GarageBand is the pioneer of music making apps for the masses, and it remains unrivaled until today. Unfortunately, GarageBand mobile is (and will be) available exclusively for iPhone and iPad users. But worry not if you are an Android phone user, as we have you covered. If you are a modern-day musician who chooses to stay out of the Apple ecosystem, here are the 11 best music-making GarageBand alternatives for Android you can try.
Best GarageBand Alternatives for Android (Updated July 2022)
1. FL Studio Mobile
Built with Windows machines in mind, Image-Line offers a mobile version of its digital audio workstation FL Studio for Android. FL Studio Mobile is a multi-track recording studio and comes with multiple high-quality instruments, drum kits, and sliced-loop beats, each with configurable settings. There are also tons of effects such as Limiter, Reverb, Delay, EQ, Amp, and Mix to play around with in this app. You also get 99 track sequencers with intuitive editing options.
The sessions come with multiple undo and redo for all editable screens. And the app allows you to import and export midi files and share your songs via email or any supported cloud storage services. FL Studio Mobile offers us a high-quality, battery-friendly audio engine that efficiently draws your device’s battery juice. However, the music latency will depend on your device’s processing power.
Apps like FL Studio dominate the desktop scene and the mobile version is equally competent, as per our brief testing. It is frankly one of the best GarageBand alternatives you can download on Android.
Price:Â $14.99
Download FL Studio Mobile (Play Store)
2. Caustic 3
Inspired by rack-mount synthesizers and samplers rigs, Caustic is a solid Garageband alternative for Android. There are up to 14 machines, including Subsynth, PCMSynth, Bassline, and Beatbox, to choose from. You slide between machines by sliding the sidebar up and down or can pick one to play with by opening the machine pad.
Each machine comes with a virtual keyboard to create the tones of effects, parametric equalizers, and sequencers to modify the songs. The app is a heaven for electronic musicians, but traditional musicians may find the interface a bit overwhelming. The ability to save and export files is disabled in the otherwise fully-functional free demo. You can purchase a separate unlock key to access the full version of the app.
Price:Â Free, in-app purchases
Download Caustic 3 (Play Store)
3. Music Maker Jam
Ideal for budding music creators, DJs, and producers, Music Maker Jam is an Android app that lets you create music by combining loops – short musical chunks – that you can play over and over. There are over 300 music styles and an 8-channel mixer that will give you plenty of room to channel your creativity.
The app also allows you to record external voice, so you can use the feature to record your singing, rapping, or other kinds of sounds to add them to your song. After you have finished recording your song, you can share the track with the world via the sharing feature. You can also discover new music in the Music Maker community from other users.
Price:Â Free, in-app purchases
Download Music Maker JAM (Play Store)
4. n-Track Studio DAW
n-Track Studio DAW promises to turn your Android device into a complete recording studio. The app lets users record and playback both audio and MIDI tracks. It also allows users to mix those tracks and apply audio effects to enhance the quality of the overall recording.