PolyTune vs Cortex Cloud
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
PolyTune
This application provides a powerful and accurate tuning tool for musicians. It allows for simultaneous tuning of all strings, supports various guitar and bass modes, and offers drop tunings. Its technology is based on a highly-regarded pedal tuner used by professionals.
- Tune all strings at once
- Guitar/bass mode
- Drop tunings support
- Award-winning pedal technology
- Chromatic tuning modes
- High accuracy
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It's the most powerful tool you've ever had in your pants! You know ... for tuning. That said, this is one of those nuggets on the App store you cannot afford to miss if you value being in tune and you take your smartphone with you when you go places. Yes to both? Then it's a no-brainer! - Tune all strings at once! Just strum your guitar, and see the pitch of all strings instantly. - Guitar/bass mode - Drop-tunings - 1:1 port of the award-winning PolyTune pedal (Guitar Player, Guitar World, Premier Guitar, MIPA, NAMM Best in Show 2010, etc.) - Based one the world’s best selling pedal tuner used by countless pros such as Steve Vai, John Petrucci, Steve Morse, Orianthi and many more! PolyTune is the world's first polyphonic tuner that will have future guitarists wondering how we ever got by without it. The magic lies in a never before seen approach to tuning aimed at speed, accuracy and ease of use, which allows you to get in tune fast, and back to doing what you love: playing. The PolyTune iPhone app is a 1:1 port of the award-winning PolyTune pedal tuner, and PolyTune for iPhone delivers exactly the same features and tuning technology as the pedal version. The pedal version is the fastest way to tune on-stage, whereas the iPhone app is the fastest and most convenient way to tune off-stage. Specifications: - Reference pitch from 435Hz to 445Hz - Drop tuning from E-flat to B - 0.5 cent accuracy - 2 chromatic tuning modes: Needle and Stream - MonoPoly recognizes whether one or several strings are played at once
Cortex Cloud
Manage your Nano Cortex and access cloud-based content with an elegant interface. Browse and download presets, neural captures, and more. Control your device's profile and privacy settings.
- Control Nano Cortex
- Access Cortex Cloud
- Browse users and presets
- Download content
- Manage profile and privacy
- Share content
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Control your Nano Cortex and access Cortex Cloud through an intuitive and elegant interface. Browse users, Presets, Neural Captures, and more. Download items to have them display instantly on your device. You can also manage your profile and change the privacy settings for any files you have uploaded to Cortex Cloud. Benefits: Access deeper customization options for your Nano Cortex. Seamlessly download Presets, Neural Captures, and other items to your Quad Cortex or Nano Cortex. Manage your profile and the items you have uploaded to Cortex Cloud. Discover and follow users. Share Presets and Neural Captures with your friends. Cortex Cloud requires a free Neural DSP account and a registered Quad Cortex or Nano Cortex. Cortex Cloud is not required to use the Quad Cortex or Nano Cortex but provides deeper customization options for the Nano Cortex.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Cortex Cloud at Free against PolyTune's $4.99. Cortex Cloud also leads on rating (3.4 vs 2.8) and update cadence (every 6 weeks vs every 40 months). PolyTune's advantage is review sentiment (66% vs 29%) and iOS requirement (9.0 vs 13.0). On ratings volume, ads, in-app purchases 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
Cortex Cloud is free to download; PolyTune costs $4.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Cortex Cloud holds the better App Store score, 3.4 against 2.8. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 79 and 72 respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 66% of PolyTune's written reviews are positive against 29% of Cortex Cloud's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
PolyTune ships an update every 40 months, Cortex Cloud every 6 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 28, 2026 and September 25, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | PolyTune | Cortex Cloud |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $4.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 2.8 (79 ratings) | 3.4 (72 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 65.7% of reviews — better | 28.9% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 79 — better | 72 |
| Update frequency | Every 40 months | Every 6 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 9.0 — better | 13.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 45 MB | 100 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | TC Electronic | Neural DSP |
Customer experience
PolyTune
Cortex Cloud
Bugs and requests
PolyTune
Reported bugs
3 issues- Crashes on launch
- Unable to detect or tune certain strings
- Inaccurate tuning readings
Requested features
4 requests- Add support for 432Hz tuning
- Implement custom tuning options
- Improve compatibility with external audio interfaces
- Add a dedicated on/off switch
Cortex Cloud
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
PolyTune
No in-app purchases
Cortex Cloud
No in-app purchases
