Comparison

SoundBow vs pocketOscilloscope

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

Head to head
About

SoundBow

Create music by drawing curves and gestural movements on a clean interface. Record your own sounds, build melodies, and export compositions as audio files. This app offers a unique, interactive approach to music production.

Highlights
  • Drawing-based music creation
  • Gesture-based sound manipulation
  • Record and use own sounds
  • Export compositions as audio
  • Rescale instrument elements
Features
Read full description

SoundBow is a drawing based music instrument with a clean and simple visual interface. You can create music by drawing curves over the screen with lines and gestural movements. Apart from drawing, you can rescale your instrument by moving graphical elements around. Record your own sounds through the microphone and start creating melodies, soundscapes with your own voice. If you wish, you can also export your composition as an audio file. "Touch-based mobile devices allowed interactive, gesture-based music production to hit the masses. So far, this type of musical creation hasn't exactly taken the world by storm. But SoundBow, a drawing-based musical instrument app, should shake things up a little bit with its clean, minimal visual interface and mesmerizing potential for complex, loop-based music production." - The Creators Project "Binaura bring their beautiful SoundBow app to iOS at last. It is a gorgeous instrument with huge possibilities for expression and creativity. I think that in many ways these are the kinds of apps that iOS was made for." - Palm Sounds SoundBow is made with free and open source tools. The interface is built with OpenFrameworks. The sound engine is made with SodaLib, a free Data Sonification Library built on top of libPd (Pure Data).

About

pocketOscilloscope

Visualize audio waveforms on your Mac, PC, or iOS device. This tool offers detailed controls for RMS/Peak metering, voltage, gain, and visual elements like line thickness and rotation. Customize channel colors for a personalized audio analysis experience.

Highlights
  • Stereo capable oscilloscope
  • RMS/Peak meter
  • Controllable Vertical/Horizontal Offset
  • Voltage and Gain controls
  • Line Thickness and Rotation
  • Custom color selection
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

pocketOscilloscope is a Mac/PC and iOS compatible stereo capable oscilloscope tool for audio nerds. Complete with RMS/Peak meter and controllable Vertical and Horizontal Offset. As well as separate Voltage and Gain controls, coupled with visual controls like Line Thickness and Rotation for a complete experience. Custom color selection for audio channels 1 & 2. This tool is great for checking your custom built oscillators, plug-ins, or just visualizing your audio. VST3, AU, AUv3, & Stand-alone compatible. *Stand alone app works with external audio hardware devices.

Screenshots

SoundBow2 screens
pocketOscilloscope4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: SoundBow at 4.7 against pocketOscilloscope's 3.6. SoundBow also leads on update cadence (every 2 months vs every 12 months) and review sentiment (66% vs 50%). pocketOscilloscope's advantage is chart position (#199 vs unranked) and price ($0.99 vs $1.99). On ratings volume, 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

SoundBow costs $1.99 and pocketOscilloscope $0.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

SoundBow holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 3.6. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 13 and 5 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 66% of SoundBow's written reviews are positive against 50% of pocketOscilloscope's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

SoundBow ships an update every 2 months, pocketOscilloscope every 12 months. The most recent releases landed on September 27, 2026 and September 7, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 6 level
SoundBow versus pocketOscilloscope: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSoundBowpocketOscilloscope
Price$1.99$0.99 — better
Rating4.7 (13 ratings) — better3.6 (5 ratings)
Positive reviews65.5% of reviews — better50.0% of reviews
Number of ratings13 — better5
Update frequencyEvery 2 months — betterEvery 12 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidPaid
Best chart rank—#199 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS11.0 — better12.0
Further details — not scored
Size13 MB16 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAgoston NagyOSC Audio

Customer experience

SoundBow

All ratings13 ratings
Positive92.3%
Neutral7.7%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews29 reviews
Positive65.5%
Neutral13.8%
Negative20.7%

pocketOscilloscope

All ratings5 ratings
Positive60.0%
Neutral20.0%
Negative20.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive50.0%
Neutral50.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

SoundBow

No in-app purchases

None

pocketOscilloscope

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is SoundBow free?
SoundBow costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is pocketOscilloscope free?
pocketOscilloscope costs $0.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, SoundBow or pocketOscilloscope?
SoundBow is rated higher. SoundBow averages 4.7 out of 5 from 13 ratings, while pocketOscilloscope averages 3.6 from 5 ratings.
Do SoundBow or pocketOscilloscope have ads?
Neither SoundBow nor pocketOscilloscope shows ads.
Which is updated more often, SoundBow or pocketOscilloscope?
SoundBow ships an update every 2 months, and pocketOscilloscope every 12 months. Most recently, SoundBow was updated on September 27, 2026 and pocketOscilloscope on September 7, 2026.

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