Grab your friends, some iPhones and iPads and form a band with ZAP Guitar’s new Jam mode

There’s seemingly no end of apps that turn iOS devices into guitars – Israel’s InstruMagic alone has three of them on the App Store. We’ve previously covered its Songful app, and now ZAP Guitar is turning it into something akin to Guitar Hero at a campfire singalong.

The new Jam Session mode in ZAP Guitar allows the previously solo playing experience to be a social one. One user fires up the app and starts playing a song, then other users can join in by entering the Jam Session section of the app on their own devices. Bluetooth is then used to sync those other devices up to the ‘band leader’. Everyone else can then strum along to the leader’s song.

InstruMagic tells us that the app has been tested with up to four people simultaneously but that theoretically, it should support more.

The result can turn out something like the video below, where the InstruMagic team play The Cure’s classic Friday I’m In Love together.

To introduce some variety (or create a bigger cacophony, depending on how well you play) ZAP Guitar currently allows a ukulele and distortion and flanger effects to be download via in-app purchases. InstruMagic promises drums, keyboards and other instruments in the future, so that users can form a full rock band with their iOS devices.

At present, only the leader needs to have any playing skill, with everyone else just required to strum. It would certainly be interesting to see a more competitive edge added with each player’s skill rewarded. That aside, ZAP Guitar is a free download, so it’s worth a try next time you have some friends to entertain.

➤ ZAP Guitar: iPhone / iPad  

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Image credit: InstruMagic