D'Tools vs POD Express Edit
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
D'Tools
This app is a comprehensive toolkit for guitarists, offering features like a chord library, scale explorer, digital tuner, and metronome. It provides professional-grade utilities to help players of all levels improve their technique and explore musical possibilities.
- Chord library with 7,000+ chords
- Scale and arpeggio explorer
- Professional-grade digital tuner
- Hyper-accurate digital metronome
- Chord finder by fret selection
- Lefty mode for chords
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Newly updated to support the latest iPhones and iOS 12, D'Tools (formerly Guitar Tools) is the ultimate hand-held utility kit for guitar players of any style or skill level, brought to you by D'Addario & Company, Inc., the world's largest designer, manufacturer and distributor of musical instrument accessories. Enjoy the full functionality of the Chordmaster and Scale Wizard apps, the core features of ProTune and ProTempo. Developed exclusively for iOS by the minds at Audiofile Engineering, D'Tools packs a wealth of easy-to-use, professional-grade guitar utilities into one elegant application for your iPhone or iPod touch. FEATURES: CHORDS Explore a library of more than 7,000 guitar chords by simply tapping and strumming the touch screen. View chords in every position up and down the guitar neck and hear each one played back in pristine audio. There's even a "lefty" mode for the oft-neglected southpaw. CHORD FINDER You know how to play it, but what do you call it? Select frets and finger positions to discover the proper name for your chord. SCALES Improve your technique by choosing from thousands of scales, modes and arpeggios to practice. Try multiple positions and alternate tunings to boost your versatility. Use "big stretches" for unique, challenging fingerings. TUNER Keep your instrument in tune with a professional-grade digital tuner, powered by Audiofile Engineering's precise AETune™ pitch detection technology. Choose between strobe or needle interface and access dozens of presets. METRONOME Keep in time with a hyper-accurate and visually stunning digital metronome. Set tempos numerically or by tapping the touch screen. Choose from multiple sounds and time signatures. --- D'Tools was developed by Audiofile Engineering, a leading developer of audio software for OS X and iOS.
POD Express Edit
This app provides advanced tone editing and preset management for a specific guitar effects device. Users can fine-tune various parameters, import/export presets, and back them up.
- Deeper tone editing
- Preset management
- Global settings access
- Import and export presets
- Backup and sharing presets
- Fine-tune cabs and EQ
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Quickly and easily access a world of deeper tone editing, preset management, and global settings on your POD Express device. Tapping or typing tempos, setting noise gate thresholds, fine tuning cabs, adjusting specific EQ, deep effects edits, and importing and exporting presets for back up and sharing: these are all now possible with POD Express Edit.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: POD Express Edit at 4.9 against D'Tools's 3.6. POD Express Edit also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 1) and update cadence (every 6 weeks vs every 4 months). D'Tools's advantage is iOS requirement (12.0 vs 14.0). 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
Both are free to download. D'Tools sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. POD Express Edit asks for nothing beyond the download.
POD Express Edit holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 3.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: POD Express Edit has 244 ratings behind it against 30, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 49% of D'Tools's written reviews are positive against 58% of POD Express Edit's.
D'Tools ships an update every 4 months, POD Express Edit every 6 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 9, 2026 and October 12, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | D'Tools | POD Express Edit |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.6 (30 ratings) | 4.9 (244 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 49.0% of reviews | 58.3% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 30 | 244 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months | Every 6 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 12.0 — better | 14.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 31 MB | 42 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | D'Addario & Company, Inc. | Line 6 |
Customer experience
D'Tools
POD Express Edit
Bugs and requests
D'Tools
Reported bugs
14 issues- Chord finder crashes app repeatedly
- Tuner stops working after iOS updates
- Microphone access not granted or requested properly
- Audio/sound stops working after app closure
- Metronome has no sound intermittently
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- App crashes when accessing 'Find Stores' or 'Find Teachers' features
- Chord finder displays 'no chord' for valid chords
- Tuner reads notes sharp or flat (off by semitones)
- App crashes after receiving phone calls
- Chord finder cannot recognize bar chords
- Cannot select open strings in chord finder
- App requires internet connection to function
- Incompatibility with iOS 7, 8, 11, and 12.5.7
- Tuner frequency range too limited (doesn't go below A1)
Requested features
13 requests- Mute button for metronome
- Bluetooth audio output for metronome
- Dark mode/dark background for tuner visibility
- Ability to change tuning in chord dictionary
- Auto-play feature for continuous chord/scale playback
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- Poly-rhythm metronome
- 3 notes per string scale display option
- Bass-specific scale options
- Ability to play pitch reference tone (440Hz, etc.)
- Support for alternate tunings
- Background metronome playback during multitasking
- Restore previous purchases button
- Microphone access request on app launch
POD Express Edit
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
D'Tools
- Buzz Feiten Tuning System$19.99
POD Express Edit
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is D'Tools free?
Is POD Express Edit free?
Which has better reviews, D'Tools or POD Express Edit?
Do D'Tools or POD Express Edit have ads?
Which is updated more often, D'Tools or POD Express Edit?
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