Guitar Tuner - Ukulele & Bass Reviews

Been a minute since I picked up my guitar and ukulele. This was always my go-to tuner. The free version. The one you could click to avoid a trial by clicking the x in the top corner or whatever it was. Now you are forced to either use the free trial of death ($8/week after three days) or pick a new app, which I will be. If GuitarTuner is making money, it is by scamming people who either do not realize there is a weekly fee, or didn’t remember to cancel their trial. No one would knowingly pay more than $400 a year on a guitar tuner app masquerading as a free service on GuitarTuner Store, and Apple should honestly do the right thing and remove the service like they did other insane fee charging apps.

What makes it worse, and the reason I’m bothering to write a review, is that the developer clearly either does not understand or care based on their responses to other reviews on the matter. We aren’t daft; we understand what a three day free trial means. We understand we can cancel it, but what is confusing is that you would purposefully neuter your app and then act completely ignorant as to why such an insane and immoral change as a forced premium-to-use model and sketchy free trial period/fee would upset years-long users.

This ridiculous, for lack of a clean word to use that truly shows how ticked I am, app refused to let me bypass their intro without subscribing to their premium “trial”. The “trial” automatically begins drawing money after it is over and is darn (again, lack of a word) near impossible to turn off. How do I know? My second plan after closing out GuitarTuner and clicking back on it again (The intro only appeared again) was to sign up for their subscription and immediately cancel. The instructions say you can close it out through iTunes. Okay, 1. iTunes is an incredibly hard platform to manage, as anyone without a computer science degree who has spent five minutes trying to work the thing out will agree with. and 2. This is an APP. iTunes is for music! That’s why it had “Tunes” in the name! And lastly, I DON’T HAVE ANY MONEY TO PUT ON MY CARD TO EVEN SIGN UP FOR THE THING! I’M DOWNLOADING A FREE GUITAR TUNER APP, DO YOU THINK IM ROLLING IN DOUGH HERE? ALSO, THE PREMIUM FEATURE IS $8.00? Seriously, GuitarTuner is ridiculous. Maybe if they got rid of this marketing scam at the beginning of GuitarTuner I would be able to actually see the rest of it, including the actual tuner portion. DON’T BUY UNTIL THIS SCAM IS OVER.

I used to use GuitarTuner all the time and it was really great. I used the free version to tune my ukulele and it worked very well. Usually when you open GuitarTuner it asks you if you want subscribe to the premium version which costs money, but up until now it has always given me the option to continue with the free version. Now when I open GuitarTuner it won’t let me continue unless I sign up for a 3 day free trial. I don’t want a free trial, I don’t want to use the additional features, I just want to use the basic free version of GuitarTuner but now you can’t use GuitarTuner unless you give it permission to charge you money. It feels like such a scam and I’m very disappointed that I will have to switch to a different app. I wish GuitarTuner would either give you the option to continue for free without the free trial that you would have to later unsubscribe from or just advertise that you have to pay to use GuitarTuner.

It's a guitar (and ukulele) tuner. Whether you need a reference tone, a chromatic tuner, or to tune to a standard or common tuning for the instrument, GuitarTuner gets it done. Nice UI, very intuitive.

The only reason I'm giving it four stars rather than five is that if it could also handle bass, mandolin, banjo, bouzouki and other stringed instruments in the same way as it handles guitar and uke - or if it allowed me to create a custom tuning of my own in order to mock up the mandolin or banjo - it would fit my needs perfectly.

UPDATE: since my initial review, 12-string guitar and 4- and 5-string bass have been added, and GuitarTuner has absolutely become my go-to for tuning, and I’m bumping it up to five stars for that. If the mandolin and banjo could be next, it would be absolutely perfect.

