Comparison

Chords Weaver vs 88 Synthwave

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

Head to head
About

Chords Weaver

Features
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Chords Weaver is a hands-on chord instrument you play by ear. Pick a note on the keyboard and it filters to the chords that fit. Choose one, and two pads open up: one shapes its voicing (spread, inversion, octave) while the other suggests where to go next, the right side resolving, the left adding tension. Build a progression on the timeline, and a live piano roll shows exactly what will play. Press play and the progression comes alive with arpeggios, block grooves and strums, each chord ringing in time. Turn on Drift and the voicings slowly wander on their own, so the loop keeps evolving. MORE - Rich arpeggios: ascent/descent, ternary grooves (waltz, shuffle, jig 6/8), a lilting 7/4, and sparse syncopated patterns (charleston, tresillo, offbeat, push). - MIDI Out to your synths, DAW or hardware, with a 24 PPQN clock. - Four scenes, copy and paste, and a "roll a matching bridge" helper. - Optional cloud save: sign in and your progressions follow you to every device. The app works fully offline. - Five languages: English, Français, Español, Русский, 日本語. Free to download. Weaving, voicings, playback and saving are all free. A one-time Pro unlock adds MIDI/WAV/text export and live MIDI-out. No ads, no subscriptions. Signing in is only for optional cloud sync.

About

88 Synthwave

This application automatically generates complete synthwave tracks with intros, verses, choruses, and outros. It utilizes chaotic mathematical models for melody and rhythm generation, offering a variety of styles and customizable soundscapes. Users can also play along with the generated music.

Highlights
  • Automatic track generation
  • Chaos-driven melody and rhythm
  • 11 distinct synthwave styles
  • Customizable sound design
  • Playable interface
  • MIDI export
  • Radio mode for continuous playback
Features
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88 Synthwave writes complete synthwave tracks and plays them on its own synths. Press write and you get the whole track: an intro, verses, builds with a riser and a snare roll, choruses with the hook lifted over a pumping mix, a breakdown, solo or bridge in the middle, a final chorus an octave up, and an ending. That can be the arp left running, a fade, or one hit and silence. Everything is synthesized, so there is nothing to download. An analog-style polysynth with up to five detuned oscillators per voice, where no two notes are quite in tune, plays the pads, saw leads, arps and basses. A four-operator FM engine plays the bells, electric piano, brass and sax. Four classic drum machines sit behind a gated-room reverb and a sidechain pump. The tracks come from chaos maths. A Lorenz attractor draws the melody and the hook's rhythm, and a logistic map picks which steps the arpeggiator plays and where the ghost notes fall. Chaos on its own is noise, so a small model filters it: it is rewarded for consonant intervals and learns as it writes. The CHAOS / TASTE slider decides how much say each one gets. There are eleven styles, and each one sets its own scale, drum machine, rack and effects: Outrun, Night Drive, Darksynth, Dreamwave, Disco, Synthpop, Cyberpunk, Horror Synth, Space Disco, Miami Nights and Vaporwave. Tick STYLE LOADS RACK and each style brings its own sound. The sound is half the record. There are four channels (bass, pads and stabs, arp and keys, lead), each with a preamp or amp, a tone stack and a speaker: a studio monitor, a guitar cabinet, a bass cabinet or a car door. Eight one-click racks set a whole sound at once. The effects are the production: sidechain pump, gated room, chorus, tape, bit crush, phaser, width and tape hiss, with a plate, a hall, a spring and a tempo-synced delay on the master. Every track is built from its seed. Write the seed down and you can have that exact track again, note for note. A seed from the browser version rebuilds the same track here. You can play over it, too. The pads are the notes of the track's key rather than a piano keyboard, so nothing you touch is wrong. The sixteen-step lane stays in key when the writer picks a new track, and it follows your host. Both play any of 22 voices through that voice's own channel and out on its MIDI channel. Turn on RADIO and it keeps playing, picking a new style, key, scale and tempo for every track. You also get: • 11 styles, 21 scales, 12 keys, tempo and density • 22 voices: pads, leads, brass, FM bells and keys, arps and basses • 4 drum machines, 14 channel voicings, 6 speakers, 8 racks and 8 effects • Seven-part mixer with a meter on every part • MIDI in, so your keyboard plays whichever voice you have selected • Export a MIDI file, a WAV mix, or stems, one WAV per part (in the app; in a host you record the audio there) • A note and a MIDI channel for every drum and every riser and impact • UI scale, so the panel is not tiny on a big iPad • Live spectrum and waveform, and the chaos engine drawn as it runs There are two Audio Units, an instrument and a MIDI processor. Each part sends on its own MIDI channel and every drum has its own note and channel, so one instance can drive a whole rack of synths. The MIDI version passes your keyboard through. Both follow your host's tempo and transport, and one install registers both. The app is free and nothing in it is held back. Using the Audio Units inside other apps is a one-time purchase, and each AUv3 session plays for two minutes first so you can try them properly. No account, no ads, no subscription. Works offline.

Screenshots

Chords Weaver4 screens
88 Synthwave4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Chords Weaver at every 5 days against 88 Synthwave's every 3 weeks. On price, 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Chords Weaver sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and 88 Synthwave sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Chords Weaver ships an update every 5 days, 88 Synthwave every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 25, 2026 and October 26, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard1 real difference · 9 level
Chords Weaver versus 88 Synthwave: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterChords Weaver88 Synthwave
PriceFreeFree
Rating—5.0 (4 ratings) — better
Positive reviews—100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings—4 — better
Update frequencyEvery 5 days — betterEvery 3 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
Monetization—Free
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.015.0
Further details — not scored
Size33 MB17 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperLoup VuarnessonSoft Brew Mobile

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Chords Weaver

One-time1
  • Chords Weaver Pro$5.99
1 purchases

88 Synthwave

One-time1
  • AUv3 Unlock$2.99

Questions

Is Chords Weaver free?
Chords Weaver is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is 88 Synthwave free?
88 Synthwave is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Chords Weaver or 88 Synthwave have ads?
Neither Chords Weaver nor 88 Synthwave shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Chords Weaver or 88 Synthwave?
Chords Weaver ships an update every 5 days, and 88 Synthwave every 3 weeks. Most recently, Chords Weaver was updated on October 25, 2026 and 88 Synthwave on October 26, 2026.

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