Retrocord vs Sightlines
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Retrocord
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Retrocord is a retroactive multitrack audio recorder. It works like a tape that's always recording from your selected input, so when you play something worth keeping, you can save the last few minutes — after the fact. How it works Choose your audio input and a buffer length. Retrocord records silently in the background. When you want to keep what you just played, tap a duration to capture. The audio lands in your library as a recording you can play back, edit, organize, and export. Multitrack support Retrocord records every channel your audio input exposes, each as its own track. Connect a class-compliant multichannel USB audio interface — such as the Focusrite Scarlett series or similar — and capture individual inputs as separate stems. Mute and solo tracks during playback, then export them to your DAW to mix and arrange later. Edit before you export Retrocord lets you shape a capture without leaving the app: - Trim — set start and end points against a recording to keep only the part that matters - Split — cut a capture in two at the playhead to create separate recordings - Gain — adjust level in 3 dB steps, up to ±24 dB Your library, on every device Recordings live in an organized library — sessions hold captures, captures hold tracks — with waveforms, names, and durations at a glance. Your library syncs privately across your iPhone, iPad, and Mac through your own iCloud account. Lossless, and smaller Captures are stored as Apple Lossless (ALAC) — full 24-bit, 48 kHz quality at roughly half the size of uncompressed WAV. When it's time to move audio out, export individual tracks or a flattened mix as ALAC or 24-bit WAV, with your trim and gain applied. Use cases - Capturing jams and improvisations without arming a DAW - Recording stems from multichannel audio interfaces - Field recording, where the moment you want has already passed by the time you'd hit record - Interviews and spoken word, where restarting a conversation to get a clean take isn't an option - Practice sessions, rehearsals, and songwriting where good ideas surface unpredictably Details - Works with any class-compliant USB audio interface - Also supports the built-in microphone on iPhone and iPad - Stereo pairing toggle for interleaved L/R channels - Per-track mute and solo during playback - Non-destructive trim, split, and gain - Apple Lossless (ALAC) storage; export to ALAC or 24-bit/48 kHz WAV - Private iCloud sync across your devices, through your own iCloud account - No third-party account, no analytics — your recordings are yours
Sightlines
Shape sounds with a playable harmonic filter. Add motion, stereo spread, and unique textures to noise, samples, or synths. Tune it like a resonator or control it with MIDI for endless sonic possibilities.
- Harmonic filter bank
- MIDI control
- Sample loading
- Noise and synth sound sources
- Modulation capabilities
- Built-in chorus, delay, and reverb
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Make noise, texture, and percussion sing. Add motion and stereo spread to basic sounds. Load samples and sculpt them endlessly. Leave your mark on any sound with harmonic filtering. Sightlines is a playable harmonic filter. Built from a collection of resonant bandpass filters tuned to the harmonic series, designed to bring out a customizable set of musical frequencies in any sound. Tune it to a fixed frequency like a resonator, or send it MIDI to make it come alive as an instrument. Sightlines can be loaded as an instrument or an audio effect. As an instrument, use it with samples, noise, or oscillators to construct sounds never heard before. As an effect, add movement and interest to any sound, and even impart tonality onto unpitched input. SOUND SOURCES • Noise – filter variable color noise and random noise bursts for Sightlines’ simplest and quickest output. • Samples – send samples through resonant filters as one-shots or infinite looping versions of themselves, great for found sound and tonal samples alike. • Synth – skip the filters entirely and use Sightlines as a harmonic synth, where you can customize and modulate the proportion of each harmonic in the signal. • Audio effect – use Sightlines as an audio effect on any track. MOVEMENT AND EFFECTS • Manipulate overtones – stretch, bend, and reimagine the harmonic series to retune Sightlines’ output into realistic or indescribable sonic spaces. • Quantize frequencies – snap all of Sightlines’ filters to a scale, to impart that key quality onto any sound. • Balance bands – maneuver through the harmonic space by scanning, tilting, or spreading Sightlines’ bands. • End of chain – make your output shine with a built-in chorus, BBD-style delay, and reverb. FEATURES • Modulation – modify any control in Sightlines with multiple LFOs, sequencers, smooth random sources, and performance effects. • Presets – full preset control over every parameter in Sightlines. Cross-platform preset format for sharing with friends. • Waymaker – connect to Sightlines’ sibling application, Waymaker, for direct sequencing of Sightlines’ without MIDI routing. Also available for macOS and Windows in VST3 / AU / AAX formats from Aqeel Aadam Sound.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Sightlines at $7.99 against Retrocord's $19.99. Sightlines also leads on update cadence (weekly vs every 3 weeks) and chart position (#193 vs unranked). On ads, in-app purchases 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
Retrocord costs $19.99 and Sightlines $7.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Retrocord ships an update every 3 weeks, Sightlines weekly. Both last shipped on October 17, 2026.
| Parameter | Retrocord | Sightlines |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $19.99 | $7.99 — better |
| Rating | — | 5.0 (6 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | — | 100.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | — | 6 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks | Weekly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | — | Paid |
| Best chart rank | — | #193 — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 18.0 | 13.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 5 MB | 19 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Rocamr Labs, LLC | Aqeel Aadam |
In-app purchases
Retrocord
No in-app purchases
Sightlines
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Retrocord free?
Is Sightlines free?
Do Retrocord or Sightlines have ads?
Which is updated more often, Retrocord or Sightlines?
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