I downloaded GuitarTuner probably close to a year ago and didn’t like it as much then. The ads were very annoying and I found it difficult to figure out how to set up the tuning for either other instruments or keys. I used GuitarTuner again today after months of not and I’m very glad I kept it around. All I had to do was open it and start plucking my strings. It lets you know when your string is in tune and prompts you to move on to the next one until you are finished. It’s simple, easy to interact with, and most importantly, free. It’s a perfect tool for those of us who carry their phone more often than a tuner.
(P.S., GuitarTuner now offers tunings in different keys and for different instruments including ukulele, bass, and 12 stringed guitars)

Look, I get it. People that work hard to develop an awesome app deserve to get paid for their efforts. I’ve used GuitarTuner since 2013, and honestly could have sworn I paid a one-time premium fee a long long time ago (maybe to remove ads??), but maybe I just have that confused with something else. I would HAPPILY pay a one-time fee comparable to the cost of, you know, an actual physical guitar tuner. I’d maybe even pay a little extra because of the convenience of always having a tuner handy on my phone. But $8 a WEEK?? Are you crazy??? If I had been paying that fee the entire time I’ve used GuitarTuner, I would have spent nearly $3,000 just to tune my guitar at home myself. And to the developers - please don’t bother responding to my review with your “oh but you don’t have to pay because we’ve got this free trial” nonsense. What are we expected to do after the free trial? PAY $8 A WEEK or never use GuitarTuner again. *rolls eyes*

I have used GuitarTuner for years. It was a pretty good app. I liked that it gave me such precise feedback and allowed me fine-tune so effectively. I put up with an ad, it let me use its basic features for free, it was a good symbiotic relationship. If they’d offered it as-free for a few bucks, I’d have gladly paid it. If they’d updated it in a way that extorted a few bucks from me, I’d have grumpily paid it and continued to enjoy using GuitarTuner . Instead, they issue an innocuous “update” that completely locks it away unless you sign up for an $8/wk subscription? Not $8—$8 per week. Are you freaking kidding me? It went from free, to $416 a year? What kind of blithering nitwit would pay that, for any app? I am stupefied at the sheer audacity. Fine, I’ll go pay another developer a reasonable, or even an exorbitant price, for their tuner app. I cannot even process the hubris required to pull this stunt.

If I could give you less then a star I would, GuitarTuner hasn’t changed they make you click premium to use GuitarTuner and then you have to go through the whole mess of unsubscribing to them and they should just have the option in GuitarTuner to cancel it and its completely ridiculous. I won’t be using GuitarTuner till one of you people get your act together and stop scamming people. Also ! They make you pay for things and they don’t tell you it cost anything you’ll just get a thing from Apple saying you didn’t pay them yet ... well excuse me I thought GuitarTuner was free but I guess you can’t use anything in GuitarTuner without paying absolutely ridiculous. Don’t buy GuitarTuner because it’s free it ends up costing more then just buying one of the other apps that cost something. Sorry guys but you screwed up on this one ...

I have been using GuitarTuner for years and I’ve really liked it. In fact, I just used it last week.

However, I just tried to open it and could not get to the tuner without first accepting a “Free 3-day Trial” that triggers a $7.99 per week subscription charge. After reading the reviews, I discovered that you MUST accept the 3-day trial (and resulting subscription) in order to use the tuner. But, in order to avoid incurring charges, you must go into the settings and cancel the subscription. This is a sneaky business practice that borders on dishonest, essentially trying to make money on unsuspecting users who will inadvertently forget to cancel the subscription at some point.

At this point I cannot recommend GuitarTuner and will be deleting it from my phone.

For a while, GuitarTuner used to be free for all and you had the option to subscribe if you wish but were never forced to. Now, you can’t continue GuitarTuner without either starting the free trial or immediately subscribing. The devs say that you can start the free trial and just cancel when you’re finished but that isn’t fair at all. Why have only a limited time to use GuitarTuner for free when it was much better when we could use it for free at all times with only a few limitations and some ads here and there? And also still have people who’d like to subscribe as well? This is also unfair to many beginners who would like to use GuitarTuner and can’t pay. How disappointing I used to adore GuitarTuner. Please give us the option to use this for free again devs I’m begging you!

