Comparison

MODALapp 2025 vs PocketStrum

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

Head to head
About

MODALapp 2025

This application provides musicians and producers with a comprehensive tool to design sounds, edit parameters, and manage patches for compatible hardware synthesizers. It also facilitates firmware updates for your devices.

Highlights
  • Full-featured sound editor
  • Precise effects editing
  • Modulation matrix control
  • Sequencer and Arp programming
  • Easy sound management and patch ordering
  • General settings control
  • Firmware updates
Read full description

MODALapp delivers an immersive programming experience for musicians, sound designers and producers. Built around a straightforward interface, MODALapp represents all sound forming and performance parameters. MODALapp also allows you to update your hardware with the latest firmware version easily. MODALapp is compatible with the following MODAL hardware: CRAFTsynth CRAFTrhythm CRAFTsynth 2.0 SKULPTsynthesiser Skulpt SE ARGON8 series COBALT8 series COBALT5S CARBON8 series Full-featured Sound Editor • Easy Access to all Oscillators, Morphing Filters, Envelopes and LFOs to design your signature sound • Edit precisely the Effects section to add character and expressive ambiences • Use the modulation matrix to control sound parameters automatically Sequencer and Arp • Spice up your sounds with Sequence and Arp pattern, easily programmable via the dedicated App section • Add sound variates by modulating synth parameters via the four Sequencer Animation lanes Easy Sound Management • Copy and paste synth sounds and create patch orders according to your setlist • Upload new patches into your MODAL device Control the General Settings • Control all general settings of your MODAL hardware, incl. external sync sources, display settings, volume settings, and (when applicable) keyboard and external pedal settings Keep your MODAL hardware up to date • Update the latest firmware directly into your MODAL device

About

PocketStrum

Features
Read full description

The beloved electronic autoharp of the early '80s — the strum-anything wonder heard on records by Gorillaz, David Bowie and Brian Eno — reborn as a pocket instrument anyone can play in seconds. Press a chord button with your left thumb. Sweep your right thumb across the SonicStrings-style strumplate. That's it — you're making music. Every string is always in tune, because the plate re-tunes itself to whatever chord you're holding. MADE FOR INSTANT MUSIC • 12-string touch strumplate with true multitouch and velocity — strum slow and soft or fast and bright, with a haptic tick on every string • 108 chords from a 3 × 12 panel: hold Maj+7 for maj7, Min+7 for m7, Maj+Min for dim, all three for aug, plus Sus4 and Add9 keys • Four voices — Omni, Harp, Celeste, Organ — from a real-time polyphonic synth engine with shimmering delay, hall reverb and vibrato • A sustained chord-organ layer with its own volume fader, for that warm held-pad-plus-sparkle sound the originals were famous for • Seven built-in demo songs that play the instrument for you — and a LEARN MODE that turns every one into an interactive lesson: the song pauses at each chord change, the keys to press light up, and it rolls on the moment you play them • Tape mode: gentle wow & flutter, like a loved cassette • Left-handed strumplate option • Record your performance and share it anywhere with one tap • MIDI out: a "Pocket Strum" virtual source plays GarageBand, Logic, AUM or hardware synths straight from the strumplate • Six voices: Omni, Harp, Celeste, Organ, Bell and Pad A BAND IN YOUR POCKET • Five rhythms with drums and an auto-bass that follows your chords: Rock, Slow rock, Waltz, Bossa nova and Hip hop • Tempo fader from 60 to 180 BPM with a running-beat LED • Keeps playing in the background and mixes with Apple Music or Spotify, so you can jam along with anything TWO LOOKS, ONE INSTRUMENT • Classic: a cream-and-red hardware skin with bevelled plastic keys, red LEDs and ruler-ticked faders, straight out of 1981 • Modern: a flat, dark, stage-friendly UI • Switch anytime — your choice is remembered HONEST BY DESIGN • Pay once, own it forever • No ads, no subscriptions, no accounts, no tracking — the app collects no data at all • Works in portrait and landscape on any iPhone running iOS 17 or later Whether you're sketching songs, adding dreamy texture to a track, or handing your phone to someone who's "not musical" and watching them light up — Pocket Strum makes playing feel like magic.

Screenshots

MODALapp 20254 screens
PocketStrum4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: MODALapp 2025 at Free against PocketStrum's $9.99. MODALapp 2025 also leads on device support (4 vs 1) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.0). On 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

MODALapp 2025 is free to download; PocketStrum costs $9.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
MODALapp 2025 versus PocketStrum: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMODALapp 2025PocketStrum
PriceFree — better$9.99
Rating2.3 (3 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews0.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings3 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 15 months—
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — betteriPhone
Requires iOS15.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size34 MB1 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAlltronics Tech MFTG LIMITEDTony McMahon

In-app purchases

None

MODALapp 2025

No in-app purchases

None

PocketStrum

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is MODALapp 2025 free?
MODALapp 2025 is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is PocketStrum free?
PocketStrum costs $9.99, with no in-app purchases.
Do MODALapp 2025 or PocketStrum have ads?
Neither MODALapp 2025 nor PocketStrum shows ads.

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