Seaboard 5D vs Poly 2
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Seaboard 5D
Transform your iOS device into a touch-responsive musical instrument. Explore expressive sound shaping through five dimensions of touch, offering a unique playing experience for musicians of all levels. Expand your sonic palette with diverse soundpacks and connect wirelessly to MIDI controllers.
- Five Dimensions of Touch (Strike, Glide, Slide, Press, Lift)
- Continuous 'keywave' playing surface
- On-screen macro controls and XY Touchpad
- Diverse built-in and expandable soundpacks
- MIDI over Bluetooth connectivity
- MPE (Multidimensional Polyphonic Expression) Mode
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SEABOARD 5D: THE iPHONE and iPAD LIKE YOU'VE NEVER HEARD THEM BEFORE Seaboard 5D unlocks the extraordinary potential of your iOS device as a touch-responsive surface for making music. It recreates the expressive possibilities of the Seaboard RISE, the award-winning instrument from ROLI. Shape sounds on-screen through the Five Dimensions of Touch: Strike, Glide, Slide, Press and Lift. You’ll discover the power and fun of Seaboard 5D as soon as you touch the screen. Seaboard 5D not only turns your iOS device into a powerfully expressive musical instrument, it is also the ultimate portable sound engine for your favorite MIDI controller. ADD NEW DIMENSIONS Play a gentle woodwind melody, a rich textured pad or a killer synth lead. Players of any ability can pick up Seaboard 5D, make some tunes — and put the instrument back in their pockets. The unique playing surface of Seaboard 5D is laid out like a piano keyboard from the future. Instead of white and black piano keys you now have a continuous set of “keywaves” — just like the Seaboard RISE. You can bend the pitch by gliding your fingers from side to side, modulate a sound by moving up and down a keywave, and — on the iPhone 6s and iPhone 7 — deepen sounds by pressing into the surface. You can create an astonishing variety of sounds and effects through the Five Dimensions of Touch. FIND YOUR SOUND Seaboard 5D comes with the Fundamentals Soundpack, which offers 25 diverse, custom-crafted sounds. Polyrhythmic Loops morphs as you play up and down the keywaves. Breath Flute lets you simulate breath control on a wind instrument through pressure. Smoky Rhodes is a cool, modern reinterpretation of the Fender Rhodes. Expand your collection with additional Soundpacks. Hybrid Acoustic comes with over 500MB of unique samples. Expressive Electronic includes both vintage synths and contemporary pads. Synthetic Leads is for when you really just need to shred! POWER YOUR KIT Seaboard 5D is also the ultimate mobile sound engine for a range of MIDI controllers. Using MIDI over Bluetooth, the app lets you make music wirelessly — with just a mobile device and a MIDI controller — wherever you want. It is also one of the first apps with MPE (Multidimensional Polyphonic Expression) Mode, and it works plug-and-play with any MPE-compatible controller. To get the most out of Seaboard 5D, try it with our own Seaboard RISE, the multi-award-winning MIDI controller hailed as “the future of the keyboard” (MusicRadar). The Seaboard RISE and Seaboard 5D are the ultimate tools for making music on the go. THE WORLD OF ROLI At ROLI, we are creating a set of connected tools for modern music creation. The Seaboard RISE, Seaboard GRAND, and ROLI BLOCKS are part of our family of beautifully designed, technologically cutting-edge products. Learn more at www.roli.com. KEY FEATURES - Tweak your sounds with onscreen macro controls and XY Touchpad - Vary the size of the onscreen keywave surface to suit your screen and preferences - Octave shift buttons and an onscreen sustain pedal add depth to real-time performance - Control Five Dimensions of Touch: Strike, Press, Glide, Slide and Lift - Purchase Soundpacks in-app and build your collection of sounds - Recreate the Seaboard RISE experience on the iPhone 6s and make the most of its new 3D Touch feature MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS Seaboard 5D is designed for: - iPhone 5c and above - iPad Pro - iPad Air 2 and above - iPad Mini 2 and above - Please note that while Seaboard 5D works well as a sound engine on all supported iPhones and iPads, you will only be able to use all of the Five Dimensions of Touch with an iPhone 6s or iPhone 7.
Poly 2
This app generates evolving musical patterns and melodies using polyrhythms. It offers extensive sound manipulation with a sampler, multiple effects, and the ability to store numerous configurations. Users can also import their own sounds and integrate with other music production tools.
