Synthecaster vs Chordopia
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Synthecaster
This app offers a unique polyphonic instrument that blends guitar and keyboard elements, allowing for diverse playing styles and sound generation. It features intuitive controls, motion modulation for expressive performance, and a powerful synth engine with extensive customization options.
- Polyphonic synth engine
- String-like key rows
- Motion Modulation for expressiveness
- MIDI controller functionality
- Built-in effects (flanger, chorus, delay)
- Customizable synth presets
- Inter-App Audio and Audiobus support
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Synthecaster fuses elements from guitars and keyboards into a full range polyphonic instrument that is intuitive, accommodates a wide variety of playing styles, and generates an even wider variety of sounds. The instrument allows for technical playing styles such as shredding and complex chord formation and can be used as a MIDI controller. Now with Motion Modulation, Synthecaster is more expressive than ever. - Keys are arranged in string-like rows (tuned in perfect fourths by default) - Sliding across keys in a row results in legato sliding or portamento gliding from note to note - Sliding a key up or down will bend its pitch in the same direction - Several notes can be played on the same row simultaneously - Simultaneously play up to 10 notes on iPad Pro, 7 notes on iPad, or 5 notes on iPhone - The entire keyboard spans over 6 octaves (not including the range added by oscillator tuning) - Tune each row individually - Highlight or show only the notes from any scale How Motion Modulation works: - Any slider-based synth parameter with blue or green text can be tapped to view its motion settings - The parameter can be modulated by the device's roll (tilting vertically clockwise or counterclockwise) or pitch (tilting upward or downward) - The position of the parameter's slider is the base setting for the parameter - Tilting the device modulates the value either from its base setting to its minimum or maximum setting depending on the tilt, the modulation amount, and the modulation direction. Synthecaster's audio is generated by a powerful and highly configurable polyphonic synth engine: - Dual oscillators with individual tuning - Filter with envelope sweeping - Amplifier ADSR envelope - Soft clip, hard clip, bitcrush, and downsampling distortion - LFO assignable to amplitude, filter cutoff, or oscillator tuning - Stereo flanger, chorus, and delay effects - Over 55 preloaded synth presets including 7 motion presets - Create custom presets and share them using AirDrop or Mail - High quality stereo audio output - Inter-App Audio support - Audiobus compatibility with state saving Synthecaster is Core MIDI compatible as a MIDI controller. In Multi Channel mode, MIDI messages are output in OMNI mode, where each MIDI channel represents a synth voice (channels 1-7 on the iPad, 1-5 on the iPhone). To best replicate Synthecaster’s polyphonic expressiveness, try setting a separate instrument voice for each channel. The following MIDI messages are supported: - Note on/off events, by touching and releasing keys - Pitch wheel change, by sliding a key up or down - Polyphonic legato ties by sliding across keys. Compatible with a variety of apps including Animoog and ThumbJam. - Legato pedal on/off for legato ties, by sliding across keys For best results, play through speakers or headphones. Note: Not recommended for iPhone 4 due to performance issues.
Chordopia
This app helps musicians find guitar, ukulele, and mandolin chords. Input a chord name to see diagrams and hear its sound, or create a diagram to identify the chord. It supports custom tunings and generates voicings dynamically.
- Chord diagram generation
- Chord identification from diagrams
- Sound playback for chords
- Support for alternate and custom tunings
- Dynamic voicing search
- Extensive chord type library
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Chordopia is a chord finder for guitar, ukulele, and mandolin. Highlights: - It works both ways! You can enter a chord name and Chordopia will show you chord diagrams for many different voicings of that chord. Or you can do the reverse: drag the dots in the chord diagram to different frets, and Chordopia will tell you what the new chord is called. - Sound — Chordopia not only shows you a chord diagram for each voicing, but also lets you hear how it sounds. - Supports alternate tunings such as drop-D and DADGAD, as well as arbitrary custom tunings. - Chordopia is not a fixed chord book of predefined chord diagrams. Instead, it works by searching through all possible combinations of finger positions on your instrument to find the ones that produce the chord you want, all in a fraction of a second. It then ranks them based on how easy they are to play and how good they sound, and shows you the best ones first. - Chordopia knows more than 50 chord types for each of the 12 root notes for a total of more than 600 chords, not counting variants with an out-of-chord alternate bass. The number of voicings varies by chord, instrument and tuning; for example, for a 12-fret guitar in standard tuning, there are more than 100,000 distinct voicings to discover.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: Synthecaster at every 2 months against Chordopia's every 7 months. Synthecaster also leads on rating (4.9 vs 4.7) and price ($0.99 vs $3.99). Chordopia's advantage is review sentiment (100% vs 90%) and ratings volume (60 vs 14). On ads, in-app purchases, monetization model 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
Synthecaster costs $0.99 and Chordopia $3.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Synthecaster holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.7. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 14 and 60 respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 90% of Synthecaster's written reviews are positive against 100% of Chordopia's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Synthecaster ships an update every 2 months, Chordopia every 7 months. The most recent releases landed on October 3, 2026 and October 7, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Synthecaster | Chordopia |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $0.99 — better | $3.99 |
| Rating | 4.9 (14 ratings) — better | 4.7 (60 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 90.0% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 14 | 60 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months — better | Every 7 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Paid |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 12.0 — better | 15.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 4 MB | 32 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Daniel Resnick | Waxing Wave |
Customer experience
Synthecaster
Chordopia
In-app purchases
Synthecaster
No in-app purchases
Chordopia
No in-app purchases









