Comparison

Reflection vs Side A

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

Head to head
About

Reflection

Read full description

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.

About

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.

Highlights
  • Cassette tape music playback
  • Customizable tape design
  • Mixtape creation
  • Share mixtapes with friends
  • Record songs from radio
  • Share currently playing song
Features
Read full description

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

Side A4 screens

Verdict

The call

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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

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.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Reflection versus Side A: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterReflectionSide A
PriceFree — 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 purchasesYesNo — better
Monetization—Paid
Devices—iPhone, iPod — better
Requires iOS17.015.6 — better
Further details — not scored
Size73 MB69 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAdam BakerFREDERICK AARON GOODIN

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Reflection

One-time1
  • Reflection Pro$14.99
None

Side A

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Reflection free?
Reflection is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Side A free?
Side A costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.

Other comparisons