Howl vs Digitron Basic
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Howl
This app is a vocoder and synthesizer that uses formants to mimic human voices. It features a pitch-space keyboard for melody creation and offers various effects like bitcrush and reverb. It also supports Audiobus for routing audio to other applications.
- Simple synthesizer (sawtooth wave)
- Simple vocoder (four parallel bandpass filters)
- Audiobus support
- Adjustable pitch-space keyboard
- FX (bitcrush, reverb, vibrato, tremolo)
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HOWL is a simple vocoder/synthesizer. It uses formants to simulate the human voice and a pitch-space keyboard to help you find interesting melodies. Features: • Simple synthesizer (just a sawtooth wave nothing too complicated okay) • Simple vocoder (four parallel bandpass filters, a bit like the Klatt engine) • Audiobus support, so you can pipe your own audio through the vocoder and/or send the output to other software • Adjustable pitch-space keyboard • Cool FX (bitcrush, reverb, vibrato and tremolo) Download it today! HOWL is also open source (check out the code at https://github.com/dclelland/HOWL).
Digitron Basic
This virtual analog synthesizer offers a monophonic sound engine inspired by classic hardware. Explore a range of waveforms, envelopes, and filter controls to craft unique electronic music. It's currently in development, with ongoing improvements planned.
- Monophonic virtual analog synthesizer
- Mixed SAW to SQUARE oscillator waveform
- Mixed TRIANGLE to SQUARE LFO waveform
- ADSR envelope generator
- Ladder low-pass filter with resonance
- Modulation controls
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Digitron Basic is a virtual analog monophonic synthesizer inspired by Moog Mavis. Project in development state, Features: Oscillator with SAW to SQUARE mixed waveform LFO with TRIANGLE to SQUARE mixed waveform ADSR envelope Ladder low-pass filter with resonance control Modulation controls
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Digitron Basic at 100% against Howl's 58%. Digitron Basic also leads on rating (4.8 vs 4.3) and update cadence (every 3 days vs every 11 months). Howl's advantage is ratings volume (39 vs 4). On price, 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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Digitron Basic holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Howl has 39 ratings behind it against 4, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 58% of Howl's written reviews are positive against 100% of Digitron Basic's.
Howl ships an update every 11 months, Digitron Basic every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on October 17, 2026 and September 26, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Howl | Digitron Basic |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.3 (39 ratings) | 4.8 (4 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 58.3% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 39 — better | 4 |
| Update frequency | Every 11 months | Every 3 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad — better | iPad |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 — better | 16.2 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 7 MB | 4 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Daniel Clelland | Evgenii Petrov |
Customer experience
Howl
Digitron Basic
In-app purchases
Howl
No in-app purchases
Digitron Basic
No in-app purchases
