Question 1

Is Chromatic Tuner Free?

Accepted Answer

There's a free in-browser version at chromtuner.com/tune — it runs the same YIN pitch-detection engine in your browser, no signup, no download. The native macOS app is a one-time $6.99 purchase that adds USB audio interfaces, strobe, needle and waveform displays, 17 instrument presets, 7 historical temperaments, capo, transpose, menu-bar mode, and offline use. No subscription, no trial-then-charge.

Question 2

What Does Chromatic Tuner Cost?

Accepted Answer

$6.99 one-time, paid through Stripe. That includes lifetime updates on the 1.x line — every bug fix, new tuning, new instrument preset, and performance improvement is free for life. No subscription, no recurring charges, no upsells. A future major version (2.0) would be a separate purchase, with a loyalty discount for existing 1.x customers.

Question 3

What Are the System Requirements?

Accepted Answer

macOS 14 Sonoma or later. Universal binary — runs natively on Apple Silicon (M1/M2/M3/M4) and Intel Macs. No additional hardware required; the built-in microphone works out of the box. Any USB audio interface or Aggregate Device that macOS recognizes (Focusrite, Universal Audio, MOTU, RME, etc.) is also supported via Core Audio at full sample rate.

Question 4

How Is Chromatic Tuner Different From Free macOS Tuners?

Accepted Answer

Chromatic Tuner runs natively on Core Audio, reads any USB audio interface and tunes to ±1¢ in real-world use, with no ads, no telemetry and no account. Free tuners typically run in a browser tab with whatever microphone the browser picks or hand the signal to a phone's built-in mic — auto-gain and noise suppression baked in before the tuner ever sees it. The $6.99 buys lifetime 1.x updates and direct email support.

Question 5

Do I Need an Audio Interface?

Accepted Answer

No. Chromatic Tuner uses your Mac's built-in microphone by default, and works with any USB audio interface or Aggregate Device that macOS recognizes.

Question 6

Does Chromatic Tuner Work Offline?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Chromatic Tuner works fully offline: pitch detection runs locally on the CPU, and no audio, telemetry or account data ever leaves your Mac. The only network request is the version bought here checking for updates about once a day, which you can switch off in Settings; the Mac App Store version makes none.

Question 7

Can I Get a Refund?

Accepted Answer

Chromatic Tuner is a digital download, so there are no refunds for a change of mind once you've downloaded it — try the free browser version at chromtuner.com/tune first. If the app doesn't run on your supported Mac or doesn't do what we describe, email support@chromtuner.com: we'll fix it, and if we can't, you get your money back. No forms, no support tickets.

Question 8

How Is My Audio Handled — Is Anything Sent Off-Device?

Accepted Answer

Nothing leaves your device. On Mac, iPhone and Apple Watch, the microphone stream is processed in memory and discarded — the app doesn't record, save, transmit, or analyze your audio beyond pitch detection.

Question 9

What's the Input-to-Display Latency?

Accepted Answer

Sub-50 ms perceived. Chromatic Tuner reads your interface at full sample rate via Core Audio, so the meter responds the moment you pluck. Browser-based tuners typically add 12–60 ms of WebAudio jitter on top.

Question 10

Does Chromatic Tuner Work With My USB Audio Interface?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Chromatic Tuner uses Core Audio at full sample rate with any USB interface or Aggregate Device macOS recognizes — Focusrite, Universal Audio, MOTU, RME, and others. Set your input device in System Settings → Sound and the app picks it up.

Question 11

What Instruments Are Supported?

Accepted Answer

Any pitched instrument in the human-audible range — guitar, bass, ukulele, mandolin, violin, brass, woodwind, voice. The 17 presets cover guitar (7 tunings), bass, bowed strings, ukulele, mandolin and banjo; chromatic mode covers everything else.

Question 12

How Accurate Is the Tuner?

Accepted Answer

Chromatic Tuner is accurate to ±0.14 cents on pure sine tones and ±1 cent in real-world use. The display turns green within ±5 cents; for studio work, keep going until the reading sits at 0. Detection uses the YIN time-domain algorithm with a 4096-sample window, octave-error correction for plucked strings, and median-of-5 + exponential smoothing for stable readings at ~22 Hz.

Question 13

Does It Run on Intel Macs and Apple Silicon?

Accepted Answer

Yes — both. Chromatic Tuner is a universal binary that runs natively on Apple Silicon (M1/M2/M3/M4) and Intel Macs. macOS 14 Sonoma or later required.

Question 14

Is There a Free Trial?

Accepted Answer

There's a free browser-based version at chromtuner.com/tune that runs the same YIN engine — try it before you buy the Mac app. The desktop app adds USB audio interfaces, strobe, needle and waveform displays, 17 instrument presets, 7 historical temperaments, capo / transpose, menu-bar mode, and offline use. If you're still on the fence after the browser version, email support@chromtuner.com for a direct reply, usually within a few hours.

Question 15

Will I Get Future Updates?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Every 1.x update is included for life with your purchase — bug fixes, new tunings, performance work, additional instrument presets. Updates ship through the in-app updater (a daily check that surfaces a Download button when something new is available) so you don't have to keep an eye on the changelog manually.

Question 16

What Happens When 2.0 Ships?

Accepted Answer

Your 1.x copy keeps working forever — no kill switch, no subscription expiry, no online check. A future major version (2.0) would be a separate purchase, with a loyalty discount for existing 1.x customers. Until then, every bug fix, new tuning, and performance improvement on the 1.x line is included free. There's no roadmap commitment for when 2.0 ships; the priority is making 1.x as good as it can be first.

