Comparison

FingerFiddle vs Koala Sampler

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

FingerFiddle

Transform your device into a realistic string instrument. Control notes with your fingers and shape sound with bow-like movements. Experience the full expressive range of violin family instruments anytime, anywhere.

Highlights
  • Realistic bow and fingerboard control
  • Expressive sound shaping
  • Pizzicato playing mode
  • Customizable fingerboard
  • Inter-App Audio/Audiobus support
  • Multiple violin family instruments
Read full description

Turn your iPad into an instrument of the violin family and play just like on a real instrument ! FingerFiddle introduces a new and highly sensitive musical experience with your IOS device. Your actions on the screen are turned naturally into an exceptionally realistic and responsive sound, whatever you do. Place your fingers on the fingerboard to change notes. Move your other hand on the screen to rub the strings with the bow and shape the sound continuously in real-time. Pluck the screen to play pizzicato. FingerFiddle responds accurately to your movements and lets you play with the full palette of violin expression, just like with a real instrument. FingerFiddle is a musical instrument that you can bring with you everywhere to play, practice, have fun and perform with others. It includes a full collection of fine-tuned instruments from the violin family (violin, viola, cello and double bass). The basic version comes with a cello, and other instruments are available to try and purchase. Wherever you are, at any time, pick one of the instruments and play music for real with FingerFiddle. Who is it for? Anyone interested in music playing can find something in FingerFiddle: - For the beginner, FingerFiddle is an affordable way to experience and enjoy fiddle playing, alone or in group. Play, practice to improve your playing, try different instruments and maybe, eventually, buy a real instrument… - For advanced players, FingerFiddle is a new instrument to discover and have fun with. Use it in your musical productions and live performances, when jamming with others, or just to sketch ideas. - In all cases, FingerFiddle is a musical instrument that is always right at your fingertips, whenever you feel the need to play music. Features: - Natural mapping between movement and sound: your finger is the bow ! - Outstanding sound rendering for a realistic output - Pitch is controlled with a fingerboard on the screen to allow fiddle-specific playing techniques (vibrato, glissando, chords) - The fingerboard is customizable: set its width and the space between notes for a comfortable playing - A specific area is dedicated to pizzicato playing - Inter-App Audio / Audiobus support (generator) - Very low memory requirement: no samples library is used - Inter App Audio and Audiobus support - The basic version includes the Cello from the Classic Collection. Other instruments are available as In App purchases (Violin, Viola, Double Bass, normal or with mutes)

About

Koala Sampler

This app allows you to record sounds with your phone's microphone, transform them with effects, and create beats and tracks. Its intuitive interface focuses on a fast and fun music-making process.

Highlights
  • Record up to 64 samples with mic
  • Apply 16 built-in effects
  • Load and use own samples
  • Create beats with high-resolution sequencer
  • Export loops and tracks as WAV
  • AI sample separation
  • AUv3 and MIDI compatibility
Features
Read full description

Koala is the ultimate pocket-sized sampler. Record anything with your phone's mic or load your own sounds. Use Koala to create beats with those samples, add effects and create a track! Koala's super intuitive interface helps you make a track in a flash - there is no brake pedal. You can also resample the output of the app back into the input, through the effects, so the sonic possibilities are endless. Koala's design focuses totally on making the music-making process instant, keeping you in the flow and keeping it fun, not getting bogged down by pages of parameters and micro-editing. "Been putting that $4 koala sampler to good use lately. Undeniably great tool that puts some of these expensive beat boxes to shame. A must cop." -- flying lotus, twitter * Record up to 64 different samples with your mic * Transform your voice or any other sound with 16 superb built-in fx * Load your own samples * Choose from one of 250 built-in sounds * Resample the output of the app back into a new sample * Export loops or entire tracks as professional quality WAV files * Direct export to Ableton Live Set * Copy/paste or merge sequences just by dragging them * Create beats with the high-resolution sequencer * Import samples from the Files app or even from videos * Keyboard mode lets you play chromatically or one of 9 scales * Quantize, add swing to get the right feel * Normal/One-shot/Loop/Reverse playback of samples * 6 Choke groups * Attack, release and tone adjustable on each sample * Mute/Solo controls and note repeat * Add any (or all) of the 16 effects to the entire mix * AUv3 compatible - use in GarageBand, Logic, Cubasis etc etc * MIDI controllable - play your samples on a keyboard, map the effects to knobs * Jam with others over WiFi with Ableton Link * Free copy of Ableton Live Lite included * AudioShare compatible * Use AI to separate samples into individual instruments (drums, bass, vocals and other) * Set your own background image and choose from a growing list of background visual FX 8 Built-in Microphone FX: * More Bass * More Treble * Fuzz * Robot * Reverb * Octave up * Octave down * Synthesizer 16 Built-in DJ Mix FX: * Bit-crusher * Pitch-shift * Comb filter * Ring modulator * Reverb * Stutter * Gate * Resonant High/Low Pass Filters * Cutter * Reverse * Dub * Tempo Delay * Talkbox * VibroFlange * Dirty * Compressor Features included in SAMURAI In-App Purchase * Pro-quality Timestretch (5 modes: Modern, Retro, Beats, Re-pitch and Cyclic) * Piano roll editor * Auto-chop (auto, equal, and lazy chop) * 3 Band EQ * Pocket operator sync out * Quokka Synth - powerhouse polyphonic synthesizer * MIDI Out - control external MIDI hardware with Koala's sequencer * Chopper - multimodal sample chopping instrument Features included in MIXER In-App Purchase * Mix your beats professionally with a 4 channel mixer + main bus * Route any sample to any channel * Mute/solo, faders and accurate metering on every channel * 5 effect slots per channel * 29 high-quality effects - compressors, filters, phasers and more, with new effects to come * Host AUv3 plugins - both audio effects and instruments

