StepLoom vs CronSequitur

StepLoom is a fast, touch-first electronic music sketchpad for making beats, loops, basslines, and melody ideas on iPhone and iPad. It gives you the focus of a compact groovebox without the weight of a full DAW, so you can start a rhythm, shape a synth line, try an AUv3 instrument, arrange patterns, and keep moving while the idea is fresh. Create drum patterns with a step sequencer, write melodic parts with piano-roll style editing, stack chords, add legato, adjust BPM, mix tracks, and switch sounds. Add Sample tracks by importing audio or recording directly in the Tracks view, then use the waveform editor to trim, reverse, normalize, tune, and shape One-shot or Loop playback. The project Media Library keeps custom audio available for reuse and arrangement. Turn loops into songs with three complementary arrangement views: shape Patterns and audio clips on the Timeline, launch quantized Patterns and Scenes in Session, or build visual paths and probability rules in Flow. Draw or record automation for mixer controls and supported AUv3 parameters. When you want to go beyond the built-in sounds, add AUv3 instrument or effect plugins, choose exposed plugin presets, open compatible plugin interfaces, and activate Plugin Sound directly from the sound picker. Optional iCloud sync keeps compatible projects and project media available across your Apple devices. StepLoom continues to work locally when sync is disabled. StepLoom is built for quick electronic music drafts: open the app, tap a grid, hear the result, and turn a loop into a structured idea. Main features: - Touch-friendly beat and melody workflow - Drum, melody, and custom Sample tracks - Step sequencer with playback highlight and loop control - Piano-roll style melody editing with chords and legato - Audio import and microphone sample recording - Waveform sample editor with trim, reverse, normalize, gain, tuning, One-shot, and Loop controls - Project Media Library for reusable custom audio - Timeline editing with drag, resize, layers, sections, loop ranges, and multi-selection - Quantized Pattern and Scene launching with Session performance recording - Blueprint-style Flow rules with Next, Jump, Random, Stop, and probability - AUv3 instrument and effect plugin slots - Plugin preset reading for AUv3s that expose factory presets - Plugin Sound option for playing tracks through AUv3 instruments - Mixer and AUv3 parameter automation - Mixer controls for volume, pan, EQ, filter, drive, meters, master gain, and limiter - MIDI input and external clock sync options - Optional iCloud project and media synchronization - Export full songs or the current pattern as audio, stems, or MIDI - Adaptive iPhone and iPad layouts StepLoom is for producers, beatmakers, songwriters, and electronic music learners who want a focused place to capture musical ideas before moving into a larger DAW.

CronSequitur is a step sequencer with a grid layout that feels like real hardware, not a menu system with deeply nested functions you may never find. Every step can carry more than a note. Program changes and control changes sit right beside the note, not in a separate menu. A 2 to 64 step grid and full time-signature control make odd meters and unusual pattern lengths part of the design, not an afterthought. The core app needs no purchase. Two optional in-app purchases add more: Standard, a one-time purchase, and Pro, a one-time purchase or an annual subscription. If you already own Standard, Pro's one-time purchase is offered to you as an upgrade. Each paid feature is listed below under the purchase that includes it; everything else described here is part of the core app. CORE APP • The step sequencer and step editor: program changes and control changes on any step, 2 to 64 steps per pattern, full time-signature control • MIDI output to your external gear • The built-in synth, with a tempo-synced delay and a two-band EQ • Transpose: shift a pattern to another key without rewriting its notes, saved with the preset • Undo and redo for every edit, with no limit until you save • Unlimited presets • The metronome's audio click, visual beat indicators and count-in, and tap tempo • Export, import and back up your presets and songs in CronSequitur's own file format • Build and edit songs from your patterns, with sections, repeats and tempo changes • Full playback of the demo songs in the Library's Factory section • A preview of the first section of each song in My Songs, which holds the songs you build and any demo song you copy or edit. Full playback of these songs requires Pro (Song Playback, below). • Daylight mode, a high-contrast display for direct sun STANDARD IN-APP PURCHASE (ONE-TIME) • Virtual MIDI Output: send MIDI to other apps on the same device, no cables • Tags: tag your presets and filter them by tag • MIDI File Import & Export: standard MIDI files, to and from your DAW and other gear • Device Profiles: built-in and custom profiles that show your gear's own controls and labels • Screen Flash: a full-screen flash on each metronome beat • Metronome Haptics: a vibration on each metronome beat (iPhone only) • Tap Tempo Guard: TAP must be armed with one tap before it changes the tempo, so a stray touch mid-set does nothing • Performance Octave: shift your pattern up to three octaves up or down, live, while you perform PRO IN-APP PURCHASE (ONE-TIME OR ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION) Pro includes everything in Standard, plus: • Song Playback: full playback of the songs in My Songs, start to finish, with every section, repeat and tempo change, a countdown to the next section and your own stage cues on screen • Section Pads: jump to or loop any song section live • Audio Backing Tracks: import audio files to play along with your songs • Tempo-Locked Playback: backing tracks detect their tempo and stretch to match your song • Group Sync: many musicians, one song. Each player runs their own part on their own device, and the whole band starts, stops, changes tempo and moves through the song together over local Wi-Fi. Every device in the session needs Pro. • Section Audio Tracks: give each song section its own backing track Independently made in Maine. Fair pricing, no dark patterns, no surprises, built by a musician who wanted this to exist.