Question 17

Can I Run It From the Menu Bar Only?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Enable Menu Bar mode in preferences and a 360 px popover appears next to your other menu-bar icons. The main window can stay hidden.

Question 18

Does It Support Alternate Tunings, Capo, and Other Instruments?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Chromatic Tuner ships with 17 presets: guitar (Standard, Drop D, DADGAD, Open G, Open D, Half-step Down, 7-string), bass (4-string EADG, 5-string BEADG), bowed strings (violin, viola, cello, double bass), folk (ukulele, mandolin, 5-string banjo), and pure chromatic. Capo position (off through fret 11), A4 reference, and ±11-semitone transpose are all adjustable.

Question 19

What Are Historical Temperaments and Which Ones Are Included?

Accepted Answer

Historical temperaments are alternative tuning systems used before equal temperament became dominant — each gives every key its own colour. Chromatic Tuner ships eight: Equal (modern default), Just Intonation (pure 5:4 thirds), Pythagorean (pure fifths), ¼-comma Meantone (Renaissance / early-Baroque), Werckmeister III (1691), Kirnberger III (1779), Vallotti (1779), and Young II (1799). All non-equal systems support a movable tonic from C through B.

Question 20

Does Chromatic Tuner Have a Strobe Display?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Choose from four display modes: a 31-LED horizontal bar with hardware-accurate ticks and a Knight-Rider intro sweep, a true Peterson-style rotating-band strobe with a smoothstep speed curve and a hard ±0.5¢ deadband (so 'in tune' is genuinely stationary), a vintage analog needle, and a waveform. Every mode shows the 7-segment note + octave + cents readout.

Question 21

Can I Tune a Violin, Cello, Ukulele or Mandolin?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Chromatic Tuner has dedicated presets for violin, viola, cello, double bass, ukulele, mandolin, and 5-string banjo (open G), in addition to guitar and bass tunings. The full pitch range (A0 to C8) covers everything from 5-string bass through piccolo. Chromatic mode handles anything else.

Question 22

Can I Transpose for B♭ Trumpet or A Clarinet?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Transpose is adjustable ±11 semitones — B♭ instruments, A clarinets, and capo'd guitars all read in concert pitch on the meter while you stay on familiar fingerings. Combine with the custom A4 reference (349.0–499.9 Hz, including 415 / 440 / 442 presets) for period-instrument or orchestral tunings.

Question 23

Why Does macOS Ask for Microphone Access?

Accepted Answer

Every tuner needs to hear your instrument, so macOS prompts for microphone access on first launch — the same prompt any audio app shows. Chromatic Tuner uses the input stream only for pitch detection in memory: nothing is recorded, saved, transmitted, or written to disk. If you click Don't Allow by accident, you can grant access later in System Settings → Privacy & Security → Microphone → Chromatic Tuner. The app is sandboxed under macOS App Sandbox + Hardened Runtime so it physically cannot access anything else on your Mac.

Question 24

Does It Work in a Loud Room or at Band Practice?

Accepted Answer

It works well with any clean signal — a piezo pickup, instrument out → audio interface, or built-in microphone in a reasonably quiet room. Stages and full-band rehearsals are noisier than YIN handles cleanly; the most reliable setup there is a wired pickup straight to your Mac or an audio interface DI input. If you see the 31-LED meter visibly hunting between octaves, the room signal is dominated by drum bleed or another instrument — switch to a pickup rather than the room mic and the readout locks in immediately.

Question 25

Is There an iPhone Version?

Accepted Answer

Yes — ChromTuner: Guitar Tuner is a separate free app on the iOS App Store, running the same full-precision YIN engine, with an Apple Watch app included and a built-in metronome. It's its own purchase, not a licence carried over from the Mac app. The iPhone page on this site has the full breakdown.

Question 26

Direct Download or Mac App Store — What's the Difference?

Accepted Answer

Same app, same price, your choice. Buying direct from this site gets you an instant DMG download with built-in Sparkle updates and supports the developer with the full purchase amount. The Mac App Store version installs and updates through Apple. Feature-wise they're identical — pick whichever channel you're more comfortable with.

Operating System	macOS 14.0 (Sonoma) or later
Architectures	Apple Silicon (arm64) + Intel (x86_64), universal binary
Pitch Algorithm	YIN, 4096-sample window with 50% overlap
Pitch Range	A0 (27.5 Hz) → C8 (4186 Hz)
Accuracy	±0.14¢ on pure sines, ±1¢ real-world
Update Rate	~22 Hz
Latency	Sub-50 ms perceived
Smoothing	Median-of-5 + exponential, 70 Hz high-pass before detection
Audio Input	Built-in mic, USB interfaces, Aggregate Devices, hot-plug detection
Temperaments	Equal plus 7 historical, with movable tonic for the historical ones
Instrument Presets	17 across guitar, bass, bowed strings, folk strings, chromatic — plus capo
File Size	~5 MB DMG
Network	Not needed to tune · optional daily update check
Privacy	Sandboxed, Hardened Runtime, Privacy Manifest, no telemetry
Updates	Lifetime updates for the 1.x line, included with purchase
License	Personal one-time purchase, single user

Pitch Perfect. Play Perfect.

Always One Click Away.

The Meter and the Strobe.

Nine Things, Done Well.

YIN Pitch Detection

Four Display Modes

Built-In Metronome

Reference Tones

Instrument Presets

Lives in Your Menu Bar

Custom A4 + Transpose

Keyboard-First

Light, Dark, System

Lives Wherever You Need It.

What Players Are Saying.

One Purchase. Forever Yours.

Questions, Answered.

Also in Your Pocket.

The Technical Bits

Ready to Tune?