Comparison

Colorful Chords vs Aether Synth

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

Head to head
About

Colorful Chords

Discover 192 unique guitar chord voicings not found in standard charts. Explore major and minor chords with extensions, listen to audio playback, watch video demos, and find compatible keys. Includes a daily chord and a built-in tuner for 7 different tunings.

Highlights
  • 192 unique chord voicings
  • 7 different guitar tunings
  • Audio playback of chords
  • Video demonstrations
  • Built-in chromatic tuner
  • Chord of the Day feature
Features
Read full description

The Book of Colorful Chords brings 192 hand-discovered guitar chord voicings to your fingertips — sounds you won't find in standard chord charts. WHAT'S INSIDE 192 unique chord voicings across 7 tunings: Standard Drop D Double Drop D Open G Open E Open A DADGAD Includes major and minor voicings with colorful extensions — 7ths, 9ths, 11ths, and suspended tones throughout. FEATURES Audio Playback — Hear every chord played on a real guitar Video Demo — Watch each chord being played Works Well In — Each chord shows the keys it fits naturally Variation Notes — Ideas for embellishment and alternate fingerings Chord of the Day — A new chord delivered daily with optional reminder notification Built-In Guitar Tuner — Chromatic tuner supporting all 7 tunings in the app, with acoustic and electric reference tones CREATED THROUGH DISCOVERY None of these chords were copied from a book or website. Every shape emerged organically from years of exploring the fretboard — experimenting, listening, and following curiosity. Whether you're a songwriter looking for fresh textures, a session player expanding your vocabulary, or a curious guitarist ready to explore, these chords are waiting for you.

About

Aether Synth

This music creation app offers a professional synthesizer engine with dual-layer sound design and rhythmic motion. It can be used as a standalone workstation or as an AUv3 instrument within compatible iOS hosts for recording and production.

Highlights
  • AUv3 instrument support
  • Standalone synth workstation
  • Dual preset layering
  • Melodic and drum sequencers
  • Sampler tools
  • Multitrack audio workspace
  • Arpeggiator and motion controls
Currently charting
Read full description

Aether Synth is an AUv3 synthesizer, sequencer and sampler for iPhone Duo, iPhone and iPad, built for creating expressive sounds that move. Start with a sound, combine two sounds into something new, introduce motion, build a pattern, capture a sample, or simply play. Aether brings synthesis, sequencing, sampling and performance together in one instrument designed to keep ideas moving. CREATE YOUR OWN SOUND Build rich synth patches for pads, basses, leads, textures, atmospheres and evolving sounds. Aether is designed to make sound creation immediate. Shape a patch directly, explore presets for inspiration, or use Random Sound to discover combinations you might not have reached manually. The result can become a finished sound or the starting point for something completely different. DUAL — TWO SOUNDS BECOME ONE Dual lets you combine two independent sounds into a new composite instrument. Choose a sound for A. Choose another for B. Blend between them and shape the result. The two sides can complement each other, contrast with each other, or create something that neither patch produces alone. Save your favorite Blends and return to them later. MAKE SOUNDS MOVE Aether is built around motion as part of the instrument. Use Motion and Random Motion to animate sound over time and create patches that evolve rather than remain static. Movement can be subtle and organic or become a major rhythmic part of the sound. This makes Aether especially suited to evolving pads, shifting textures, rhythmic sounds and patches that respond like performances rather than snapshots. SEQUENCE IDEAS Turn sounds into patterns with Aether's built-in sequencer. Create melodic and rhythmic phrases, experiment with different rates and musical feels, and develop ideas without leaving the instrument. The arpeggiator provides another immediate way to transform held notes and chords into movement, while tempo synchronization keeps rhythmic material locked to the music. SAMPLING Capture and work with audio directly inside Aether. Use sampling alongside synthesis to bring recorded material into the same creative environment as your patches, patterns and performances. A sample can become part of a larger musical idea instead of living in a separate workflow. PERFORM Aether is designed to be played. Use the keyboard and performance controls to shape sounds in real time, then connect a MIDI controller when you want a more traditional playing experience. Velocity, sustain and expressive controls allow patches to respond dynamically instead of behaving like static presets. DISCOVER INSTEAD OF SEARCHING Sometimes you know exactly what sound you want. Sometimes you don't. Random Sound and Random Motion make exploration part of the workflow. Generate a new direction, keep what works, reshape it, combine it with another sound in Dual, and continue from there. The goal is not randomness for its own sake. It is getting from a blank idea to something musically useful quickly. STANDALONE OR AUV3 Use Aether as a standalone instrument on iPhone and iPad, or load it as an AUv3 instrument inside compatible hosts and DAWs. That means the same sound-design environment can work as an instrument on its own or become part of a larger mobile production setup. BUILT FOR MUSICIANS Aether brings together: • Synthesizer sound design • Dual layered instruments and saved Blends • Motion and evolving sound • Random Sound and Random Motion • Preset exploration • Sequencing • Arpeggiation • Sampling • Performance controls • MIDI • Standalone operation • AUv3 plugin support Whether you're designing an evolving ambient texture, building a bass or lead, creating a rhythmic patch, experimenting with layered sounds, or starting a new musical idea from scratch, Aether is designed to keep the distance between inspiration and sound as short as possible. Create a sound. Make it move. Turn it into music.

Screenshots

Colorful Chords4 screens
Aether Synth4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Aether Synth at 67% against Colorful Chords's 0%. Aether Synth also leads on rating (4.7 vs 3.0) and price ($2.99 vs $5.99). On ads, in-app purchases, monetization model 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Colorful Chords costs $5.99 and Aether Synth $2.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Aether Synth holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 3.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 2 and 9 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 0% of Colorful Chords's written reviews are positive against 67% of Aether Synth's.

Scorecard5 real differences · 6 level
Colorful Chords versus Aether Synth: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterColorful ChordsAether Synth
Price$5.99$2.99 — better
Rating3.0 (2 ratings)4.7 (9 ratings) — better
Positive reviews0.0% of reviews66.7% of reviews — better
Number of ratings29 — better
Update frequency—Weekly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidPaid
Best chart rank—#25 — better
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad — better
Requires iOS18.517.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size97 MB34 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperMichael SchmidtJacob Kirk

Customer experience

Colorful Chords

All ratings2 ratings
Positive50.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative50.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%

Aether Synth

All ratings9 ratings
Positive88.9%
Neutral0.0%
Negative11.1%
Written reviews6 reviews
Positive66.7%
Neutral16.7%
Negative16.7%

In-app purchases

None

Colorful Chords

No in-app purchases

None

Aether Synth

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Colorful Chords free?
Colorful Chords costs $5.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Aether Synth free?
Aether Synth costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Colorful Chords or Aether Synth?
Aether Synth is rated higher. Colorful Chords averages 3.0 out of 5 from 2 ratings, while Aether Synth averages 4.7 from 9 ratings.
Do Colorful Chords or Aether Synth have ads?
Neither Colorful Chords nor Aether Synth shows ads.

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