Reflection vs Side A
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Reflection
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Reflection turns your phone or tablet into a live view of the chords you play, the moment you play them. It's designed for standalone use with a MIDI instrument or piano, or for use with the free Reflection plugin for your DAW. Reflection shows you a giant, easily readable display of the chords you're playing, as you play them, even from across the room. Perfect for anyone with multiple instruments. SEE AND LEARN CHORDS - See and learn chords as you play - Look up any chord by tapping, typing, or your voice - See chords as piano or guitar notation - Play with several instruments and a metronome CONNECT YOUR MUSIC - Connect a MIDI keyboard directly to your phone or tablet - Or use the free Reflection plugin in your DAW with Reflection for Mac or Windows, to mirror what you play to your phone over Wi-Fi - Join another Reflection user, like a teacher, to see what they're playing. Try the code DEMO.
Side A
Experience your Apple Music library through a retro cassette tape interface. Design custom tapes, create mixtapes with liner notes, and share them with friends. Record songs as they play and relive the nostalgia of physical media.
- Cassette tape music playback
- Customizable tape design
- Mixtape creation
- Share mixtapes with friends
- Record songs from radio
- Share currently playing song
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Side A plays your music as cassettes. **Requires an Apple Music subscription.** See what's playing right now on a beautifully detailed cassette tape: spinning reels, worn labels, and a cassette player frame around it, powered by your Apple Music. But Side A isn't just a pretty player. It's a full tape deck. DESIGN YOUR OWN TAPES Pick a shell, write on the label in retro fonts, choose your ink color, and drop a photo behind the jewel case. Every tape is yours. MAKE MIXTAPES Build a mixtape from your Apple Music, name it, add handwritten liner notes, and give it a cover. Just like the old days. SEND A TAPE TO A FRIEND Text someone a mixtape. If they have Side A it opens right up and plays; if they don't, they get a gorgeous web page with the tracklist and your liner notes. "I made you a tape". SHARE THE SONG YOU'RE ON One tap turns your now-playing song into a clean, tappable card you can send anywhere. RECORD OFF THE RADIO Tape songs as they play: grab the last few tracks and turn them into a mixtape, just like catching a song off the radio. A note from us: We're a small team of Gen X kids who grew up on cassette tapes and Walkmans. Instead of lugging an actual tape deck to the gym, we wanted to glance at our phones and see our music spinning on cassettes again. Side A is our love letter to that era. It's a passion project, and we hope you enjoy it. If you have feedback, issues, or ideas, we'd genuinely love to hear them. Rewind your music. — Your tapes, mixtapes, and recordings are stored on your device — content is only uploaded when you choose to share it.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Reflection at Free against Side A's $2.99. Side A's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1) and device support.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Reflection is free to download; Side A costs $2.99 up front. Reflection sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Side A asks for nothing beyond the download.
| Parameter | Reflection | Side A |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — better | $2.99 |
| Rating | — | 5.0 (2 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | — | 100.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | — | 2 — better |
| Update frequency | — | Every 10 days |
| Ads | — | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | — | Paid |
| Devices | — | iPhone, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 15.6 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 73 MB | 69 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Adam Baker | FREDERICK AARON GOODIN |
In-app purchases
Reflection
- Reflection Pro$14.99
Side A
No in-app purchases









