Comparison

Impulse vs Aether Jam

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

Head to head
About

Impulse

This app provides a highly accurate and customizable metronome for musicians. It allows users to program complex beat patterns, including subdivisions and rests, with a clear visual interface to understand rhythmic structures. Ideal for serious musicians looking to refine their timing and explore intricate rhythms.

Highlights
  • Visual subdivision editor
  • Complex beat pattern programming
  • Up to 100 beats per measure
  • 20 subdivisions per beat
  • Tempo range 10-600 BPM
  • Sample-level accuracy
Features
Read full description

Impulse is the metronome that lets you program virtually any combination of downbeats, upbeats, subdivisions, and rests. The UI shows you exactly where each beat and subdivision is located in time, helping you better understand complex rhythms. Impulse is also accurate to 0.00002 seconds, making it one of the most stable metronomes on iOS. Impulse is the ideal choice for the serious musician who wants to take their rhythm game to the next level. Features: - Visual subdivision editor - Up to 100 beats per measure and 20 subdivisions per beat - Program virtually any beat pattern & time signature you can think of - Tempo range of 10 - 600 BPM - Accurate to 0.00002 seconds (sample-level accuracy) - Tap for tempo - Simple & easy to understand

About

Aether Jam

Features
Read full description

Aether is the simplest way to jam progressive and melodic house from your phone. Build a track as a stack of layers — Bass, Chords, Drums, and a live Lead — each started from a curated loop and tuned with friendly controls. No timeline, no clutter: just pick a sound and play. One synth, everywhere. A single wavetable engine powers Bass, Chords, and Lead. Morph the oscillator from sine to saw to square, sweep the filter, shape the envelope, and save your sound to a global library you can reuse on any layer. Play, don't program. The Lead is performed live on a scale-locked pad grid — every pad is in key, so there are no wrong notes. Hold several pads for chords, slide for glissando, and ride the one-finger filter-morph ribbon. The shimmer river. A shared shimmer-reverb send that any track can attach to or detach from with a tap — add lush, blooming octaves to exactly the tracks you want. Make it yours. • Swap loops, kits and chord progressions in one tap • Per-track volume faders and mute • Adjustable tempo, live • Transpose the bass, change the lead octave • Record your jam to a file and grab it from the Files app Everything stays on your device. No account, no sign-up, no data collected. Plug in headphones and start jamming.

Screenshots

Impulse4 screens
Aether Jam4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Impulse at Free against Aether Jam's $8.99. Impulse also leads on device support (3 vs 1) and iOS requirement (14.0 vs 17.0). On update cadence, ads and in-app purchases 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

Impulse is free to download; Aether Jam costs $8.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Impulse ships an update monthly, Aether Jam every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 26, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Impulse versus Aether Jam: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterImpulseAether Jam
PriceFree — better$8.99
Rating4.7 (943 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews91.8% of reviews—
Number of ratings943 — better—
Update frequencyMonthlyEvery 2 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaid—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone
Requires iOS14.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size6 MB3 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperCoda Labs IncorporatedDiego Ponciano

Bugs and requests

Impulse

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Fourth beat type not changing sound properly
  • Metronome stops working when switching apps
  • No sound on some devices

Requested features

7 requests
  • Ability to create and name custom presets
  • Different colors for downbeats
  • Quick toggle for sound on/off
  • Support for odd time signatures
  • Ableton Link/MIDI sync
Show 2 more
  • Ability to import custom sounds
  • Countdown timer before metronome starts

Aether Jam

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Impulse

No in-app purchases

None

Aether Jam

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Impulse free?
Impulse is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Aether Jam free?
Aether Jam costs $8.99, with no in-app purchases.
Do Impulse or Aether Jam have ads?
Neither Impulse nor Aether Jam shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Impulse or Aether Jam?
Impulse ships an update monthly, and Aether Jam every 2 weeks. Most recently, Impulse was updated on October 26, 2026 and Aether Jam on October 24, 2026.

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