Alto vs ChordMapMidi
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Alto
A comprehensive guide to musical instruments, detailing their registers, transpositions, playability, and sound characteristics. Explore dozens of instruments by family, alphabetically, or by score order, with highlighted registers and simple transposition features.
- Instrument registers and transpositions
- Playability and sound characteristics
- Explore by family, alphabet, or score
- Registers highlighted by difficulty/timbre
- Simple transposition feature
- Includes woodwinds, brass, strings, percussion, vocals, and more
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This is the ultimate instruments guide for musicians, composers, songwriters, conductors, students and educators. It includes the registers, transpositions, playability, and sound characteristics of dozens of instruments. With this app, you can: - Explore by family, alphabetically, or by score order - See registers highlighted by difficulty and timbre - Transpose with a simple tap - See open strings, vocal ranges, timpani tunings for different sizes of drums, and more. In this version: - Woodwinds: Piccolo, Flute, Alto Flute, Oboe, English Horn, Eb Clarinet, Bb Clarinet, A Clarinet, Bass Clarinet, Soprano Saxophone, Alto Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone, Baritone Saxophone, Chromatic Harmonica, Diatonic Harmonica, Ocarina, Bassoon, Contrabassoon - Brass: French Horn, Piccolo Trumpet, Trumpet in D, Trumpet in C, Trumpet in Bb, Trombone, Bass Trombone, Tuba - Strings: Violin, Viola, Cello, Double Bass - Keyboard and Percussion: Piano, Celesta, Glockenspiel, Marimba, Vibraphone, Fender Rhodes, Xylophone, Timpani - Choral: Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Bass - Operatic: Soprano, Mezzo-soprano, Tenor, Baritone, Bass - Harp - Guitar, Bass Guitar
ChordMapMidi
This app is a MIDI controller for exploring musical chords and progressions in major and minor keys. It sends note information to other synthesizer apps on your device, making it a portable tool for musicians and educators.
- Explore chords and progressions
- Major and minor keys
- MIDI controller functionality
- Sends note information to synth apps
- Portable music tool
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ChordMapMidi allows you to explore chords and chord progressions in both major and minor keys, one finger tap at a time. Note: ChordMapMidi is a MIDI controller. It doesn't create sound on its own. It sends note information to synthesizer apps you have on your device. ChordMapMidi is useful for songwriters, MIDI musicians, music educators... especially in places where the only instrument you have is the phone in your pocket. Have fun exploring chords and progressions!
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: ChordMapMidi at 5.0 against Alto's 4.3. ChordMapMidi also leads on price ($3.99 vs $4.99). Alto's advantage is update cadence (every 2 months vs every 8 months) and review sentiment (67% vs 53%). On ratings volume, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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
Alto costs $4.99 and ChordMapMidi $3.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
ChordMapMidi holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.3. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 6 and 5 respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 67% of Alto's written reviews are positive against 53% of ChordMapMidi's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Alto ships an update every 2 months, ChordMapMidi every 8 months. The most recent releases landed on October 31, 2026 and November 1, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Alto | ChordMapMidi |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $4.99 | $3.99 — better |
| Rating | 4.3 (6 ratings) | 5.0 (5 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 66.7% of reviews — better | 52.9% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 6 — better | 5 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months — better | Every 8 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Paid |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 16.6 | 16.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 2 MB | 4 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Erik Lee | Malcolm Mugglin |
Customer experience
Alto
ChordMapMidi
In-app purchases
Alto
No in-app purchases
ChordMapMidi
No in-app purchases









