Anytune, the music-practicing app arrives for Mac, iOS version gets feature update

Last year, I took a look at Anytune Pro+ (US$14.99), an iOS app for practicing music with advanced tempo and pitch control tools that make it easier to visualize, hear and practice songs at your own pace. You can read all about the app in my mini-review here.

In December, the app was updated with some great new features, including folder and playlist support, new EQ options (panning and balance), lyrics editing and autoscrolling in real time and iCloud syncing of song settings between iOS devices to Anytune.

But the big news is that Anytune is now available for Mac, too. At $29.99, Anytune Pro+ for Mac -- available on the Mac App Store -- brings all the powerful and intuitive features of the iOS version to the big screen. In fact, users of Anytune for iOS will be right at home with the Mac version, as the two UIs and feature sets are very familiar.

I spent some time using the Mac app and was really pleased with the results. Importing songs from iTunes couldn't be easier, accomplished with a drag and drop. Straight away I was adjusting the tempo and pitch of songs, marking and looping specific sections and adjusting the FineTouch EQ (with varying degrees of success depending on the track) to suit my practicing needs.

I was glad to see my favorite feature of the iOS version made it to the Mac, too: the Interval Trainer. The Interval Trainer is designed to help you practice a particularly challenging part of a song. You loop the section, hit the Interval Trainer button and Anytune automatically slows down the loop and then repeatedly plays it back to you while gradually speeding up the timing after each loop, until it gets back to the original tempo. What a brilliant way to practice a riff, fill or lick!

If you're a music teacher, dancer or budding musician, Anytune for iOS or Mac is a invaluable addition to the rehearsal environment, making practicing more dynamic and productive.