I downloaded GuitarTuner one night. Figured it’s free so whatever, I don’t play guitar at all but I have one and wanted to mess around with it. I signed up for what I thought was a weekly trial, I knew I would just unsubscribe soon anyways. I thought I did just that and never thought about it again. Until today, nearly 7 months later. I was just checking my iTunes payment history, even though I never purchase apps or do in app purchases. And what is this? I HAVE BEEN GETTING CHARGED WEEKLY FOR 7 MONTHS. Now I take responsibility for not watching my bank account closer or my iTunes charges closer, but seriously, make this more user friendly, if I download a free app, make it free. Make it clear what I’m getting or not getting. Make it clear if I’m paying, or not paying. Like GuitarTuner hasn’t even been on my phone for seven months.

When we read “GET”, we think it’s free. Many tuner apps are free. Then, when have downloaded it we discover that what we “GET” is a subscription not free. Of course the subscription is mention in the Apple store, but we are not told that without it we can’t either try it. What we are asked to try is the subscription. Sorry, that was a trick I didn’t like. I deleted your app and will never know why you say it’s the best.

I have bought many tuners, apps and not apps that you put on your guitar or in front of it etc. It was always very simple and clear. Other apps let you choose between free light version with tons of apps and a paying full version without adds. When we like the free app, we always buy the full version. That subscription system looks like more of a money trap. Good luck!

I have literally been using GuitarTuner for YEARS and opened it the other day to see it is now completely locked behind a paywall of $8 PER WEEK??? You have got to be kidding me!

Years ago GuitarTuner allowed you to tune your guitar to so many different presets — free! Then they locked everything except standard tuning which I guess I can understand.

THEN came the first paywall. You were asked to subscribe but you could click a little x in the corner to get off that screen and tune the guitar to the standard tuning.

Now I open GuitarTuner today and notice the x is gone. GuitarTuner is UNUASBLE. I am sorry but literally no one will pay $8/WEEK to tune their guitar! I’m just going to delete GuitarTuner and download a better one. I am so disappointed. I understand developers need to make money but could you not just put ads on GuitarTuner ? Pretty sad.

I’m happy to watch a 30 sec ad to tune my guitar but NO ONE will pay $8 per week for a 1 minute tuning job. I will not be using GuitarTuner ever again unless things go back to how they used to be. :-(

I used GuitarTuner for years on the free tuner. I didn’t mind the ads, just tuned my guitar and went on with my life. But a while back there was an update that forced you to either do the free trial and then pay or pay at the start, free version is no longer an option. So I decided to get rid of GuitarTuner . This was all about a year ago. I decided to give it another try today only to find they have not changed a thing. If you want people to pay for an app, then why don’t you just make GuitarTuner cost money straight at purchase. Disappointed. And yes I know you can sign up for a free trial but that’s not the free version I used. I don’t want premium features I just want to tune my acoustic and move on.

It tricks you into signing up for a monthly payment (for a *tuner*!) when you think you are getting a free version. It looks like two different buttons but it’s not. It’s only free for a week. Then it bills iTunes. I only figured it out because I paid extra attention and was suspicious.
It’s kind of a pain to cancel the iTunes subscription, you have to google it. Of course, that’s Apple’s fault. (The most non-obvious thing is clicking ON your actual Apple ID in Settings.)
Best part is they fill the screen that comes up when you finally find the Mange Subscriptions window with redundant choices in order to push the cancel button below the fold and hide it. It’s down there.
If this is how this company makes money, stay far away.

Wish I would have read the reviews first. I was looking for a quick up to tune up a guitar. It looked free. It’s not. I wasn’t about to set up a subscription that they hope I forget to cancel to be able to use GuitarTuner . I don’t mind paying someone for their work. But the way you’re trying to trick people is slimy. I backed out and downloaded a different app that let me tune my guitar up quickly. It’s a good app. I wouldn’t have found it without your help. Thanks for making me look a little harder. And developer, don’t worry about replying the same reply you’ve given to others. Not interested. I’ve moved on. Btw, first review I’ve ever written. Congratulations.

