Comparison

TerribleSync vs TranceXY

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

Head to head
About

TerribleSync

Control the tempo of music hardware like synthesizers and drum machines using your iPhone or iPad. Features include tap tempo, precise dial adjustment, and buttons for performance effects. Requires a 3.5mm audio cable for connection.

Highlights
  • Tap tempo
  • Rotary tempo dial
  • Pause/mute button
  • Performance effect buttons
  • Clear interface
  • Open source project
Features
Read full description

Use your iPhone or iPad to control the tempo of impulse-sync-enabled synthesizers, drum machines, and other music hardware. Features: • Tap tempo • Supports 20.0 - 999.0+ BPM • Rotary tempo dial for precise, tactile tempo adjustment • Pause/mute button • ?, !, and :fire: buttons to introduce character and chaos into your performance • Clear, simple interface designed to be easy to use in a stage/performance setting This app works with any instrument you own that takes voltage impulses as a tempo control, such as: • KORG SQ-1, Volca, Monotribe, etc. • Teenage Engineering Pocket Operator • Moog MOTHER-32 (choose the "single clock advance" setting on the instrument) This project is open source. Try building it yourself at https://github.com/terribleben/terrible-sync or contact twitter.com/terribleben with feedback! Notes: • 3.5mm audio cable is required to connect your iPhone or iPad to your sync-enabled instruments. • If the instrument isn't responding, you may need to increase the iPhone's volume. • This software is not produced by, endorsed by, or affiliated with KORG, Teenage Engineering, Moog Music, or other instrument manufacturers.

About

TranceXY

Features
Read full description

TranceXY is a trance synthesizer you play with your finger. Hold the pad, sweep across it, and the sound moves with you - the pitch glides without steps, the filter opens, the chords voice, the arpeggio accelerates. It is a theremin built for trance, on a touchscreen. THEREMIN MODE, BY DEFAULT The instrument opens in Theremin mode: one steady voice whose pitch you shape by hand across the pad's Y axis, quantised to the scale you choose or free to glide. Six more performance modes are a tap away - Note, Chord, Arp, Roll, Keys and Keys Chord - and the same finger movement plays leads, stacks chords, drives arpeggios or slides between notes. A FULL TRANCE ENGINE Under the pad: three oscillators with supersaw, a multimode filter, three LFOs, a noise source, sidechain ducking and a rhythmic trance gate, followed by nine effect pedals - distortion, chorus, flanger, phaser, delay, reverb, crush, OTT and gate. Eight performance knobs sit beside the pad for the moves you make while playing: cutoff, resonance, gate, pump, detune, delay, reverb and drive. PLAYS ANYWHERE Run it on its own, or load it as an AUv3 instrument inside GarageBand, AUM, Cubasis or any AUv3 host and record it straight into your track. REC captures your performance to WAV, AIFF or FLAC and shares it anywhere on your device. ALSO A CONTROLLER FOR THE MAC Switch it into controller mode and your iPhone or iPad becomes the XY surface for TranceXY on your Mac, over USB or Wi-Fi, with the pad, gain and all eight knobs mapped for you. FREE TO DOWNLOAD, WITH TRANCEXY PRO The download is free, and the free version is a complete instrument - every performance mode, every knob, every effect pedal, controller mode - together with the Uplifting Trance preset collection. TranceXY Pro is a one-time purchase, with no subscription, that unlocks all 773 presets across nine genres, every FX chain, REC and export, and saving your own presets. One purchase covers Mac, iPhone and iPad (Universal Purchase) and supports Family Sharing. Everyone who bought TranceXY while it was a paid app already has everything. - Theremin performance pad: stepless pitch, filters, chords and arpeggios from one gesture - 7 performance modes: Theremin, Note, Chord, Arp, Roll, Keys, Keys Chord - 3 oscillators with supersaw, multimode filter, 3 LFOs, noise, ducking, trance gate - 9 effect pedals with factory chains - 773 trance presets across 9 genres - Standalone and AUv3 - REC to WAV / AIFF / FLAC - Controller mode for TranceXY on Mac (USB or Wi-Fi)

Screenshots

TerribleSync1 screens
TranceXY4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: TerribleSync at none against TranceXY's 1. TerribleSync also leads on iOS requirement (12.0 vs 16.0). TranceXY's advantage is update cadence (every 8 days vs every 35 months). On price, 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. TranceXY sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. TerribleSync asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

TerribleSync ships an update every 35 months, TranceXY every 8 days. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 25, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
TerribleSync versus TranceXY: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterTerribleSyncTranceXY
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.0 (4 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews83.3% of reviews—
Number of ratings4 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 35 monthsEvery 8 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, Mac
Requires iOS12.0 — better16.0
Further details — not scored
Size1 MB53 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperBenjamin RothTomocreate, Inc.

In-app purchases

None

TerribleSync

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

TranceXY

One-time1
  • TranceXY Pro$14.99

Questions

Is TerribleSync free?
TerribleSync is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is TranceXY free?
TranceXY is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do TerribleSync or TranceXY have ads?
Neither TerribleSync nor TranceXY shows ads.
Which is updated more often, TerribleSync or TranceXY?
TerribleSync ships an update every 35 months, and TranceXY every 8 days. Most recently, TerribleSync was updated on October 24, 2026 and TranceXY on October 25, 2026.

Other comparisons