Chromatosis: powerful video synthesizer for iOS

Chromatosis is a mobile video synthesizer for iPhone and iPad, which immediately creates fascinating visualizations. The output can be displayed in 4K resolution on a large screen. The effects are highly adjustable and are influenced by music, time or various user inputs.

“I wanted something personal that reacts to music without needing a laptop or racks full of devices. When I couldn’t find anything suitable, I built it myself,” said the independent developer Ed Rooth about his creation, the early July In the App Store got.

Rooth developed Chromatosis Specifically for mobile devices. The app combines intuitive usability with versatile functionality and offers an elegant way to create audio-active visuals in real time-without professional equipment or technical previous knowledge.

“It is a simple and inexpensive way to supplement every maker project with live visualizations,” says Ed Rooth.

Enrich events and performances with visuals

Among other things, the app is aimed at video synth enthusiasts, who always want to have a serious instrument. In addition, it should be suitable for bands or DJs who want to visually complement their appearances, as well as for shops or events where moving art could enrich a space.

There are already apps like Visual synthesizer or Rhodopsinthat generate videos with the help of user input, but according to Ed Rooth, chromatosis offers a unique combination of functions that is not available in this form in other products on the market.

“It was important to me to offer the app without advertising and without the obligation to create a user account. The result is a real plug-and-play product. You connect a display and, if available, you can also get started,” says Ed Rooth.

Design or performance mode

The app offers two ways of working: In design mode, the user has all the options for controlling generators, effects, modulation and routing very precisely. So everything can be optimized until it corresponds to your own ideas. In performance mode, an interface optimized for shows and installations is available: the video edition continues to dance to the music, while the user controls it completely via MIDI.

Chromatosis runs based on Apple’s own graphic API Metal Native on iOS. It runs smoothly on all devices from iOS 17, also because it has its own rendering engine that keeps the latency low. The visuals can be displayed on a projector or screen via HDMI.

Currently only for iOS

The programmer Rooth, who has come from the USA, but has been living in Berlin since 2018, has invested thousands of hours in the development of his app. Since he is solely responsible for the development, he has concentrated on iOS so far. However, an Android version is not excluded if the app receives a lot of encouragement.