# Soundbeam — user reviews > 120 indexed App Store user reviews of Soundbeam by PZ Mobile Limited, rated 4.50/5 from 74 ratings. - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/soundbeam/id494982357/reviews - App overview in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/soundbeam/id494982357.md - Rating breakdown: 5★ 57 · 4★ 8 · 3★ 2 · 2★ 3 · 1★ 4 ## What do users think of Soundbeam? Overall sentiment: positive **Pros** - 👍 Intuitive and user-friendly interface - 🎨 Beautiful, elegant skeumorphic design - ⚡ Smooth performance with no lag or crashes - 🔬 Effective oscilloscope and spectrum analyzer functionality - 💰 Excellent value for price (under $1) - 📊 Real-time waveform and frequency visualization - 🎯 Works well with external audio interfaces and microphones - 📱 Compact pocket-sized oscilloscope alternative - 🎓 Great educational tool for learning about sound waves - 🖼️ High-quality graphics and attention to detail **Cons** - 🔊 Audio blocking issue when app is running - 📈 No timebase control for oscilloscope mode - ⏱️ Limited recording duration (14-15 seconds) - 🎚️ Difficult intensity knob adjustment - 📱 Poor support for newer iPhone/iPad screen sizes - 🔊 Processor noise artifacts at certain frequencies (7.7kHz, 15.4kHz) - 🎙️ iPhone's built-in high-pass filter limits low frequencies - 🔄 App not updated for iOS 6/7 standards - ⚙️ Lacks trigger and advanced oscilloscope controls - 🎨 Limited customization (background color, etc.) **Commonly reported bugs** - App crashes on iPhone 5 with no waveform display - Waveform display not appearing despite controls working - Quarter-second latency between audio and display - Moving waveform displayed even when music is paused - iPhone reset during app usage - Orientation rotation not intuitive (tap top-left corner undocumented) **Most requested features** - Longer recording capability (with IAP option) - Horizontal zoom in waveform mode with time scale display - X/Y function for advanced analysis - Timebase adjustment controls - Trigger functionality - iPad-specific universal app version - Absolute SPL (Sound Pressure Level) measurement - dB level display in waveform mode - Black background option for cleaner display - Support for internal audio playback monitoring - Music library integration as visualizer - Lower frequency range support (down to 10-20Hz) - Record and compare feature for sound matching - Adjustable scan rate for slow sampling ## Newest reviews (15 of 120) ### 4/5 — GODZILLA san *2024-03-03* シンクロスコープを思い出して今も時々起動しています。貴重なアプリです。 ### 5/5 — Stylish *2017-05-03* Thanks for the continuous support ### 5/5 — ONE OF A KIND *2016-10-29* Absolutely LOVE Soundbeam and especially appreciate the ability to record and save audio + video. My two requests are: enable longer recordings (IAP for this function would be welcome and purchased immediately) and (far less important) the ability to adjust background color from the default aqua-green. Regardless Soundbeam is awesome as-is. ### 5/5 — Very useful *2015-07-31* Quite useful to capture oscilloscope waveform videos for synthesizer videos, except it only records 14 second videos ... I was looking for an IAP for longer videos immediately, but couldn't find one. ### 5/5 — Nice *2015-05-10, version 1.5* My iPhone reset when I was playing with the app :) Any plans for supporting 6/6 Plus? ### 5/5 — Great and fun app *2014-11-07* This is really cool if you're an engineer or geek. Well worth $.99.. I'm sure the iPhone's mic has a certain frequency range, but does it really cutoff at 100hz? Would be nice if it could go lower, preferably down to 20 or so hz, which I'm sure the mic isn't capable of. Maybe with an external mic the scale could shift down to 10hz? Please make it as low as possible! ### 5/5 — for 69p it is a no brainer *2014-10-05* I have got so much use out of this in the 2 days since I bought it, and for 69p nowadays that isn't bad at all. Very limited, obviously, but as a cheap waveform visualizer it really is very useful. ### 5/5 — Very good! *2014-01-11, version 1.5* But could you please include support for iPad too??? Make it universal, it is such a beautiful app to see in a glorious display... ### 4/5 — Good as far as it goes. *2013-11-19* Doesn't sample slow enough for some applications. I need to display several seconds of data on the screen. ### 5/5 — Great app *2013-09-22, version 1.5* I only wish it could do absolute SPL, otherwise perfect! Love the way the user can zoom in on frequency and dB; very useful! ### 4/5 — Very useful *2013-08-29, version 1.5* Love this app! I am an opera singer and this app tells me, basically, if my harmonics are lining up properly. Of course, if you want to understand what that means, ask someone. :-) ### 5/5 — Great app *2013-07-13* I always wanted a spectrum analyzer and am really pleased with how this performs. It has helped me track down some resonances in our auditorium. I don't run sound without my iPad handy now. ### 4/5 — Soundbeam *2013-07-07* Great in a science lesson on a iPad but wanted more detail of the sound ### 4/5 — Superb *2013-07-04* Great aid for teaching waves and CROs. ### 5/5 — Très pratique pour mesurer le niveau de bruit par fréquence *2013-07-03* Logiciel bien fait pour faire des mesures par fréquence ## Most critical reviews (10 lowest-rated) ### 1/5 — Can’t listen to audio while app is