Year One vs Motio
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- Spatial album listening
- Augmented reality soundscapes
- Interactive music exploration
- Build melodies and chords
- Dynamic audio effects
- Create unique listening experiences
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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.
Motio
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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
Verdict
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
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.
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.
| Parameter | Year One | Motio |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.3 (3 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 0.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 3 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 7 months | Every 2 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 — better | 26.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 407 MB | 10 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | TCW | Danis Gaiazov |
In-app purchases
Year One
No in-app purchases
Motio
- Motio Pro$2.991 Month
- Motio Pro7 Days trial$19.991 Year









