Tactus is a precision metronome and music toolkit for iPhone and Apple Watch. It's free — no ads, no subscriptions, no in-app purchases — and I intend to keep it that way. It started as something I built for myself, because I was tired of metronome apps that nagged me to upgrade mid-practice. It grew into something I'm genuinely proud of, so here we are.
Metronome
At its core it's a high-precision timer running from 40 to 240 BPM across nine time signatures — your standards like 4/4 and 3/4, but also 5/4, 7/8, 9/8, 12/8 and more. Tap Tempo is built in: tap the button a few times and the app averages your last four intervals to set the BPM by feel.
The click keeps going when you switch apps or lock your phone, and the screen stays awake while it's running so you don't lose your place mid-practice.
Auto-Detect
This is the one I find myself using surprisingly often. Hold your phone near any music, tap Listen, and Tactus analyses the audio through the mic to estimate tempo and time signature. It returns a carousel of the most plausible candidates — because sometimes a track could sit at 120 or 60 depending on how you feel it — and you pick the one that fits.
Play Along & Drift Meter
Play along to the metronome while the app listens back through the mic, and a live drift meter shows your actual BPM against the target — colour-coded so you can see at a glance whether you're rushing, dragging, or locked in. It's humbling in the best way.
Tuner
The tuner lives on the second tab and uses FFT-based pitch detection across eleven presets: standard 6-string tunings plus Drop D, Eb, D Standard, Drop C, Open G, Open D, Open E, DADGAD, and a few 12-string variations. An animated needle shows you cents deviation so you can tune accurately without squinting at a number.
Low-string detection works reliably too — the app checks sub-harmonic frequencies to find the fundamental even on a low E or B, which cheaper tuners often struggle with.
Stage Monitor
Tap Monitor and Tactus passes your iPhone mic straight through to your headphones in real time, with a 3-band EQ (low shelf, parametric mid, high shelf) and an input gain control. It's basically a pocket in-ear monitor — useful for hearing yourself alongside a backing track, or checking how an acoustic instrument sounds in a room without setting up a full rig. It uses the built-in mic even over Bluetooth, keeping latency sensible.
Apple Watch
Full watchOS companion. Beat 1 triggers a strong haptic, every other beat a lighter tap — handy when you can't hear the click. Start, stop, adjust BPM via the Digital Crown, and change time signature, all from your wrist. State syncs instantly between phone and watch.
That's Tactus. Free, forever, no catch. Built by a musician, for musicians. If you find it useful, Buy Me a Coffee — but you don't have to.