Comparison

iHarmony vs Anacru

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

Head to head
About

iHarmony

This app provides musicians with instant access to a comprehensive music theory reference. It includes scales, chords, harmonizations, and notes with audio playback and support for multiple notation systems. It's designed for songwriting, studying, and quick reference.

Highlights
  • 1500+ scales, chords, and harmonizations
  • Chord harmonizations for every scale
  • Audio playback for every entry
  • Four notation systems (English, Italian, German, French)
  • Full-text search
  • Offline functionality
Features
Read full description

The ultimate music theory reference for every musician. iHarmony gives you instant access to scales, chords, harmonizations, and notes — all in one beautifully designed app. Whether you're preparing for a jam session, writing a song, studying jazz theory, or doing your music homework, iHarmony has the answer. • 1500+ scales, chords, and harmonizations • Chord harmonizations for every scale • Audio playback for every entry — train your ear while you study • Four notation systems: English (C, D, E), Italian (Do, Re, Mi), German (C, D, H), French (Ut, Re, Mi) • Full-text search — find any scale or chord in seconds • Works offline — no internet required Stop searching the web for: "What notes make up a G# diminished 7 chord?" "What are the degrees of the Bebop Dominant scale?" "What's the harmonization of D# Melodic Minor?" iHarmony answers these instantly. Over 1500 entries covering common and exotic scales alike — from the Lydian b7 to the Neapolitan, from Whole Tone to Hungarian Minor. Designed for guitarists, pianists, composers, music students, and professionals. Perfect for functional analysis of jazz standards, songwriting, and music education. Full VoiceOver and accessibility support. Dark mode supported. A must-have for every musician.

About

Anacru

Build complex rhythms with interlocking meters, tempo changes, and nested tuplets. Visualize and hear intricate polyrhythms and metric modulations. Export your creations as MIDI files for use in digital audio workstations.

Highlights
  • Construct advanced rhythms
  • Interlocking meters and phase shifts
  • Metric modulation with tempo changes
  • Nested tuplets
  • Interactive visual wheel
  • Export MIDI files to DAWs
  • Private by design, no account needed
Features
Read full description

Anacru is a scratchpad for constructing advanced rhythm. Most rhythm apps measure time — Anacru builds it. Instead of tapping along to a click, you assemble the rhythm you're hearing in your head from its parts: interlocking meters, tempo modulations, phase shifts, and tuplets nested inside tuplets. Then you play it back, watch it move, and export it to your DAW. Built for composers, drummers, producers, and teachers who work past 4/4 — and for students trying to finally *feel* how these ideas fit together. WHAT YOU CAN BUILD • Polymeter — stack independent layers, each with its own meter, subdivision, accent pattern, and phase offset. Watch 5/4 drift against 4/4 and snap back into alignment, locked to one shared pulse. • Metric modulation — pick the note value before and after a tempo change and get the exact new BPM instantly, with the direction never ambiguous. Chain modulations into a timeline the playback steps through as it loops. • Nested tuplets — put a quintuplet inside a triplet inside a bar. The engine handles the math; you just stack them. • Phase & accents — tap a pulse to accent it, or drag a layer's ring to rotate its phase. The wheel is the instrument. THE INTERACTIVE WHEEL Every layer is a ring of pulses on a single wheel, color-coded and voiced so you can follow each stream by eye and by ear. A playhead sweeps the cycle so you can see the relationships, not just hear them. HEAR IT PROPERLY Each layer gets its own pitch, stereo position, and selectable voice — woodblock, marimba, pluck, sine, or a kick/hi-hat drum kit — so interlocking parts read as separate instruments instead of one wash. SEE IT NOTATED Each layer is rendered on its own staff with correct meter, beaming, accents, and tuplet brackets. TAKE IT WITH YOU • Save and recall your patterns on-device. • Export a MIDI file — a clean tempo map carrying your modulation timeline, plus one track per layer — and drop it straight into any DAW. PRIVATE BY DESIGN No account. No sign-up. No tracking. No internet required. Everything lives on your device. One purchase, yours to keep.

