Groovebox vs Poly 2
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Groovebox
Create electronic music with this mobile studio app. Features inspiring synths, drum machines, and world-class instruments. Easily build beats, melodies, and arrange tracks for production.
- Beat and synth music studio
- Touchable instruments for melodies and beats
- Five powerful instruments: Drumbox, Horizon, MiniMon, RetroBass, Poly-8
- Arrange tracks with sections
- Record synth parameters as automation
- Ableton Link and Ableton Export for collaboration
- Expandable instruments and sound packs
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If you love making electronic music, you’ll love Groovebox. Enter an inspiring world of music production on your iPhone & iPad. Groovebox is a free, beautifully designed music studio app packed with inspiring synths and drum machines. In minutes you’ll be making beats, melodies, and playing with world-class instruments. Expand your own collection with more sounds and instruments available in the store. From the creators of Launchpad, Groovebox helps you produce music on iPhone & iPad. • A BEATS & SYNTH MUSIC STUDIO Play with touchable instruments to quickly create your own beats and melodies, or draw in notes. Need inspiration? Groovebox has hundreds of patterns and sounds to get you started. Four powerful synthesisers, designed in partnership with Novation, deliver deep retro basslines and analogue harmonic melodies. The modern drum machine, with expanding drumkit library, will turn Groovebox into your go-to beat production studio. • SYNTHS DESIGNED WITH NOVATION Designed in partnership with Novation, legendary synth pioneers, Groovebox packs a world-class sound. Each instrument uses a new powerful synth engine capable of recreating classic warm analogue sounds and rich modern harmonics. • EASY TO START, DEEP ENOUGH TO MASTER Groovebox is designed to kick-start ideas, but it has serious features for artists and producers too. The advanced synth parameters* let you sculpt your own sounds. Automate the parameters over time to create a vibrant dynamics. Control your sound with the multi-channel mixer (iPad only), note sequencer, key and scale modes. Build your arrangements into songs with sections. Export your sounds easily to a laptop for further production. Sync to other apps or a laptop with Ableton Link. Connect using Audiobus, Inter-App Audio and even Export to Ableton Live seamlessly. FEATURES • Discover and build ideas - Quickly explore sounds with hundreds of melody and rhythm patterns • Play touchable instruments - Create your own melodies and beats • Five powerful instruments - Drumbox, Horizon, MiniMon, RetroBass and Poly-8 • Build beats - Play drum pads or keys, sequence notes or use patterns • Arrange your tracks - Simple song-building using sections • Create dynamic changes - Record synth parameters as automation • Sound innovation - Instruments developed in partnership with synth pioneers Novation • Expand your sounds - Regular, fresh-content drumpacks, presets and patterns* • Production-ready sounds - Crafted by world-class sound designers and artists • Extendable Instruments - Expose more tweakable synth controls • Sequence your music - Draw notes and build patterns instead of playing them • Stay in time and key - Choose from any tempo, key or musical scale • Share your music - Easily create a mix of your music to share with others *Requires In-App Purchase ADVANCED FEATURES • Jam with others - Audiobus, Inter-App Audio, Ableton Link and Ableton Export • Swing - Instantly add swing to your session. • Ableton Export - Easily send your project to Ableton Live • Full scale support - All keys and major, minor and modes supported • Project management - Rename, duplicate and delete • iPad Pro support - Optimised to use the entire iPad Pro screen • Send your ideas to a laptop - Batch export your pads as a .zip file, or use Ableton Export • Bluetooth speaker supported
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 ratings volume: Groovebox at 4.7K against Poly 2's 686. On price, rating, review sentiment and update cadence 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. Groovebox sells 10 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.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for Groovebox against 4.8 for Poly 2. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Groovebox has 4.7K ratings behind it against 686, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 79% of Groovebox's written reviews are positive against 84% of Poly 2's.
Groovebox ships an update every 6 weeks, Poly 2 every 4 weeks. Both last shipped on September 25, 2026.
| Parameter | Groovebox | Poly 2 |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (4.7K ratings) | 4.8 (686 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 79.2% of reviews | 84.1% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 4.7K — better | 686 |
| Update frequency | Every 6 weeks | Every 4 weeks — better |
| 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 | 15.0 — better | 16.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 44 MB | 153 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Focusrite Audio Engineering | James Milton |
Customer experience
Groovebox
Poly 2
User reviews
Groovebox
From 4.7K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Refreshing simplicity
- 🚀 Intuitive and easy to use
- 🚀 Excellent sound quality
- 🚀 Flexible and powerful
- 🚀 Inspiring and creative
Room to improve
- 🐛 Buggy and crashes occasionally
- 🔒 No iCloud sync or cloud backup
- 🔒 Limited export options
- 🔒 Lack of MIDI support
- 🔒 Clunky piano roll and note editing
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
Groovebox
Reported bugs
4 issues- Crashes when exporting projects
- Playback issues with certain patterns
- Disappearing UI elements when scrolling
- Inconsistent behavior when changing sections
Requested features
6 requests- Add song mode and ability to chain sections
- Improve piano roll and note editing
- Implement MIDI support and mapping
- Add more export options like MIDI and multi-track
- Implement iCloud sync and cloud backup
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- Add panning and more advanced mixing features
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
Groovebox
- Trap BassFree
- Sequential ArpsFree
- Ambient Hip HopFree
Show 7 moreShow fewer
- Dirty 909Free
- Hip Hop OrbitFree
- Hypnotic BassFree
- Golden Era Bass$0.99
- Neuro Leads$0.99
- Composed Melodics$0.99
- Drum Booster$1.99
Poly 2
- Pro mode$11.99