Screenshots

FingerFiddle4 screens
Koala Sampler4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Koala Sampler at 4.8 against FingerFiddle's 4.4. Koala Sampler also leads on update cadence (fortnightly vs every 3 months) and ratings volume (1.4K vs 52). FingerFiddle's advantage is price ($2.99 vs $4.99) and iOS requirement (9.0 vs 15.0). On review sentiment, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

FingerFiddle costs $2.99 and Koala Sampler $4.99 up front. FingerFiddle sells 9 one-off in-app purchases and Koala Sampler sells 8 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Koala Sampler holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Koala Sampler has 1.4K ratings behind it against 52, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 82% of FingerFiddle's written reviews are positive against 88% of Koala Sampler's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

FingerFiddle ships an update every 3 months, Koala Sampler fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 21, 2026 and October 20, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 5 level
FingerFiddle versus Koala Sampler: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterFingerFiddleKoala Sampler
Price$2.99 — better$4.99
Rating4.4 (52 ratings)4.8 (1.4K ratings) — better
Positive reviews81.6% of reviews88.3% of reviews — better
Number of ratings521.4K — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsFortnightly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank—#7 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS9.0 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size24 MB60 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperMatthias DemoucronMazbox Limited

Customer experience

FingerFiddle

All ratings52 ratings
Positive84.6%
Neutral1.9%
Negative13.5%
Written reviews76 reviews
Positive81.6%
Neutral2.6%
Negative15.8%

Koala Sampler

All ratings1,438 ratings
Positive93.8%
Neutral2.0%
Negative4.2%
Written reviews618 reviews
Positive88.3%
Neutral4.2%
Negative7.4%

User reviews

FingerFiddle

From 52 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🎶 Realistic and amazing sound quality
  • 💡 Highly expressive and innovative
  • ✨ Intuitive and well-designed interface
  • 🚀 Great performance and small file size
  • 💰 Excellent value for money

Room to improve

  • 💸 Additional in-app purchases required for instruments
  • 🎻 Violin not included in initial purchase
  • 🤔 Confusing pricing and hidden costs
  • 🎛️ Limited pitch selection (fixed keys)
  • 🎧 Aliasing distortion on high strings

Koala Sampler

From 1.4K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Intuitive and easy to use
  • 🚀 Smooth workflow and fast performance
  • 💡 Powerful sampling and sequencing capabilities
  • 🔥 Excellent value for the price
  • 🎨 Creative and inspiring sound design

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Occasional crashes and stability issues
  • 🔇 Limited effects and sound manipulation options
  • 📁 Difficulty managing and organizing samples/projects
  • 🎚️ Lack of advanced MIDI mapping and control options
  • 🔍 Unclear or confusing UI elements in certain areas

Bugs and requests

FingerFiddle

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • App crashes frequently (especially after iOS 11.2)
  • 3D bow and vibrato not working for some users
  • Mutes when starting recording in GarageBand
  • Vibrato function not activable for some users

Requested features

15 requests
  • Recording capability
  • Metronome
  • MIDI IN/OUT support
  • AUv3 support for DAWs
  • Support for Apple Pencil 2 pressure
Show 10 more
  • Fretless option
  • More instrument variety (guitars, woodwinds, brass, percussion, Indian Sarangi, Viola da Gamba)
  • Five-string bass option
  • Oversampling for improved sound quality
  • Customizable fingerboard pitch settings
  • Auto-vibrato mode
  • String ensemble sounds
  • Vertical bow movement option
  • More realistic fingerboard layout
  • Ability to choose pitch with a keyboard

Koala Sampler

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Samples not loading or disappearing after app updates
  • Sequencer timing and quantization issues
  • Crashes when using certain features or with large projects

Requested features

5 requests
  • Ability to record and edit MIDI sequences
  • More comprehensive effects and sound processing tools
  • Improved sample management and organization features
  • Support for external MIDI controllers and hardware integration
  • Customizable color schemes and UI themes

In-app purchases

9 purchases

FingerFiddle

One-time9
  • Violin (Classic Collection)$2.99
  • Viola (Classic Collection)$2.99
  • Violin (Con Sordino Collection)$2.99
Show 6 more
  • Double Bass (Classic Collection)$2.99
  • Viola (Con Sordino Collection)$2.99
  • Cello (Con Sordino Collection)$2.99
  • Double Bass (Con Sordino Collection)$2.99
  • Classic Collection$8.99
  • Con Sordino Collection$8.99
8 purchases

Koala Sampler

One-time8
  • Koala AUv3 Plugin$1.99
  • Ese-O's Sample Pack$2.99
  • Solar Studies Samplepack$2.99
Show 5 more
  • Soon Come Dub Sample Pack$2.99
  • Analog Astronaut Samplepack$2.99
  • Cirrus Cuts Sample Pack$2.99
  • Samurai Edition$3.99
  • Mixer$4.99

Questions

Is FingerFiddle free?
FingerFiddle costs $2.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Is Koala Sampler free?
Koala Sampler costs $4.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, FingerFiddle or Koala Sampler?
Koala Sampler is rated higher. FingerFiddle averages 4.4 out of 5 from 52 ratings, while Koala Sampler averages 4.8 from 1.4K ratings.
Do FingerFiddle or Koala Sampler have ads?
Neither FingerFiddle nor Koala Sampler shows ads.
Which is updated more often, FingerFiddle or Koala Sampler?
FingerFiddle ships an update every 3 months, and Koala Sampler fortnightly. Most recently, FingerFiddle was updated on October 21, 2026 and Koala Sampler on October 20, 2026.

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