I’ve been using GuitarTuner for years and today I got a notification that I need to update because it’s no longer compatible with my phone’s iOS. I update and reload GuitarTuner and now it’s asking me to pay a subscription fee?? Moreover, it now only has the standard tunings included and I have to watch a 30 second add just to tune in Drop D??? What an absolute disappointment from a convenient app that I loved. If you really wanted money so badly, why not just sell GuitarTuner for a one time $5 fee? This greedy ad and premium subscription model that’s dominating GuitarTuner store is so disgusting. Deleting GuitarTuner . You guys should seriously be ashamed.

The most recent update included “under the hood improvements” but really meant “an attempt to take more money.” When I initially downloaded GuitarTuner , everything on it was free. Then after a while they changed it to a one time purchase to unlock all tunings and instruments. I paid that one time fee, and it worked amazingly. Now I don’t even know how well it works, as it is trying to force me to pay $7.99 a week just to use it for basic tunings! I uninstalled it immediately. I personally expect the team behind this train wreck to up the price even more in the coming months. Not worth the time or money.

This used to be a great app, one of my favorite music apps. Unfortunately, the developer recently added a subscription trial that is impossible to decline even if you only want to use the basic free version of GuitarTuner . The only purpose I can see for this change is to take advantage of people who don’t understand that they have to cancel the trial or they will be billed $8 PER WEEK until they figure it out. I would be happy to pay a reasonable one-time fee for GuitarTuner but nobody in their right mind is going to knowingly spend $400 per year for this. Absolutely dishonest.

This tuner app is amazing because it has so many different tunings already programmed. It is very easy to set up your guitar when you’re trying to change to a different tuning. I also love that it gives the Hz both where you are and where you need to be. You can make fine adjustments accordingly and not overshoot your desired string pitch.

I got GuitarTuner after trying three others to tune my ukulele, and all of them didn’t help at all. They wanted to guess the string I was playing, so I wasn’t able to find the perfect note. GuitarTuner had an option to turn off the auto so I was able to tune each string perfectly. When I got done, which didn’t take long at all, it sounded great!

I have been using GuitarTuner for about 6 months. Then one day I go to use it and it will not let me use it without signing up for a trial period and then a $7.99 monthly fee.
I can appreciate that these people would like to make money. But I would rather they just say outright that they are going to start charging and I can either start paying or stop using it.
Unethical business practices. I am speaking with iTunes on how to delete GuitarTuner as it is still listed under my subscriptions on my phone.
There are too many other tuner apps. Be careful.

I had GuitarTuner for about a year, and have really enjoyed using it to keep my uke, guitar, and harp in tip-top shape...until now. All of a sudden, it makes me subscribe to continue using it for nearly $8 per week. Not month, but week. And shame on iTunes for not making that clear to future users—they make it seem like it’s still free, and not a pricey weekly subscription. I understand that the companies and developers that create these apps need to get some financial reimbursement for the services they provide, but to pull the wool over the users eyes like this is ridiculous.

The interface is not immediately helpful. But GuitarTuner is so well-designed that it only took me about 30 seconds to figure out how to tune my ukulele. I’m sure it’s going to come in very handy in the future. Keep in mind that you will have to tune your guitar in a relatively quiet environment. But it appears to be very accurate.

I have had GuitarTuner for quite some time and it’s been great. I open it today and it now wants $7.99 a week for a subscription!! Why would I pay that every week when I could just go buy a tuner for $20. That’s a ridiculous price when there are plenty of other tuner apps out there. Do the math at 52 weeks a year and that’s over $400!!! Why would anyone pay that?? I can buy an amp with a built in tuner for that price and keep it for years. Good app when it was free, but not paying $400 a year for a tuner.

I downloaded GuitarTuner about a week ago with a two week free trial. While GuitarTuner itself is great, the price is not justified. They want to charge you a weekly fee to use GuitarTuner of over $7!!! What a rip-off. I made the mistake of accepting the terms for the two week trial, and now I am struggling to figure out how to cancel my subscription before I am charged. My advice--avoid the hassle all together and purchase a tuner for $15 at the store. You will get more for your money and save yourself the hassle.