Live BPM: Tap Tempo & Counter

Kostiantyn Pogorielov

Contains adsIn-app purchases

About this app

Live BPM is a BPM counter and live beat detector for musicians, DJs and producers. Hold the phone up and it reads the song BPM from the music, or tap the tempo yourself.

Four tools, one instrument: Counter, Track ID, Monitor and Match. Tempo is measured on your device, so the BPM counter works with no connection — only Track ID needs one.

Counter — the BPM counter

Hold the phone towards the music and auto BPM detection reads the beats per minute for you. Tapping is there for when the room is too loud, or the track is not playing yet.

• Listen: point the phone at the music and the beat finder works out the tempo on its own.
• Guided: give it a starting tempo and it locks on, even in a busy room.
• Tap tempo: tap the pad in time and watch the BPM settle.
• Back tap: with the phone in your hand, a tap on the back of the case counts as a press of Tap — eyes up.
• Halve or double the reading with one tap when a track comes back at half-time or double-time.
• Decimals: 128.0, not "about 128" — the tenths matter when you are beatmatching.
• Set the tempo range so the Counter searches only where your music actually lives.

Decimals, continuous detection and typed tempo are part of Counter+.

Library and sync

Every reading is saved as you take it and named for you — nothing to remember at the end of a set. The library is stored on the device, so it opens with no connection. Sign in and it syncs across your phones and tablets, so a tempo measured at rehearsal is already there at the gig. The library, renaming, collections and sync are part of Full Kit.

Track ID — know what is playing

Identify the song and artist while you measure the tempo. Useful when you are digging, and when a track goes past and you want the name as well as the BPM. Track ID is the one tool that needs an internet connection.

Monitor — watch the tempo move

A live chart of BPM over time shows what a single number cannot: whether the tempo is holding, rushing or dragging. Set a target tempo and a tolerance band, and Monitor draws the drift as it happens.

• The chart flashes the moment the tempo leaves the band, so you can keep playing and still know.
• Pinch to zoom, tap any point to read the tempo there.

Match — line two tracks up

The microphone reads the master tempo while the track plays, and you tap the cue against it — the difference shows as a signed percentage and updates as you go. Sync phase-aligns the two so the beat indicators line up. Tempo only, no pitch shifting.

Who it is for

DJs and diggers: find the song tempo in seconds with the mic or a few taps, catalog records, beatmatch with confidence.
Drummers and bands: a tempo monitor for rehearsal and for the stage, hands-free while you play.
Producers: get the exact music BPM of a sample before it goes into the DAW.
Dance teachers: check the tempo of a track before you build a routine on it.

How people use it

• What BPM is this song? Hold the phone up and let the BPM detector answer.
• Check whether the band sped up across a song, and by how much.
• Keep a record of the tempos from a set or a practice session in the Full Kit library.

Built for the stage

Dark and light themes, both high contrast, so it reads under stage lighting and in daylight. One hand is enough. With Counter+ the screen can stay awake through a whole set.

Free, Counter+ and Full Kit

Free gives you the Counter with microphone detection and tap tempo, with ads and a limited number of microphone readings.

Counter+ is a single payment that opens the whole Counter: no ads, unlimited microphone readings, continuous detection, decimals, typed tempo, a screen that stays awake, and the option to hide the BPM until the reading settles.

Full Kit is the subscription that adds the other three tools — Track ID, Monitor and Match — along with the library, collections and sync across your devices.

Live BPM: know your tempo. Trust yourself.

Ratings and reviews

It had potential, but as usual greed takes over. First of all it is not that accurate, I would have expected a least one decimal place on the detection. Then while you are using it you have a massive ad at the top, then a big blue ad in the middle trying to get you to subscribe. The sub price is also too expensive. Now way am I going to pay for a monthly sub, but may have considered if it was a one time perpetual license. TLDR: Too expensive, not accurate enough.

Nice app. Best in the genre. I want it to be more resourceful. I need the ability to sort by bpm ascending/descending. Plus, manual sort to tweak further. Spotify-shared services would be nice. The killer for me would be having the ability to remotely create a Spotify playlist from all or selected items in the list. Still in a class by itself.

It seems like a great app. If only it worked properly, i tried it multiple times, and it has given me problems every time with the auto-detection. Whenever i use the auto-detection twice, it will either freeze on the previous number it was on after using it once or wouldn't track properly or wouldn't track at all. Very poor.

What’s new

Back tap arrives, and Counter+ moves into Counter.

• Back tap (beta, on every plan): tap the back of your phone anywhere in the app to press TAP — it stands down while you walk.
• Counter now includes continuous detection, typed tempo, BPM to one decimal, hides the BPM until the reading settles, and a screen that stays awake — plus no ads and no cooldown.

Know your tempo. Trust yourself.