running. *2022-12-19, version 1.9* Good luck trying to listen to your signal via an interface , the app blocks all audio when the Scope is running , utterly useless. ### 1/5 — Pretty, but pretty useless as a scope.. *2014-11-09* ... It works on an ipad, and I eventually got it to turn round after I had accidentally found the back. (No instructions on how to do this in the help pages, nor online). Tap on the top left corner! However, the reason for a one star rating is: - this app is sold as an oscilloscope, albeit a simple one. - it has no control over the time base. D'oh! Has the author never used an oscilloscope? ### 1/5 — Was good *2014-06-03* Was a great little app that I used now and then but, now doesn't seem to work at all on my iPhone 5. The app starts up and all the controls work but no wave form is ever displayed. I have even tried deleting and re installing to no affect. ### 1/5 — Only a toy *2013-08-22, version 1.5* Useless as an oscilloscope. You can't change the scan rate. It might have some use as an audio spectrometer. I consider this a waste of 99 cents. ### 1/5 — Why? *2013-01-19, version 1.5* I mean, there really is no point..... The other ones they have out there are far better .... LAME👎 ### 1/5 — ??? *2012-11-08, version 1.5* I'm a musician and i have no idea what the benefit of this app is!!! It might be fun for a 4- year old, but useless otherwise. Where are all the stars coming from? ### 2/5 — Neat idea, but not updated. *2014-01-22, version 1.5* Neat app, but hasn't been updated in well over a year. Doesn't take advantage of iOS 7 or iPhone 5 screen size. ### 2/5 — iPod library?? *2013-05-24, version 1.5* I just assumed it would play music from the ipod library and be a nifty visualizer. But it's not. It's of no real use to me as it is. Kinda neat but it's one of those apps I'll play with once and never use again. ### 2/5 — Just for gags *2013-01-19, version 1.5* I agree with my fellow musician's remark below, there's really nothing useful you can do with this app except maybe use it for some shortlived gags. A pity though because the idea would be good. I'd love for the app to pick up internal sounds (it's technically possible) and show the wave forms in an oscillator. ### 2/5 — Ok.. *2012-11-08, version 1.3* Should be able to make background black so the screen only shows the wave. ## Most praised reviews (10 highest-rated) ### 5/5 — Super handy tool *2026-01-19* Other than the processor noise that seems to sneak in at 7.7 and 15k4 hz, absolutely perfect. ( ok, there’s a ton more things it could do but sometimes this is all you need!) ### 5/5 — I think I am one of the first people to download this app when it first came out years ago! *2025-02-01* Very powerful and robust little app! A fascinating, teaching aid for both technical and non-Technical applications! Extremely interesting!!! ### 5/5 — Awesome little oscilloscope! *2024-11-25* This is a delightful app that functions as an oscilloscope for audio frequencies. I used an audio frequency generator (Function Generator Pro) on one device and plugged it into my iPhone via an audio cable and was able to view sine, square and triangle waveforms as if I were using an actual physical oscilloscope. I also built an electronic circuit to generate a sine wave and fed it into my iPhone via a Scarlett audio interface and that also worked wonderfully, showing the sine wave and frequency! The iPhone has a high-pass filter that cuts off anything over 10KHz, but for my projects that frequency was plenty high enough. Running an audio app and Soundbeam on my iPhone simultaneously showed me the waveform and the FFT-style spectrum analysis—the audio came out the speaker and back in via the microphone. What a great and inexpensive way to help understand how sound waves work! Enhancement request: let me zoom in horizontally while in waveform mode, and display the time scale. ### 5/5 — Great fun. *2023-05-02* Plugged into the USB port of my piano and was very entertained by the waveforms generated. Great fun and well done. ### 5/5 — Sound design, the best $.99 cents you’ll ever spend *2022-07-18* 100% great! I love this application I use it to monitor modulation characteristics on my Ham radio with the external microphone input. The graphics are really good kinda hard to tell your not looking at a dedicated scope, in spectrum mode you can clearly see band pass filter roll off. I would like to be able to vary the time base in scope mode perhaps in another version or update you do have the option of adjusting the vertical gain in scope mode and selecting linear or logarithmic display in spectral mode. Truly a five star development 73 de KF6FOK ### 5/5 — works well *2022-05-16* best software scope out there ### 5/5 — Awesome app *2022-05-04* Love the UX and design. Great stuff. Would love an X/Y function though. ### 5/5 — メチャ気に入ってます。 *2021-04-07* 簡単に録音出来るし、モーター取り替え後の変化が目で分かるのは非常に良いです。 ### 5/5 — A joy to use *2019-05-30* It works! Useful tool to have, very modest price. The user interface is real eye candy - in the same vein as the first AAA apps designed for iPhone. Really happy with this. Thanks for creating it. I don’t see an approximate dB level when in waveform mode. That would nice. ### 5/5 — wonderful ！ *2018-06-25* Soundbeam is a wonderful application. --- *Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-08-26.*