Comparison

touchscaper vs MODALapp 2025

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

Head to head
About

touchscaper

Create music on your iPad by simply touching the screen. This app offers a semi-generative engine to guide note selection and allows for deep customization of chords, keys, and scales. Explore a variety of built-in sounds and effects to craft unique musical pieces.

Highlights
  • Multi-touch interface with radar, ribbon, and keyboard surfaces
  • Semi-generative engine for note selection
  • Full control over chords, keys, and scales
  • Layerable built-in sounds and effects
  • Chord navigator and looper with Ableton Link
  • Sequencer for touch, drums, and synth automation
  • Inter-App Audio and MIDI out support
Read full description

Touchscaper is an instrument designed for anyone who wants to make music on their iPad simply by touching the screen. You don’t have to be a serious musician to enjoy touchscaper, but if you are, touchscaper is highly configureable under the hood. Main features: • Multi-touch based interface with “radar”, “ribbon” and keyboard surfaces • Touch the screen to play a note, move your fingers to change the sound • Semi-generative engine selects the “good notes” for you • Touch movement can control volume and pan for each individual note • Total control over chords, keys and scales (fully chromatic) • Multiple chords can be generated from keys and scales to create “scenes” • Chord "navigator" helps you create inspiring chord progressions • 40 built-in sounds can be combined in 2 layers to create “instruments” • Built-in sounds include samples from moodscaper, pianoscaper, numerous analog synths and guitars • Comes with preset example scenes and instruments • Random instrument generator function with one tap of a button • Hold and orbit modes for hands-free evolving soundscapes • Ribbon style keyboard with touch vibrato • Chord looper with Ableton Link support • Arrangement view for longer / more complex chord progressions • 16 step probability-based sequencer for touch, drums, percussion and synth automation • "jam grid" sequencer view for live performances • Supports file sharing for scenes and instruments • Built-in effects including ping-pong delays, reverb, limiter and EQ • Supports IAA (Inter-App Audio) as a generator • Control other music apps using MIDI out and CCs with optional MPE support There are several demo videos in circulation which should give you a better idea of what touchscaper can do - just search for “touchscaper”. *** Please note that this app is now in maintenance mode / updates for bug fixes only. This is due to the heavy dependency on deprecated technology such as IAA ***

About

MODALapp 2025

This application provides musicians and producers with a comprehensive tool to design sounds, edit parameters, and manage patches for compatible hardware synthesizers. It also facilitates firmware updates for your devices.

Highlights
  • Full-featured sound editor
  • Precise effects editing
  • Modulation matrix control
  • Sequencer and Arp programming
  • Easy sound management and patch ordering
  • General settings control
  • Firmware updates
Read full description

MODALapp delivers an immersive programming experience for musicians, sound designers and producers. Built around a straightforward interface, MODALapp represents all sound forming and performance parameters. MODALapp also allows you to update your hardware with the latest firmware version easily. MODALapp is compatible with the following MODAL hardware: CRAFTsynth CRAFTrhythm CRAFTsynth 2.0 SKULPTsynthesiser Skulpt SE ARGON8 series COBALT8 series COBALT5S CARBON8 series Full-featured Sound Editor • Easy Access to all Oscillators, Morphing Filters, Envelopes and LFOs to design your signature sound • Edit precisely the Effects section to add character and expressive ambiences • Use the modulation matrix to control sound parameters automatically Sequencer and Arp • Spice up your sounds with Sequence and Arp pattern, easily programmable via the dedicated App section • Add sound variates by modulating synth parameters via the four Sequencer Animation lanes Easy Sound Management • Copy and paste synth sounds and create patch orders according to your setlist • Upload new patches into your MODAL device Control the General Settings • Control all general settings of your MODAL hardware, incl. external sync sources, display settings, volume settings, and (when applicable) keyboard and external pedal settings Keep your MODAL hardware up to date • Update the latest firmware directly into your MODAL device

Screenshots

MODALapp 20254 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: touchscaper at 93% against MODALapp 2025's 0%. touchscaper also leads on rating (4.9 vs 2.3) and update cadence (weekly vs every 15 months). MODALapp 2025's advantage is price (Free vs $4.99) and device support (4 vs 1). On ads and in-app purchases 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

MODALapp 2025 is free to download; touchscaper costs $4.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

touchscaper holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 2.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: touchscaper has 147 ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 93% of touchscaper's written reviews are positive against 0% of MODALapp 2025's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

touchscaper ships an update weekly, MODALapp 2025 every 15 months. The most recent releases landed on September 28, 2026 and September 17, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard8 real differences · 2 level
touchscaper versus MODALapp 2025: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParametertouchscaperMODALapp 2025
Price$4.99Free — better
Rating4.9 (147 ratings) — better2.3 (3 ratings)
Positive reviews93.2% of reviews — better0.0% of reviews
Number of ratings147 — better3
Update frequencyWeekly — betterEvery 15 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidFree — better
DevicesiPadiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — better
Requires iOS12.0 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size359 MB34 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperRob JacksonAlltronics Tech MFTG LIMITED

Customer experience

touchscaper

All ratings147 ratings
Positive96.6%
Neutral1.4%
Negative2.0%
Written reviews73 reviews
Positive93.2%
Neutral1.4%
Negative5.5%

MODALapp 2025

All ratings2 ratings
Positive50.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative50.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%

Bugs and requests

touchscaper

Reported bugs

6 issues
  • Does not show up as an available audio unit in Logic or GarageBand
  • Cannot get any MIDI connectivity to work
  • MPE via MIDI out does not work if there is no MIDI out for the app
  • Pops when adding more than 2 sounds
  • Hold Mode design is awkward, especially for note placement
Show 1 more
  • App lost its mind and control animations ran wild after 10 hours of use

Requested features

12 requests
  • AUv3 version/compatibility
  • More sophisticated mixer
  • Second bank of patterns
  • Panels to tweak oscillators, LFOs, etc.
  • Orchestral type sounds
Show 7 more
  • Light background theme in UI
  • Attack vector like ADSR function
  • Variable Release function
  • Mixer for each drum line
  • MIDI out functionality (mentioned multiple times)
  • Toggle on/off for Hold Mode
  • Ability to nudge/fine-tune node placements in Hold Mode

MODALapp 2025

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

touchscaper

No in-app purchases

None

MODALapp 2025

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is touchscaper free?
touchscaper costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is MODALapp 2025 free?
MODALapp 2025 is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, touchscaper or MODALapp 2025?
touchscaper is rated higher. touchscaper averages 4.9 out of 5 from 147 ratings, while MODALapp 2025 averages 2.3 from 3 ratings.
Do touchscaper or MODALapp 2025 have ads?
Neither touchscaper nor MODALapp 2025 shows ads.
Which is updated more often, touchscaper or MODALapp 2025?
touchscaper ships an update weekly, and MODALapp 2025 every 15 months. Most recently, touchscaper was updated on September 28, 2026 and MODALapp 2025 on September 17, 2026.

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