Retro Synth vs PocketStrum
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Retro Synth
Create authentic retro music with this vintage-inspired synthesizer app. Explore sound design with tone controls and vibrato, or upgrade for premium waveforms and studio effects. Designed for instant musical creativity, it offers a portable music-making experience.
- Authentic vintage sound recreation
- Tone control for sound shaping
- Vibrato effect for musical expression
- Zero latency real-time response
- Premium waveforms (Sine, Sawtooth, Triangle)
- Studio effects (Reverb, Delay)
- MIDI export
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Play a real pocket stylophone — then plug it straight into GarageBand. Retro Synth · Syntophone turns your device into a vintage touch-keyboard synthesizer, and now works as an AUv3 instrument inside GarageBand, Logic Pro, and AUM. Slide your finger across the keys and a warm, authentic square-wave synth comes to life. Learn built-in songs with light-up "follow the key" tutorials, record your ideas, and drop the instrument into your favorite music app — all from one tiny synth. Like the original, it plays one note at a time: one stylus, one note. Curious about Pro? Tap any locked sound and hear it free for 30 seconds. FREE FEATURES (Included at no cost): • Authentic Vintage Sound: faithfully recreates that iconic square-wave tone with modern precision. • Song Mode: learn songs with light-up "follow the key" tutorials, hold-to-repeat for repeated notes, and a star rating when you finish (2 songs free). • My Recordings: a full library to play back, rename, share, and delete your takes. • Metronome: a sample-accurate click with adjustable BPM and an accented downbeat to keep you in time. • AUv3 Instrument: use Syntophone as a plug-in inside GarageBand, Logic Pro, AUM and other AUv3 hosts. • Sound Controls: shape your tone from thin and bright to thick and warm, and add expression with vibrato. • Real-time Response: instant, zero-latency audio as you play. • Clean, minimalist design inspired by vintage hardware. SYNTOPHONE PRO (subscription): Upgrade to unlock the full studio: • Premium Waveforms: Sine, Sawtooth, and Triangle. • Studio Effects: high-quality Reverb and Delay. • Pro Sound Panel: a second detuned oscillator for a fatter analog tone, hands-on delay time & feedback controls, and live MIDI output — play GarageBand and other synth apps as a virtual MIDI keyboard. • 12 more built-in songs to learn. • MIDI Export: save and share your recordings as .mid files. WHY SYNTOPHONE? No setup, no menus to fight — open the app and make music immediately. Then, when you're ready, it becomes a plug-in in your studio. Note: The app includes an auto-renewable subscription (Syntophone Pro) for premium features. For Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
PocketStrum
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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
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Retro Synth at Free against PocketStrum's $9.99. PocketStrum's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 3). On ads, device support and iOS requirement 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
Retro Synth is free to download; PocketStrum costs $9.99 up front. Retro Synth sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month. PocketStrum asks for nothing beyond the download.
| Parameter | Retro Synth | PocketStrum |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — better | $9.99 |
| Rating | 4.2 (5 ratings) — better | — |
| Number of ratings | 5 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | — |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 14 MB | 1 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | +4 |
| Developer | Kerem ERSU | Tony McMahon |
In-app purchases
Retro Synth
- Monthly Subscription$3.991 Month
- Annual Subscription$24.991 Year
- Remove ads$2.99
PocketStrum
No in-app purchases