- Generative polyrhythm sequencing
- Up to 8 simultaneous sounds
- Sampler with envelopes and filters
- Randomize capabilities
- Built-in delay, reverb, distortion, and EQ FX
- AUv3, Audiobus, and IAA support
- Import custom samples
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Poly 2 is a generative sequencer that creates evolving patterns and melodies based on the power of polyrhythms. Check out the promo video: https://youtu.be/ovCXtBynEkw Features: - Up to 8 different sounds at any time - Store up to 16 different configurations for each project - A sampler that includes envelopes, filters, loop crossfading, an LFO and more - Randomise capabilities - Delay, reverb, distortion and EQ FX - Over 100 samples included for free - 13 premade collections of sounds - 13 example projects - AUv3 support, both MIDI and Audio - Audiobus and IAA - Ableton Link - MIDI notes in / out, MIDI CC in / out and MIDI clock in - Import your own samples via iOS Files or WIFI transfer
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Poly 2 at 4.8 against Seaboard 5D's 3.4. Poly 2 also leads on review sentiment (84% vs 44%) and ratings volume (686 vs 124). Seaboard 5D's advantage is update cadence (every 5 days vs every 4 weeks) and iOS requirement (9.0 vs 16.6). 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. Seaboard 5D sells 3 one-off in-app purchases and Poly 2 sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Poly 2 holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 3.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Poly 2 has 686 ratings behind it against 124, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 44% of Seaboard 5D's written reviews are positive against 84% of Poly 2's.
Seaboard 5D ships an update every 5 days, Poly 2 every 4 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 8, 2026 and September 30, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Seaboard 5D | Poly 2 |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.4 (124 ratings) | 4.8 (686 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 43.7% of reviews | 84.1% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 124 | 686 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 5 days — better | Every 4 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 9.0 — better | 16.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 170 MB | 153 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | ROLI Ltd. | James Milton |
Customer experience
Seaboard 5D
Poly 2
User reviews
Seaboard 5D
From 124 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🎵 Excellent sound quality and instruments
- 🎹 Expressive 3D Touch keyboard controls
- 💰 Free app with quality features
- 📱 Works well with Seaboard hardware via Bluetooth
- 🎨 Beautiful and intuitive interface design
Room to improve
- ⏸️ No updates in 7-9 years (abandoned app)
- 🔌 No Audiobus or Inter-App Audio support
- 📱 Poor responsive design on newer devices (iPhone 15/16 Pro Max)
- 🐛 Bluetooth connection crashes frequently
- 💾 Cannot record or export audio
Poly 2
From 686 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Unique, creative, and powerful tool
- 👍 Intuitive and user-friendly interface
- 🎨 Excellent for ambient, experimental, and generative music
- 🎹 Great for drum grooves and rhythmic patterns
- 💻 Seamless integration with external hardware and software
Room to improve
- 🐛 Occasional crashes and bugs
- 🔇 Lack of sustain/voice ring-out when transport is stopped
- 📺 Small interface elements can be difficult to use on iPad
- 🔌 Compatibility issues with some third-party apps
Bugs and requests
Seaboard 5D
Reported bugs
14 issues- App crashes when connecting to Bluetooth
- Black screen on launch
- UI elements too small on newer iPhones
- Buttons and text misaligned since iOS 15
- Font rendering issues in preset banks
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- In-app purchases fail to download
- Cannot restore purchases after device reset
- Polyphony not working as expected
- Pitch sliding controls not responding correctly
- MIDI input settings not persisting
- App crashes on iPad M1 when pressing Bluetooth Connect
- Purchased sound packs disappear after failed downloads
- Responsive layout broken for iPhone 16 Pro Max
- Intermittent latency issues with Bluetooth headphones
Requested features
17 requests- Audiobus and Inter-App Audio (IAA) support
- Audio Unit (AUv3) plugin compatibility
- Recording and audio export functionality
- GarageBand and DAW integration
- Background audio playback support
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- Effect customization and control
- User preset saving and management
- More sound packs and instruments
- MIDI learn functionality for parameters
- Transpose by semitones for live performance
- Ableton Link support
- Import Equator patches
- Shared sound library with Noise app
- Screen-off playback capability
- Responsive UI for modern device sizes
- Looping and layering features
- Custom effects editing
Poly 2
Reported bugs
3 issues- In-app purchase not working for some users
- MIDI connectivity issues with certain apps
- Crashes upon opening for some users
Requested features
8 requests- Ability to preview samples before importing
- Autoslice/autochop functionality for samples
- Support for larger sample imports and automatic slot filling
- Granulizer effect
- Note repeat and vinyl effects
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- More built-in effects and processing options
- Ability to create and arrange full songs
- M1 Mac compatibility
In-app purchases
Seaboard 5D
- Hybrid Acoustic$3.99
- Expressive Electronic$3.99
- Synthetic Leads$3.99
Poly 2
- Pro mode$11.99









