Comparison

Harmonizer vs Synesthesia

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

Head to head
About

Harmonizer

This app helps infants develop perfect pitch by playing Shepard tones, aiding in pitch identity development. It also facilitates the study of chord relationships and displays the pitch of your singing.

Highlights
  • Shepard tone playback
  • Pitch identity development
  • Chord relationship study
  • Vocal pitch display
  • Infant music education
Features
Read full description

See and hear how music fits together. Harmonizer turns musical relationships into a colorful, interactive grid. Tap a hexagon to hear a note, or tap the triangle between three notes to play a major or minor chord. Sing or play a single note on an instrument, and watch the detected pitch light up. EXPLORE NOTES AND CHORDS Discover how neighboring notes connect through perfect fifths, major thirds, and minor thirds. Major and minor chords form triangles, making harmony something you can see, hear, and explore with your fingers. SEE YOUR VOICE Use the microphone to highlight the pitch you sing or play. Listen to a note, try matching it with your voice, and explore the connection between sound and color. CHOOSE YOUR LABELS Show note names or Movable Do syllables, with your choice of tonic. Keep labels visible, show them only when notes are active, or hide them to focus on the colors and sounds. EXPLORE YOUR WAY Choose from playing, pitch detection, or a mode that listens when you stop playing. Adjust the grid size to suit your screen and how you like to interact. HEAR HARMONY DIFFERENTLY Harmonizer uses Shepard tones—layered sounds that emphasize a note’s identity without a distinct octave. Every hexagon with the same note name produces the same sound. For curious beginners, students, teachers, and musicians, Harmonizer offers a hands-on way to explore pitch, chords, and musical patterns. No music theory knowledge is needed to start: touch a note and listen. Pitch detection requires microphone access.

About

Synesthesia

Experience music through a spectrum of colors, mimicking the sensory phenomenon of synesthesia. Use it as a dynamic mood light, a calming night light, or to visualize the pitches of songs and instruments.

Highlights
  • Music visualization
  • Mood lighting
  • Night light functionality
  • Pitch to color mapping
  • Microphone access for real-time audio
Features
Read full description

Synesthesia makes listening to music a colorful experience and is a wonderful mood light and soft night light when you want to calm down. Do you want to see colors when playing certain tones like people with synesthesia / chromestesia do? The app "Synesthesia - See the music in colors" enables you to experience music in color as well. Whether you use it to train you perfect pitch, to help you remember melodies or just for entertainment as a light organ while listening to your favorite songs - Synesthesia helps you to see the current pitch in colors. To experience the colors simply allow the app to access the microphone on the first start and then play your instrument or a song, sing, ... or just enjoy many color changing patterns even without music as a mood light or night light. Please note: People with synesthesia may experiences different colors for the same pitch. The app therefore uses it's own color scale (each musical note C displays a red color for example). Some of our users use the app as an replacement for their old light organs ... so that should work very well ;-) If you like music apps be sure to check out our other apps as well -> Piano Champion, Guitar Champion, Drum Champion, Voice Back .... and many more to come

Screenshots

Synesthesia4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Harmonizer at 4.1 against Synesthesia's 2.3. Synesthesia's advantage is update cadence (monthly vs every 33 months) and device support (3 vs 1). On price, review sentiment, ratings volume and ads 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

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Harmonizer holds the better App Store score, 4.1 against 2.3. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 16 and 16 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 45% of Harmonizer's written reviews are positive against 38% of Synesthesia's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Harmonizer ships an update every 33 months, Synesthesia monthly. The most recent releases landed on October 14, 2026 and October 5, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Harmonizer versus Synesthesia: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHarmonizerSynesthesia
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.1 (16 ratings) — better2.3 (16 ratings)
Positive reviews45.5% of reviews — better37.5% of reviews
Number of ratings1616
Update frequencyEvery 33 monthsMonthly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS17.08.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size3 MB31 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperMatthew McLaughlinChristian Auzinger

Customer experience

Harmonizer

All ratings16 ratings
Positive81.3%
Neutral0.0%
Negative18.8%
Written reviews44 reviews
Positive45.5%
Neutral11.4%
Negative43.2%

Synesthesia

All ratings16 ratings
Positive25.0%
Neutral12.5%
Negative62.5%
Written reviews8 reviews
Positive37.5%
Neutral0.0%
Negative62.5%

In-app purchases

None

Harmonizer

No in-app purchases

None

Synesthesia

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Harmonizer free?
Harmonizer is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Synesthesia free?
Synesthesia is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Harmonizer or Synesthesia?
Harmonizer is rated higher. Harmonizer averages 4.1 out of 5 from 16 ratings, while Synesthesia averages 2.3 from 16 ratings.
Do Harmonizer or Synesthesia have ads?
Neither Harmonizer nor Synesthesia shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Harmonizer or Synesthesia?
Harmonizer ships an update every 33 months, and Synesthesia monthly. Most recently, Harmonizer was updated on October 14, 2026 and Synesthesia on October 5, 2026.

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