Read full description

Light up your dance party with the Music Strobe app! Music Strobe works straight out of the box but also allows you to tweak frequencies and more to get it strobing just the way you like it. - Automatically adjusts for music of any volume. -Turn off frequencies so you can have strobe to bass, treble or something in between. -Can use the camera flash or the screen.

Screenshots

Synesthesia4 screens
Music Strobe2 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Music Strobe at 4.4 against Synesthesia's 2.3. Music Strobe also leads on review sentiment (72% vs 38%) and ratings volume (737 vs 16). Synesthesia's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and update cadence (monthly vs every 4 months). On price, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Music Strobe holds the better App Store score, 4.4 against 2.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Music Strobe has 737 ratings behind it against 16, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 38% of Synesthesia's written reviews are positive against 72% of Music Strobe's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Synesthesia ships an update monthly, Music Strobe every 4 months. The most recent releases landed on June 1, 2026 and September 16, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
Synesthesia versus Music Strobe: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSynesthesiaMusic Strobe
PriceFreeFree
Rating2.3 (16 ratings)4.4 (737 ratings) — better
Positive reviews37.5% of reviews71.7% of reviews — better
Number of ratings16737 — better
Update frequencyMonthly — betterEvery 4 months
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree — betterAd-supported
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS8.0 — better12.0
Further details — not scored
Size31 MB12 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperChristian AuzingerThomas Kiddle

Customer experience

Synesthesia

All ratings16 ratings
Positive25.0%
Neutral12.5%
Negative62.5%
Written reviews8 reviews
Positive37.5%
Neutral0.0%
Negative62.5%

Music Strobe

All ratings737 ratings
Positive85.2%
Neutral4.7%
Negative10.0%
Written reviews46 reviews
Positive71.7%
Neutral4.3%
Negative23.9%

Bugs and requests

Synesthesia

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

Music Strobe

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • App doesn't work on iOS 18
  • Volume gets reduced when app is open
  • Strobe effect doesn't stop automatically

Requested features

3 requests
  • Add landscape mode support
  • Improve flashlight brightness control
  • Implement background playback

In-app purchases

None

Synesthesia

No in-app purchases

None

Music Strobe

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Synesthesia free?
Synesthesia is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Music Strobe free?
Music Strobe is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Synesthesia or Music Strobe?
Music Strobe is rated higher. Synesthesia averages 2.3 out of 5 from 16 ratings, while Music Strobe averages 4.4 from 737 ratings.
Do Synesthesia or Music Strobe have ads?
Music Strobe shows ads; Synesthesia does not.
Which is updated more often, Synesthesia or Music Strobe?
Synesthesia ships an update monthly, and Music Strobe every 4 months. Most recently, Synesthesia was updated on June 1, 2026 and Music Strobe on September 16, 2026.

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