Mazetools Soniface vs Holon
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Mazetools Soniface
Explore sound and music visually with a unique motion-controlled interface. Create and manipulate audio and visual elements using gestures, touch, and body tracking. Offers a modular approach to instruments and advanced automation for creative expression.
- Visual sound and music exploration
- Motion interface for gesture control
- Modular synth, sampler, and rhythm modules
- Generative Gridsynth synthesizer
- Advanced controller automation
- MIDI input/output and Ableton Link
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Mazetools opens up a unique approach to music and creativity. It's about exploring sounds in a new way, experiencing them visually, changing them through gestures, coming across something in the process, a sound, a melody, a groove, a song... For the first time, we have integrated an interface that allows you to control sound through movement. This is done through the camera of your device and ML-based body recognition. It enables new musical experiences and shared creative moments. Mazetools are unique in their operation and complex in their own way. For some it's a welcome change, for others it's too crazy, for some it's just the right introduction to the world of sound. There are currently two Mazetools: Mutant and Soniface. Mutant is comparable to a loop machine and works with a defined number of instruments. It produces results quickly, but thanks to the Hypercube it offers the possibility to change everything with a swipe and to hear sounds that always surprise us. Soniface, on the other hand, is more modular when it comes to adding instruments. The settings of the synth, sampler and rhythm modules go into great detail. An important feature is the Gridsynth, an area of lines that correspond to a scale over several octaves. Automation plays a major role in Soniface: all instruments and their controllers can be controlled via LFOs, touch and camera-based body tracking. Key Features - Creative space to explore sound, music and geometric visuals - Experiment with audio and visual objects and create your own scenes - Operate controllers and play instruments via multitouch - Motion interface to control instruments and parameters through gestures, movements and dance - Cross-platform compatibility of project files - Simple design for mobile devices, complex (regular) design for tablets and desktops - Advanced in-app guide, FAQ & help function in English and German Instruments - Gridsynth - A generative, visual synthesizer for drones and melodies incl. sequencer & arpeggiator - Rhythm sequencer for sample- and synth-based basses and drums - Spatial & granular soundscape sampler incl. mic input, sample library and file integration - Key interface for cross-instrument tonality incl. progression sequencer - Interactive LivePad and keyboard for Gridsynth, Bass & Sampler Automation & Connectivity - Advanced controller automation incl. multi-touch editor, body tracking interface - MIDI input and output - Master FX and Ableton Link - Audiobus & Inter-App Audio (experimental support) - Normal mouse and keyboard support Mazetools Soniface is free worldwide and without advertising. You can support our work, our vision and all Soniface users by purchasing Soniface Pro, which includes additionally: - Unlimited instruments (Mazes) - Pattern mode to create unlimited scenes for songs and performances - Visual mode with Airplay live video output for performance & VJing - Unlimited internal audio recording (.wav, up to 7.1 on desktop). We do our best to avoid bugs. So feel free to write us bugs and problems. Much more content, terms of use, credits and FAQ are in the app's guide. About Mazetools We are Stephan and Jakob, when we were 13 in 1999, we exchanged our first beat loops on floppy disks and wrote raps on them. Today we are still fascinated by sound, release our music and realize multimedia performances. You can find more information on Ectoplastic.com. With this background, we share a lot of practical experience with Mazetools, from generative sound & visual patches to the development of multi-touch & motion tracking interfaces and VR sound development. We use this technological core to empower creativity, make musical expression inclusive and thus democratize electronic music. We are still within this process, but there is a lot of potential! We invite you to join us. Every purchase directly supports, every positive review, post and constructive feedback. Thank you very much!
Holon
This app transforms your movement through cities into a dynamic, real-time musical score. It uses your physical location and activity to generate interactive synth music, encouraging outdoor exploration and turning listeners into performers.
- Human-powered music generation
- Encourages outdoor activity
- Zero UI for minimal distraction
- Environmentally responsive music
- Real-time synth music creation
- Optional AirPods and Apple Watch integration
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Holon makes the city your instrument. It turns your movement in the environment into a synthetic, interactive score that reflects your context, supports your activities and alerts you to changes in the surrounding area. Holon uses physical computing and a geospatial dataset to synthesize music on the iPhone in real time from your data - no streaming or AI involved, just pure DSP and logic. What Holon Does: * Human powered music. Every action generates dynamic, improvised synth music in real time. * Encourages outdoor activities. Holon doesn’t work in your apartment or by shaking your phone around. Move through streets, parks, and transit systems to make the music happen. * Stays out of your way. Zero UI means less screen time, no distractions. * Uses places and spaces to modify the music you make. The environment isn’t background - it’s the score. * The more and further you move, the more things happen in the music. Use your musical agency instead of skipping and swiping. Why Holon Exists: Music has been reduced to a commodity and a background activity for consumerism. Holon isn’t here to help you chill when you swipe, scroll and buy more stuff, or improve your focus when working for the Man. Holon is here to break away from the static, one-way relationship of streaming services and to put the human in the loop - yourself. Forget emoting celebrities with their false sincerity, throw overproduced passive soundscapes and statistical algorithms on the dung heap of history. Holon turns listeners into performers and unlocks the musical potential of places. How to Use: * Go outside - Holon needs space to function, just like you. Different districts, parks, bridges, shops, street furniture - all contribute to the musical output. Strolling around your apartment or shaking your phone won’t do. * Put the phone in your pocket or on your dashboard. * Walk, run, drive - the world is now the interface, space is the machine. * Use the big button in the middle to power Holon off when not in use - Auditory AR can be a battery-intensive process! * Optional Apple AirPods support for head-controlled musical interactions! * Optional Apple Watch support for heart rate-synced music (biofeedback) *the Watch app may take a moment to install* Requirements: * Available in over 1000 regions in more than 100 countries. * Check coverage or request a new area at holonic.systems/holon. * Best experienced with headphones. Ensure adequate battery level for extended use. * A data plan is required to access our geospatial engine but use of data is low. Holon: Become part of the circuit and… Become Sound™
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Mazetools Soniface at none against Holon's 2. Mazetools Soniface also leads on update cadence (every 6 weeks vs every 3 months). Holon's advantage is review sentiment (75% vs 60%) and iOS requirement (12.0 vs 14.0). On price, rating, ratings volume and ads 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. Holon sells 2 one-off in-app purchases. Mazetools Soniface asks for nothing beyond the download.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.5 for Mazetools Soniface against 4.5 for Holon. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 27 and 14 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 60% of Mazetools Soniface's written reviews are positive against 75% of Holon's.
Mazetools Soniface ships an update every 6 weeks, Holon every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 19, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Mazetools Soniface | Holon |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.5 (27 ratings) — better | 4.5 (14 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 60.0% of reviews | 75.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 27 — better | 14 |
| Update frequency | Every 6 weeks — better | Every 3 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Paid |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch — better |
| Requires iOS | 14.0 | 12.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 478 MB | 144 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Ectoplastic | Holonic Systems Oy |
Customer experience
Mazetools Soniface
Holon
In-app purchases
Mazetools Soniface
No in-app purchases
Holon
- Apple Watch supportFree
- Movesense SupportFree









