Comparison

Year One vs Motio

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

Head to head
About

Year One

Experience music in a new dimension with augmented reality. Move around your space to uncover hidden sounds, build melodies, and create unique listening experiences by interacting with spatial audio arrangements.

Highlights
  • Spatial album listening
  • Augmented reality soundscapes
  • Interactive music exploration
  • Build melodies and chords
  • Dynamic audio effects
  • Create unique listening experiences
Read full description

Hear different lyrics in the corners of your room; build melodies as you walk around your couch; hear hidden parts and build your own chords just by walking through the space around you. Year One is the first spatial album, utilizing the possibilities of augmented reality technology, by D.C. group and label TCW. Upon launching the Year One app, the different sounds and instruments of the songs will populate and begin moving through the space around you. Your movement, tracked by your smartphone, will affect which sounds you hear and change how individual effects are applied to them, making for a different listening experience each time. This final release of the album contains all eight spatial arrangements from TCW, Wall of Trophies, and N.E. Hertzberg. TCW has released a how-to guide for any musician to build their own similar app independently. Alongside the guide, TCW has begun cataloging spatial composition techniques for other musicians to use and contribute to. This guide and techniques can all be found on tcwav.com. TCW released their first spatial album, Inauguration, in early 2017 using smartphone GPS positional tracking, and released a similar guide for building spatial applications. Contact the group at tcw@tcwav.com Headphones required for proper audio spatialization.

About

Motio

Features
Read full description

Your body is the instrument. Motio is a motion synth for iPhone. Move, tilt, and gesture to shape sound in real time, then go deeper with BODY tracking, FIELD, LiDAR, MIDI, AUv3, and Sound Editor modes. It is not a beat maker or a DAW-style editor. Motio is built for the moment when you want to play sound directly: rotate your wrist, lean into a gesture, bring a hand into camera view, or map motion to MIDI. What you can do: - Play expressive synth presets with device motion - Use BODY tracking for camera-based control - Explore FIELD and magnetic-field control - Perform LiDAR gestures on supported iPhone models - Send MIDI output to compatible music setups - Use Motio as an AUv3 instrument in supported hosts - Open the Sound Editor to shape presets and mappings Motio Pro unlocks all performance modes, every preset, Sound Editor controls, MIDI, and AUv3 instrument access. The annual plan includes a 7-day free trial; monthly is available without a trial. Designed for musicians, sound designers, experimental performers, and curious creators who want an instrument that starts with movement instead of a timeline. Terms of Use: https://motio.thebulb.app/terms Privacy Policy: https://motio.thebulb.app/privacy

Screenshots

Year One4 screens
Motio4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Year One at none against Motio's 2. Year One also leads on iOS requirement (17.0 vs 26.0). Motio's advantage is update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 7 months). On price, ads and device support 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

Both are free to download. Motio sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Year One asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Year One ships an update every 7 months, Motio every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Year One versus Motio: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterYear OneMotio
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.3 (3 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews0.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings3 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 7 monthsEvery 2 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhone, iPad — betteriPhone
Requires iOS17.0 — better26.0
Further details — not scored
Size407 MB10 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperTCWDanis Gaiazov

In-app purchases

None

Year One

No in-app purchases

2 purchases

Motio

Subscriptions2
  • Motio Pro$2.991 Month
  • Motio Pro7 Days trial$19.991 Year

Questions

Is Year One free?
Year One is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Motio free?
Motio is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Year One or Motio have ads?
Neither Year One nor Motio shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Year One or Motio?
Year One ships an update every 7 months, and Motio every 2 weeks. Most recently, Year One was updated on November 1, 2026 and Motio on October 24, 2026.

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