15 Great Apps for Composers for iOS and Android (Free and Paid Options)

There are countless apps for composers, like Score Creator, Music Maker Jam, FL Studio Mobile, and many more. This list includes some great options, ranging from music notation apps to DAWs and beat making apps. 

Whether you’re in a spur of the moment or just on the road and want to keep your work going on and not waste any time, there are tons of different apps for composers that can help you with that.

These apps include both paid and free options and for each, you’ll be noted on which platforms the app can be found.

1. Score Creator

Screenshot of play.google.com

Get it on: Google Play | App Store (Apple)

If you’re a classically trained composer or musician, you’re probably used to using sheet music and reading notations. The same applies to writing your music as well. When looking for an app for writing notes, Score Creator is one of the best there is.

This is a simple, yet really versatile note writing app. It’s simple in a way that it’s really easy to write your music, as you get an adjusted keyboard and can type your notes the same as you would a text message. On the other hand, there are tons of different options with which you can play around and write down anything you need. You can also hear instantly what you’ve written, which is great for students and teachers as a way to practice.

This app is available on iOS and Android and has both free and paid options. The free version is just a demo, but you can buy three months or one-year subscription, or have a once-in-a-lifetime price for this app.

2. Music Maker JAM

Screenshot of play.google.com

Get it on: Google Play | App Store (Apple)

If you’re more into beat-making than writing notes, there’s something for you as well. Music Maker JAM is a great beat-making app. This is a completely free app that is available on both iOS and Android platforms. Through it, you can choose from more than 500.000 loops of music which you can combine and create great beats as you go along.

You can also record through an in-built 8-track recorder as well as play with changing tempos and harmonies while making your beat. The design is intuitive and easy to work with.

3. Maestro

Screenshot of play.google.com

Get it on: Google Play

Another great notation writing app. Maestro is a completely free app that’s available only on Android platforms, unfortunately. Even though it has a somewhat basic design, it has so many options that work perfectly.

You can write an unlimited number of staves in here, with complete control and options over notes for more than 100 instruments. You can also hear almost all and print out your creations easily as sheet music. Great app for anyone looking to have something on which to write notes more easily.

4. MuseScore

Screenshot of play.google.com

Get it on: Google Play | App Store (Apple)

Muse score is an app from the famous musescore.org website. It’s not a notation writing app. This is a simple, sheet music reader app, with a database of more than a million sheet music documents available. You can also upload your own music sheets. If you want to have full access to everything in this app, you’ll have to pay a subscription (monthly or yearly). It’s available on all kinds of platforms (iOS, Android, Kindle…)

5. Garageband

Screenshot of apps.apple.com

Get it on: App Store (Apple)

If you’ve ever had an iPhone or an iPad, you know what GarageBand is. This is a full-on, free DAW available only for iOS users on every mobile device. This DAW is no joke – you can use it to do almost everything a full-powered DAW can do.

There are tons of different options on it, from recording to composing and creating your own beats and loops. You can also use it to play tons of different instruments, with full quality. Of course, all of these have to be downloaded to be used, but you can really make anything you want with it.

6. FL Studio Mobile

Screenshot of play.google.com

Get it on: Google Play | App Store (Apple)

Another giant of free DAW’s, Fruity Loops is one of the iconic DAW0s of all time. Today, FL Studio Mobile keeps on the light on mobile devices. FL Studio mobile is available on all platforms and is free at that. There are some payments you have to make if you’re to use some samples from the sample library, but most of the app is free to use.

This is a full-sized DAW, through which you can edit or create a song from scratch. It comes with tons of options and effects. You can also connect MIDI controllers to your device and play music from loads of different instruments or play them on your screen as well.

7. Music Studio

Screenshot of play.google.com

Get it on: Google Play | App Store (Apple)

Another mobile daw, Music Studio is an app that is mostly made for people used to composing on pianos, and for that, you won’t find a better app out there. It’s available on both iOS and Android and you can use a free Lite version to get to test out the app, but for the full version, you need to pay a price.

This is a full-on DAW for mobile devices and you can use it for anything you would use a desktop DAW. There are 123 instruments available that you can play and create music with. Apart from that, you’ll find tons of different effects and options to play with and create your masterpiece.

