ChordBloom vs RasterFX
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side โ with what reviewers say about each.
ChordBloom
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ChordBloom turns music theory into a garden. Chords bloom as petals around the key you're in โ tap to hear them, wander to neighboring keys, and watch harmony make sense visually. EXPLORE HARMONY BY TOUCH Diatonic chords, the circle of fifths, relative and parallel keys, tritone substitutions, modal interchange โ each view lays the theory out as petals you can play. Long-press to cycle extensions (7ths, 9ths, 13ths), choose close, open, or spread voicings, and phrase chords as blocks, strums, or arpeggios. REAL SYNTHESIS, ON DEVICE A full SuperCollider synth engine runs right on your phone alongside classic synth voices โ warm pads, plucks, bells, keys, and ambient textures. Every note is synthesized live, and it all works completely offline. AI IMPROVISATION Let the built-in improviser play melodies over your chord changes while you drive the harmony. SAVE YOUR PROGRESSIONS Collect chords into palettes and build progressions you can come back to. MIDI OUTPUT โ OPTIONAL UNLOCK Turn ChordBloom into a chord controller for your whole studio: a one-time in-app purchase unlocks BLE MIDI to hardware synths and CoreMIDI to DAWs and other iOS music apps. No account. No ads. No data collected.
RasterFX
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Make any sound move. RasterFX is a playable modular multi-effects processor for iPhone and iPad. Use it standalone with a microphone, an imported audio file or built-in signals โ or load it as an AUv3 audio effect in AUM, GarageBand, Logic Pro for iPad, Loopy Pro, Cubasis and other Audio Unit hosts. BUILD YOUR EFFECT CHAIN Choose from Filter, Delay, Drive, Reverb, Grain, Repeat, Motion and Dynamics. Arrange up to six plates in series or split them into parallel A/B paths. Reorder the chain and the sound changes with it. MODULATE ANY CONTROL Patch LFOs, envelope followers, random and chaos sources, step sequencers, MIDI, macros, the XY pad or device tilt to any control. Create up to 16 modulation lines, with live arcs showing exactly how the sound is moving. PERFORM THE PATCH Morph between four snapshots on the XY pad. Turn eight macros. Hold four momentary throws for stutter, sweep, reverse and freeze. RasterFX is built to be played with one hand, not programmed and left alone. GENERATE, LOCK, EVOLVE Nudge a patch, reshape it or roll a new one. Lock the parts you want to keep, undo any result and save the seeds worth returning to. Evolve lets the patch drift over time while staying anchored to the sound you chose. SEE WHAT YOU HEAR Every effect has its own live visualizer. The CRT and halftone interface makes filters, delay taps, grains, dynamics and modulation visible without turning the screen into a wall of meters. RECORD THE RESULT Record the processed output to WAV, rename takes and share them from the app. FREE TO START. PRO ONCE. Free includes all eight effects, all modulation sources, every factory preset, three plates, four modulation lines and 60-second recordings. No ads, account, watermark or reduced audio quality. RasterFX Pro is a one-time purchase โ not a subscription. It unlocks six plates, 16 modulation lines, split routing, XY snapshot morphing, Evolve, A/B compare, unlimited recording length and your own saved presets. Your saved sound always plays back exactly as created, even if it uses Pro features; Free limits editing, never playback. Made for headphones, late at night.
Screenshots
Verdict
ChordBloom and RasterFX are too close to call on the numbers: across 5 compared parameters โ price, ads, in-app purchases and device support among them โ neither pulls far enough ahead to decide it. What separates them is feature set and interface, not measurable difference.
Scored on Price ยท Rating ยท Positive reviews ยท Number of ratings ยท Update frequency ยท Ads ยท In-app purchases ยท Monetization ยท Best chart rank ยท Devices ยท Requires iOS
Both are free to download. ChordBloom sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and RasterFX sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
| Parameter | ChordBloom | RasterFX |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Update frequency | Every 4 days | โ |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 โ better | 17.0 |
| Further details โ not scored | ||
| Size | 4 MB | 5 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | James Hurlbut | Chih Han Lin |
In-app purchases
ChordBloom
- MIDI Output$4.99
RasterFX
- RasterFX Pro$3.99
Questions
Is ChordBloom free?
Is RasterFX free?
Do ChordBloom or RasterFX have ads?
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