iPhone pro audio apps vs Android consumer features

[peakester]

I am about to upgrade my smartphone. I have been using an Android phone for the last 2 years. I record to an Alesis HD-24 as well as an older version of Nuendo and am set up with, and have knowledge of PCs. I am posting this a month or so before Apple rolls out the new iPhones (iPhone 5 is about 2 years old.)

My questions are:
What pro audio apps exist for the iPhone 5? Are those apps a strong enough motivation to choose the iPhone format over the features (hi res camera and video, large screen, longer battery life, removable/replaceable battery, expandable memory) of the Android phones like the Samsung S-4 and the HTC One. I am worn out on my HTC Evo Shift with crappy onboard memory and have been looking forward to using the contract upgrade. I don't operate my studio in iOS because I don't use a Mac. I like the idea of having a decent portable frequency spectrum analyzer and level meter but what other pro apps are there for the iPhone? Is there a good list of them somewhere? I hope this is not seen as a phone forum question because it really is about the audio apps.

 

[Bobbsy]

Another forum I visit recently had a topic about this same thing and some of the recommendations to come up were:

"Decibel" is a simple noise meter showing short term peak, average, and max levels for dB A in digital form + a VU meter. As it uses the phone's microphone it's not that accurate, nor will it go much above 100 dB. However it's not bad for something I keep in my pocket. I note that there are others available, including one with Leq & timer, which claims better spec, for about £10.

"Metronome" - again there are several of these available. I like this one because it works like an old clockwork one, you slide the weight up or down to alter the speed & start it by pushing the arm to one side.

"TapTheBeatFree" - terrible graphics but it works well. Tap the screen to get BPM plus delay time in ms as well as half, third & quarter times.

"Tuner 440" - I don't particularly like the way this one works, in a way there are too many options - there are lots of others which I understand are better. It seems to be accurate though.

"ResistorCode" does exactly what you'd expect with a nice picture of a resistor with coloured bands on it.

RTA have some nifty little audio app's including an SPL meter that meets RoSPA criteria and a decent analyser that, while isn't SIA standard or the like, is a brilliant little reference tool - you need a 3G iPhone for the higher quality internal mic though.

Faber Acoustical's SoundMeter which works well within the limitations of the phone's mic (up to about 110 dB peak), & gives dB Leq, & Lp measurements, with Flat, A & C weighting available. Putting it side by side with a "real" (calibrated) meter, it really is remarkably accurate.

Of the above, I have several of the RTA apps and agree their stuff is good. I also have the Smaart single channel RTA (not to be confused with RTA as the company) which is very good...but the most expensive bit of iOS software I have. Finally, I have a nifty little thing for live audio playback called "Play Fade Pause" which is a simple way of building a music and/or SFX playback list in a theatre situation...works well. I now use it every time I'm in the theatre as a back up to my much more elaborate laptop based system.

I have no Android experience to compare but there is some stuff that works well. On the broader topic, I'm another cult of the Apple sceptic but have to say my iPhone "just works" for me.