Cleartune appears no longer to be available, Pitchlab is iffy. So the question is whether there’s a good tuning app available at all. Preferably free, of course, preferably of the quality of pitchlab, preferably available for both apple & android.
Dale
I use (and like) VitalTuner. It has a good selection of historical temperaments. Unfortunately it is iPad/iPhone only. There are both free and paid versions (the latter, called VitalTuner Pro, is only $5).
Cross platform compatibility seems to be a problem these days.
iOS: VitalTuner Pro is comparable. It allows for custom offsets and works well, particularly for pitch generation. Options for different types of sound waves.
I still have ClearTune on my iPad. Works fine for pitch generation, which is all that I really use. The needle microphone mode is really iffy. Works maybe 50% of the time.
Android: Somebody on this list pointed out to me that you can simply download the PitchLab APK and keep using it. That’s what I’m doing for now. If a future android update breaks it, I have GStrings downloaded as a backup. It also allows custom offsets and has lots of other customizations.
Dear members,
The discussion about ClearTune & Pitchlab made me wonder:
Are there persons on this list who are able to make such an application for Android/Apple and willing to maintain it or if not, pass on the code to those who will?
I think nobody will be too greedy to not want to pay 5 $/€ for a well-made app?
Remember that not everything in life is about money.
Have a nice weekend,
Chris.
Before someone undertakes such a project, it would be important to arrive at some consensus about the ways in which the available apps are not well designed or are lacking features. Making a new tuner app is a great deal of work, and getting things approved by Apple is no small task. If someone wants to do it, great – as long as the need and rationale are clear.
I used to use Cleartune (ok) and Pitchlab (excellent) on iPhone.
Now I’m using Airyware, which seems to me as good as Pitchlab. And you can enter all temperaments you like, no limit, afaik.
Le 02/09/2023 17:04, draak via The Jackrail écrit :
Cleartune appears no longer to be available, Pitchlab is iffy. So the
question is whether there’s a good tuning app available at all.
Preferably free, of course, preferably of the quality of pitchlab,
preferably available for both apple & android.
I’d add to your wishlist: preferably with a strobe rather than a needle.
<Now I’m using Airyware, which seems to me as good as Pitchlab. And you can enter all temperaments you like, no limit, afaik.>
This looks promising. I have five instruments to tune, so will give it a trial run and report.
Dear All
I’ve already done most of the comparative work for everyone, and it appears on one of the most popular pages on my website along with my wishlist for app features:
CBH Technical Library — Tuning VIII — Chromatic tuning apps
The price you may pay for any app is no indication of its suitability. In fact, some are downright useless or a blatant ripoff—hence a zero star rating.
Regards
Carey
Carey,
Thanks for this.
One clarification/correction: Pitchlab is indeed not available anymore for Apple iPhones, but is still available and 100% functional for Android phones.
100% functional,.but no.longer available through the play store. The APK can be “side loaded,” though.
You want absolutely everything for nothing? Don’t you realise there is huge effort in development, and then ongoing maintenance and support for software? Speaking as someone who has had a forty year career in software development and architecture, I find this almost offensive, and certainly absurd. This is exactly why such apps do not exist, or get pulled from the market.
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I may have pointed out already in the recent Cleartune topic that PitchLab was abandoned due to successful legal action from Peterson regarding the concept of stroboscopic tuning. Not copying code, but copying the idea.
No matter what you may think of that, anybody writing strobe features is going to face the same expensive lawyers. It is a very aggressive company.
The question of which tuner is subjective, and the answers can go on forever.
The suggestion that somebody in the list just knock up the best tuner ever with every conceivable feature, on every phone platform, cheap or free, is absurd. That is never going to happen. This exact request came up on HPSCHD-L before, I think it was, with the result of deafening zero response. It’s simply unrealistic. And again, I speak as a professional software developer.
I closed the Cleartune topic because it went way OT in multiple directions, and now we get this one.
I am happy for people to discuss preferred tuners, but unrealistic discussions about software development don’t belong here.
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I will say there are some open source phone apps (I am not talking about tuners, but free apps), for Android, which is itself open source, but if you look at them they are usually large teams, such as Firefox.
Le 03/09/2023 05:26, Andrew Bernard via The Jackrail écrit :
I may have pointed out already in the recent Cleartune topic that
PitchLab was abandoned due to successful legal action from Peterson
regarding the concept of stroboscopic tuning. Not copying code, but
copying the idea.No matter what you may think of that, anybody writing strobe features
is going to face the same expensive lawyers. It is a very aggressive
company.
I was aware of this, having been a member of the old list for over
twenty years. But Carey mentions a half a dozen or so of other apps with
strobes, so I don’t see why it’s irrealistic to wish for one in the
ideal app we’re talking about.
Le 03/09/2023 01:05, Carey Beebe via The Jackrail écrit :
I’ve already done most of the comparative work for everyone, and it
appears on one of the most popular pages on my website >along with my
wishlist for app features:
Many thanks for reminding us about this. But I tried in three different
browsers, and can’t figure out your ratings. The apps all appear to have
five little boxes, or stars, or whatever (different glyph in all three ).
I’d also point out that many apps, even when both versions exist, which
isn’t always the case, behave quite differently on Android and iOS
devices - this affects the display, the bugs (as we’ve seen here for
Cleartune) and certain functions. Many if not most of Pitchlab’s
so-called demerits don’t affect Android users, at least this one, so I’m
afraid your comparison is (iOS) biaised.
Dear All
Thanks for your comments on my apps page.
I would hope my text is clear that the apps I review are for iOS devices, and while Android versions may exist for some of those, cross-platform versions do not always have the same features or functionality.
For those apps where I’ve found Android versions, I’ve included a link to the Google Play store. For PitchLab, which was withdrawn from Google Play as well as from the Apple App Store, under the notes can be found a link to the Amazon store from where the Android version can still be downloaded.
Not being an Android user, I do not review any tuning apps designed solely for the Android platform.
Dennis, if you only see five empty boxes instead of my frank star ratings for each of the apps, I wonder if your computer is lacking a font which has those Unicode characters?
As for the Petersen iStroboSoft app, in my opinion it is a disappointing contribution from one of the first names in strobe tuning, and well-deserving my one star rating. (Warning: It’s not the lowest rated app!)
Regards
Carey
Demote them to zero. This is the company that sues you out of business for using a strobe, which is what caused the demise of Pitchlab.
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Carey, on my browsers (Windows 11, high res screen) all the ratings appear to be five star as the stars as so tiny you cannot see that some are in bold. That could be improved.
A simple browser agnostic fix is to give 4/5 for example. I don’t think we need the Hollywood film star rating.