MacLife - USA (2019-09)

Image rights from top: Studio Amplify, Limitliss LLC.

Cosm promises to make
music for your mind. It’s
a generative, non–linear
music app that’s inspired
by the likes of Steve Reich and Brian Eno,
and like many relaxing apps in the App
Store it makes carefully worded claims
about people using it to reduce stress
and anxiety, and improve concentration.
Whether it actually does those things is
going to differ from person to person,
but as an ambient music app and/or
relaxation app there’s a lot here to like.
The app is based around organic
sounds like rushing water and old–
fashioned instruments such as quiet

If you’re one of those people
who hate scrolling through
their list of friends, family
members and colleagues in
Contacts and being confronted with large
initials instead of friendly pictures of
them, Vignette is here to help.
The idea is simple: it scans your
Contacts list for social media details and
uses each contact’s social media account
profiles to slurp up pictures of them and
use them as their display picture.
It seems reasonable enough, though
even in theory, it’s possible to see
drawbacks. It relies, for example, on your
contacts having social media profiles and

Cosm

Effortless ambient music

$1.99 From Studio Amplify, sndmnd.com

Made for iPhone, iPad, iPod touch Needs iOS 10.0 or later

Vignette

Find photos of people in your Contacts app

Free (IAPs) From Limitliss, caseyliss.com

Made for iPhone, iPad, iPod touch Needs iOS 12.1 or later

GREAT

WEAK

Make your own chill–out sounds using the

clever Cosm app.

Vignettes needs details from social media

or a Gravatar email address to find photos.

percussion and the inevitable gong.

Simply select the instrument and tap

on screen to generate a tune; if the

instrument is a pitched instrument you

can tap higher or lower for higher or

lower notes respectively.

The longer you listen the more the

sound evolves, with every session

a unique experience. If you want to use

the results in a music–making app, Cosm

supports Inter–App Audio. You can also

save soundscapes in the app’s Journal.

The screen shows gently moving

abstract patterns as the soundscape

evolves, and it’s particularly fun on

headphones. You can set sleep timers

on the details of those profiles being

present in their Contacts card. Vignette

says that it can use an email address to

find photos, but that only works if it’s

linked to a Gravatar or social media

account. The other potential pitfall is

that lots of people don’t have pictures of

themselves as their social media profile

pic. They have their dog or cat, or an

avatar, or something completely random.

In practice, the results aren’t great. Of

506 contacts checked in our tests, 39

returned photos with updates, and most

of those were for contacts that already

had photos associated (from the days

when the Facebook app allowed iOS to

to fade out the music after a specified

period, or to gently wake you in the

morning. If you fancy the idea of ASMR

videos but don’t want sound effects or

whispering, this could be the app for you.

THE BOTTOM LINE. Cosm is a nice, if

niche, app for making and saving ambient

soundscapes. CARRIE MARSHALL

sync photos with it). You can set it so it

only returns results for contacts that

don’t already have photos, if you want.

Of the results that didn’t come from

Facebook, most came from Gravatar.

THE BOTTOM LINE. A great idea

in theory, but in practice it’s a little

underwhelming. KENNY HEMPHILL

maclife.com SEP 2019 61

Tough testing, trusted ratings