SpolaSong vs 88 Synthwave
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side β with what reviewers say about each.
SpolaSong
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SpolaSong turns your iPhone or iPad into a versatile musical instrument for playing, rehearsing and performing. Play directly from the on-screen keyboard, combine sounds, adjust effects and organize your songs into setlists so everything you need is ready for rehearsals and live performances. KEY FEATURES β’ On-screen keyboard for playing directly on your device β’ Up to 4 simultaneous parts/sounds β’ Volume, pan, reverb and EQ controls β’ Chorus and Delay effects β’ Tonal Pad for sustained notes and harmonic layers β’ Split, tuning, octave and velocity controls β’ Setlists with songs and sections such as Intro, Verse, Chorus and Solo β’ Stage Mode with large, simple controls for live performance β’ Import SoundFonts in .sf2 format β’ External MIDI support on compatible devices β’ MIDI Learn for mapping your keyboard controls β’ Optimized interface for iPhone and iPad β’ Available in Portuguese, English and Spanish SpolaSong does not require an external MIDI keyboard. You can play directly on the on-screen keys and explore the app using only your iPhone or iPad. Some sounds are downloaded from the internet the first time they are used. Once loaded, they are available for use within the app. Whether you are practicing, rehearsing or performing live, SpolaSong brings instruments, controls, effects, setlists and Stage Mode together in one interface.
88 Synthwave
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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: β’ 11 styles, 21 scales, 12 keys, tempo and density β’ 22 voices: pads, leads, brass, FM bells and keys, arps and basses β’ 4 drum machines, 14 channel voicings, 6 speakers, 8 racks and 8 effects β’ Seven-part mixer with a meter on every part β’ MIDI in, so your keyboard plays whichever voice you have selected β’ Export a MIDI file, a WAV mix, or stems, one WAV per part (in the app; in a host you record the audio there) β’ A note and a MIDI channel for every drum and every riser and impact β’ UI scale, so the panel is not tiny on a big iPad β’ 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
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: SpolaSong at none against 88 Synthwave's 1. On price, ads, device support and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price Β· Rating Β· Positive reviews Β· Number of ratings Β· Update frequency Β· Ads Β· In-app purchases Β· Monetization Β· Best chart rank Β· Devices Β· Requires iOS
Both are free to download. 88 Synthwave sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. SpolaSong asks for nothing beyond the download.
| Parameter | SpolaSong | 88 Synthwave |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Update frequency | Every 3 days | β |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No β better | Yes |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod β better |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 | 15.0 β better |
| Further details β not scored | ||
| Size | 392 MB | 17 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | R.R. PROCESSAMENTO DE DADOS E SERVIΓOS SS LTDA | Soft Brew Mobile |
In-app purchases
SpolaSong
No in-app purchases
88 Synthwave
- AUv3 Unlock$2.99
Questions
Is SpolaSong free?
Is 88 Synthwave free?
Do SpolaSong or 88 Synthwave have ads?
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