8. Song Maker

Screenshot of play.google.com

Get it on: Google Play

Song Maker is a beat-making app that’s made for people who are not necessarily musicians. This is a free app for Android devices. Using this app, you can use lots of samples that are available for you through the app and mix them all up to create beats and melodies.

You can also record your voice over the beat you’ve made and share it with your friends. Using this app is really easy and is meant for beginners or people who don’t really want to get into the complexities of music recordings, but just make a simple beat.

9. Walk Band

Screenshot of play.google.com

Get it on: Google Play

Walk Band is an instrument-playing app. The main point of this app is that you can choose from loads of different instruments that you can then play on your screen and record that playing easily.

The design of the app is really intuitive and easy to use, even though it does take some time to accommodate the latency of the app when playing instruments. This app has both free (lite) and paid (pro) versions and is available only on Android devices.

10. Groove Mixer

Screenshot of play.google.com

Get it on: Google Play

We finish off this list with Groove Mixer. This is a sequencer app – it allows you to use an 8-channel box sequencer combined with a keyboard to play anything you want. You can choose from many different instruments and drums and easily create the music that you want.

You can also use several different effects and export your files in all the major file extensions in the use today. This app is available for Android and has both free and paid versions.

11. Figure

Screenshot of apps.apple.com

Get it on: App Store (Apple)

This app is exclusively for iPhone users and you can find it in the app store. Figure is a really cool music app that features a wide variety of options such as recording, mixing, and even using effects for your sounds with a variety of instruments to choose from.

There are also cool little features like samplers, mixers, or even loop sequencers featured in the app. It’s incredibly versatile due to the fact that it has a lot of options to go through. It’s essentially a mini studio with things like audio effects such as chorus, flanger, and similar.

12. BandLab

Screenshot of play.google.com

Get it on: Google Play | App Store (Apple)

BandLab is another composer app that’s usable on Android and on iOS. The app is essentially a music maker the features editing and recording of your tracks.

A lot of different things are incorporated into this app such as the use of various effects for vocals, beats, loops that can be used with a variety of genres.

The cool thing about this app is that you have a social network where you can connect to other people that are using it, as well as publish your own tracks and create your own audience.

13. Audio Evolution Mobile Studio

Screenshot of play.google.com

Get it on: Google Play | App Store (Apple)

Audio Evolution Mobile Studio is essentially a digital workstation. It’s a top-quality recording music studio incorporated within an app.

It’s usable on Android and iOS.

It features a variety of options like recording, creating and importing your own audio. You can also include samples, loops, as well as have the opportunity for multi-track editing.

The great thing about it is that you can connect it with a MIDI device to further broaden your spectrum. This app is considered one of the top-notch portable studios for composers and is suitable for more advanced users.

14. Caustic 3

Screenshot of play.google.com

Get it on: Google Play | Play Store (Apple)

Caustic 3 is an older app that still perseveres in the modern world of portable studios. It is essentially a palette of synthesizers that you can choose to create your own sounds, as well as effects, with the use of equalizers and sequencers.

While it may fall short with the versatility of the other apps, it does, however, have interesting features to explore and it’s considered one of the best for electronic musicians. It’s usable on Android and iOS so everyone can have access to it.

15. n-Track Studio

Screenshot of play.google.com

Get it on: Google Play | App Store (Apple)

n-Track Studio is another app for composers that falls on our list of portable music studios. The app allows the user to create, as well as edit sounds and melodies with the addition of putting effects on the recorded or created material.

The great thing about this app is that you can import your own sounds that are unfinished material so that you can finish it on the app. It has a free version as well as a paid version which allows more options to be used with increased functionality.

One other thing to note is that the app has its built-in metronome so that you can use it to record vocals and have a great studio experience.

Summary

Apps today are one of the easiest ways to work on improving your music skills. Not only are there tons of options out there, but they are both extremely convenient and useful.

Whether you’re looking for an app that can help you with notation or even just want to make some good beats while away from your laptop, there are plenty of apps for all types of composers.

Whether you want to write spreadsheets, produce music in DAW or just simply lay over some beats, you can find everything you might need on this list.

Brian Clark

Brian Clark

I’ve been a writer with Musician Wave for six years, turning my 17-year journey as a multi-instrumentalist and music producer into insightful news, tutorials, reviews, and features.

2 Comments
  1. Hello. The iOS link of the Score Creator app (https://www.musicianwave.com/best-apps-for-composers) is broken. Please fix! Thanks!

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