Hum

I’m a singer-songwriter and this is my favorite app ever. I’ve been using Hum for years (I think I downloaded it in 2014, so maybe even from the start) and I have never had any complaints. It’s simple, well-designed, and effective for capturing new songs on the go. Unlike the default voice memo app, this one has a way to add and edit a title/ lyrics right along with the music. I’ve recorded over 100 memos on it and I’m not stopping! This app has a beautiful and very user friendly UX. I always write music and lyrics together, so the lyrics feature is a huge plus for me. The ability to add keys, tuning, capo #, and color coding and folders is great for reference too. Nearly every feature about the app seems intentional and supportive to artists. I’ve even recorded an entire album using just Hum and basic production software (a low-fi EP that was written, recorded, and produced while living abroad in Chile - “songs from Santiago”). I couldn’t be happier with my overall experience. The cherry on top is the Dropbox sync. I’ve been through many models of iPhones and my trusty Hums have always been safe. (Although it’s a good practice to keep an extra backup to be safe.) Best of all, it’s completely free and I have never seen a single ad, paywall, or pressure to subscribe for more features. Honestly, this is one of the few apps I would pay for if it came to that, just to support the talented, small, creative team that must have designed it. Thanks Hum creators and please never ever retire this lovely little app. Thank you for supporting creatives! 💜

The app is just a bloated journal and vocal recorder. There’s an entire page of buttons with musical notes and slides but no function. Every time I try to email the app crashes. I can’t believe I spent $3 on this.

It’s great cuz it’s easy to use and certain features make it great… If your phone is in low battery mode it won’t go dark where the app is running. Also it takes up much less memory on your phone than voice recordings. I also use it to send songs I’ve written via email to myself and friends. The quality is as good as can get for phone recording. It normalizes your recordings. I love this app. Salvador Bella Songwriting is my YouTube

The app has been crashing within 30 seconds of being opened. This is consistently happening until I turn Dropbox sync off. The app works without it, but I’m concerned about not having my work backed up, and also not sure how I’m going to move hundreds of song ideas from this phone the new one I want to buy, without the Dropbox functionality. Currently looking for a new songwriting app solution until the dev is able to address the sync issue. I emailed them a couple of times over the last week but received no reply, so I’m not hopeful at the moment.

So I lost a lot of song ideas on my iPad. Big deal? Huge deal. I loved this app. And maybe I can recover my files from a backup, but I doubt it (for technical reasons I won’t get into). If Hum doesn’t support iPad, then finding out by losing files shows a lack of transparency for an app meant to STORE DATA. HUM is only capable of storing data from ONE device? Did I miss the warnings? And the file names in Dropbox are “code” not the titles, like the ones Hum assigns when you fail to type a title. Not only THAT, audio goes to one folder and text to another. Not only that, but don’t change anything in Dropbox or you may screw it all up. Maybe I missed the warnings. Except I didn’t. Granted, you can save any given file however you want, one-by-one. But why bother when you get Dropbox, mostly to sync your numerous recordings? I love Hum, but one more complaint: is it me or did the sound quality drop from iPhone 7+ to 13? Sloppy.

Won’t share with voice memos or messenger. Wondering if this app is even supported anymore. A few years since last release. How do I get my money back.

I like to start with lyrics on paper, once things start to come together, this app makes the details so easy to capture. I love this app!

Hum makes better recordings than Voice Memos, but lately has been very spotty when attempting to share files. The sharing is a big part of making the recordings in the first place, so I’m really wishing the developers of the app would update it so we can get back to making sweet music together. This review turns into 5 stars once it’s updated!

This is like voice memos, but it adds some basics that are essential for keeping song ideas organized.

For me, songwriting has always been a disorganized process. Different ideas come in different ways; including lyrics that will sit for a year, guitar parts that don’t have any accompanying thoughts, and sometimes full songs that come all at once. This process wasn’t helped by needing to use multiple services to capture ideas in many different places. Hum has really helped me localize all of my ideas and processes in one area to be able to see the canvas in whole and work on ideas for as long as inspiration is available. Additionally, seeing ideas along side one another in a list, I can look for thematic elements and work to either eliminate duplication in songs or look for areas to combine ideas. Within minutes of using Hum, I knew it where it would add simplicity to my process. That simplicity helps me utilize tools in the most efficient process so I can get out of my own way when I’m feeling inspired.