Synesthesia vs Ferromagnetic
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- Music visualization
- Mood lighting
- Night light functionality
- Pitch to color mapping
- Microphone access for real-time audio
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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
Ferromagnetic
Transform music into real-time visual art with dynamic audio-reactive effects. Enhance personal listening, create ambiance for gatherings, or perform live with captivating visuals that sync to every beat. Offers thousands of unique visual combinations for a fresh experience with every song.
- Real-time audio-reactive visuals
- Multi-band frequency analysis
- Automatic beat detection
- Metal-powered rendering engine
- Multi-layer compositing system
- Customizable visual parameters
- Thousands of unique visual combinations
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Ferromagnetic: Music Visualizer & VJ App for iPhone, iPad, and Mac Ferromagnetic turns Spotify, SoundCloud, YouTube, and any other sound into stunning real-time visuals. It's a professional audio visualizer for everyone, from home listening and house parties to DJ sets, live shows, and VJ performances. FM Visualizer: Effortless Background Visuals Start a System Broadcast and Ferromagnetic follows the audio of Spotify, SoundCloud, YouTube, and most other apps on your device. Or use the microphone to visualize anything around you, from a DJ set to a live band. The 12-band frequency analysis and tunable beat detection catch every beat and note, and a GPU-accelerated Metal engine renders it all in multiple layers. Pick a Vibe like Calm, Energetic, Trippy, or Retro to set the mood in one tap. Or let Ferromagnetic take the wheel and build new scenes on its own from over 1,000 combinations. Set how fast the scenes change and choose from ten transition styles, including Morph, Zoom, and Color Distance. Choose from over 20 audio-reactive effects: the signature Ferrofluid and Electromagnetic fields, plus Starfield, Petals, Laser, Glitter, Cloud, Refractions, and more. Build your own scene from three effect layers and particles, each with its own blend mode, and tune every layer to the bass or the highs. Particles burst and flow with the sound, and glitch and shake hit harder as the volume rises. Transform the image with Kaleidoscope, Droste Spiral, Voronoi Mirror, or Tunnel, then shape the look with pixelation, dithering, blur, and color palettes like Vivid, Warm, or Triadic. Show your own logo text on screen, perfect for cafes, bars, and venues. Mirror the visuals to a TV or projector with AirPlay or a cable, and the screen stays awake for as long as the music plays. Visuals render at up to 60 fps. FM Producer: Live Visual Performance On iPad, FM Producer turns Ferromagnetic into a VJ app for live shows. The dual-deck interface works like a DJ controller: prepare the next scene on one deck, then crossfade it in. Add the iPad camera or NDI® sources as live layers, and send your visuals to OBS, Resolume, and other apps with NDI output. Connect a MIDI controller or keyboard, map any control with MIDI Learn, and trigger effects and scenes without touching the screen. FM Producer also unlocks the complete Mac app, with video, image, and 3D model layers, presets, and video recording. Try It Free Download Ferromagnetic for free, then unlock only what you need with an affordable subscription or a one-time purchase. One purchase works on iPhone, iPad, and Mac. Already on FM Visualizer? Your purchase counts toward FM Producer. NDI® is a registered trademark of Vizrt NDI AB. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Ferromagnetic at 4.1 against Synesthesia's 2.3. Ferromagnetic also leads on review sentiment (80% vs 38%) and update cadence (weekly vs monthly). Synesthesia's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 6) and iOS requirement (8.0 vs 16.0). On price, ratings volume, ads 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
Both are free to download. Ferromagnetic sells 6 in-app purchases, starting at $2.49 per month. Synesthesia asks for nothing beyond the download.
Ferromagnetic holds the better App Store score, 4.1 against 2.3. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 16 and 26 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 38% of Synesthesia's written reviews are positive against 80% of Ferromagnetic's.
Synesthesia ships an update monthly, Ferromagnetic weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 5, 2026 and October 8, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Synesthesia | Ferromagnetic |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 2.3 (16 ratings) | 4.1 (26 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 37.5% of reviews | 79.7% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 16 | 26 — better |
| Update frequency | Monthly | Weekly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, Mac |
| Requires iOS | 8.0 — better | 16.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 31 MB | 23 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Christian Auzinger | Daniel Eke |
Customer experience
Synesthesia
Ferromagnetic
Bugs and requests
Synesthesia
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
Ferromagnetic
Reported bugs
14 issues- Song titles don’t update
- Custom image wasn’t saving in presets (reported fixed)
- Logo makes imported images blurry
- App crashes on launch
- Poorly implemented controls (MacOS)
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- Does not work with Apple Music for some users
- Does not sync with music for some users
- Repeating visualizer scenes
- Shoddy integration with Streamlabs
- Does not work with microphone for some users
- Visuals are seemingly random and endless
- App asks to update when there's no update
- Crashes every time audio input is changed after update
- Recurring shapes pop up every few seconds
Requested features
20 requests- Add a 'go back' button for controls
- Add Airplay mirroring or tvOS app
- More options in visualizer types
- Configurable presets for cycling settings
- Ability to stream to TV without a cable
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- Apple TV app development
- More shaders and 4k-8k resolution options
- More options to customize and create own shaders
- More style options (e.g., retro equalizer, symmetric bars)
- Ability to navigate a catalog or favorite visuals
- Rotation feature for effects
- Output to a file without screen capture
- Choose output frame rate and size
- Get rid of or manipulate recurring shapes
- Remove Source/editor column from viewer window
- Option to load songs directly from user's library
- Transparency option for windows
- More customization options
- Effects inspired by Apple's classic visualizer
- Bug fix for audio input crashes
In-app purchases
Synesthesia
No in-app purchases
Ferromagnetic
- FM Visualizer7 Days trial$2.491 Month
- FM Producer3 Days trial$3.991 Month
- A generous tip$0.99
- FM Visualizer One-TIme$14.99
- FM Producer Upgrade$29.99
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- FM Producer One-Time$49.99
Questions
Is Synesthesia free?
Is Ferromagnetic free?
Which has better reviews, Synesthesia or Ferromagnetic?
Do Synesthesia or Ferromagnetic have ads?
Which is updated more often, Synesthesia or Ferromagnetic?
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