Screenshots

iHarmony4 screens
Anacru4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: iHarmony at $0.99 against Anacru's $4.99. iHarmony also leads on ratings volume (12 vs 2). Anacru's advantage is iOS requirement (15.6 vs 26.0). On rating, 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

iHarmony costs $0.99 and Anacru $4.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Anacru holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: iHarmony has 12 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

iHarmony ships an update every 5 weeks, Anacru monthly. The most recent releases landed on October 23, 2026 and October 12, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
iHarmony versus Anacru: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameteriHarmonyAnacru
Price$0.99 — better$4.99
Rating4.8 (12 ratings)5.0 (2 ratings) — better
Positive reviews77.3% of reviews—
Number of ratings12 — better2
Update frequencyEvery 5 weeksMonthly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPod
Requires iOS26.015.6 — better
Further details — not scored
Size5 MB5 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAlberto De BortoliEVAN TRACEN POWERS

Customer experience

iHarmony

All ratings12 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews110 reviews
Positive77.3%
Neutral10.9%
Negative11.8%

Anacru

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

iHarmony

Reported bugs

19 issues
  • Audio not working on iPhone
  • Database null error
  • Speaker distortion at high volume
  • Playback sounds stilted/uneven
  • Info link works irregularly or doesn't appear
Show 14 more
  • Audio engine buffer fills up quickly
  • Some sounds do not match notes
  • Cb Major scale has wrong pitch
  • App stops working in latest version
  • Dominant 7 chords listed as Major 7
  • Major 7 chords listed as Major 7+
  • Major and Dominant 9 chords incorrect
  • Text is very small in Harmonies section
  • No sound from speakers
  • Audio playback not working after upgrade
  • App is completely empty
  • Some chords have incorrect notation
  • Accidental symbols in wrong place
  • Audio engine buffer fills up quickly

Requested features

40 requests
  • Save favorite scales
  • Add more exotic scales
  • Allow harmonic playback (all notes simultaneously)
  • Provide other theory features (harmonic substitutions, polychords, inversions)
  • Add a search function for chords/scales
Show 35 more
  • Display scales/chords on a staff
  • Add a chord scratch pad for saving/exporting
  • Include minor major seventh chords
  • Add suspended 2 chords and others
  • Option to hear unarpeggiated chords
  • Allow choosing ascending OR descending scale playback
  • Add Roman numeral labelling
  • Interactive circle of fifths
  • Notated examples
  • Include scale formulas
  • Add George Russell Lydian Chromatic Concept scales
  • Zoom functionality or larger font
  • Piano keys indicated
  • Allow controlling playback speed
  • Repeat/loop function for listening
  • Link scales to chords they are used over
  • Show modes associated with chords
  • Search function by typing scale/chord symbols
  • View of chords/scales on a staff
  • North American style chord formatting
  • Better GUI/organizational method
  • Make it a universal app (iPhone/iPad)
  • Separate ascending/descending scale playback
  • Add dominant and altered dominant chords
  • Hear inversions of scales/chord types
  • Nashville # system in harmonies
  • All chords available in notes section
  • Tabs for instruments
  • Easy Beats direction for updates
  • Fix Cb Major scale pitch
  • Show the 8th note/tonic in listening
  • End scales on the ONE
  • Full screen without frames for viewing windows
  • Larger viewing windows
  • Better icon design

Anacru

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

iHarmony

No in-app purchases

None

Anacru

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is iHarmony free?
iHarmony costs $0.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Anacru free?
Anacru costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, iHarmony or Anacru?
Anacru is rated higher. iHarmony averages 4.8 out of 5 from 12 ratings, while Anacru averages 5.0 from 2 ratings.
Do iHarmony or Anacru have ads?
Neither iHarmony nor Anacru shows ads.
Which is updated more often, iHarmony or Anacru?
iHarmony ships an update every 5 weeks, and Anacru monthly. Most recently, iHarmony was updated on October 23, 2026 and Anacru on October 12, 2026.

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