Well, sure. If you’re Fender and you’re looking to join the mobile app race, of course you’re going to start with a tuner. The straightforwardly named Fender Tune marks the latest in the iconic guitar-maker’s recent attempts to diversify its offerings – most notably with the launch of a line of in-ear monitors a few months back.
It’s hardly an untapped space, but bringing the most instantly recognizable name in guitars to the table should give Fender a leg up, in spite of a late start. And you know what, it’s actually not a bad first foray into the app world. It’s simple and the interface is clean – two things you definitely want from a guitar tuning app, a product designed to be using in a pinch.
I’ve been primarily relying on GuitarTuna for my tuning needs of late. Really, really bad name, but there’s a reason the app is more of iOS’s most popular in the space: it gets the job done. No fuss, no muss. Ditto for Fender Tune.
The app really doesn’t like background noise. In fact, there’s a green meter up top that measures ambient sound. When there’s too much going on it’ll let you know. The primary interface is a big circle in the center. It automatically detects the nearest note and positions itself to the left or right, depending on how sharp or flat. I prefer GuitarTuna’s polygraph-styled layout, but tune does the trick just fine.
Fender’s free app also offers manual setting and 11 different tuning options by default. Users can switch between acoustic, electric and bass guitar and can save their own tunings for future reference. All in all, a solid first app outing for Fender. And, not the last. However you feel about the beloved instrument maker attempting to reinvent itself for the 21st company, it’s apparently looking to push into mobile software in a meaningful way.
Ethan Kaplan, who heads up the Fender Digital wing told TechCrunch, “Fender Tune marks the first product introduction from Fender Digital, the brand’s new digital subsidiary, and players first foray into the new ecosystem experience being developed for every player at every stage of their development.”
So, plenty more where this came from, it seems.