Comparison

Holon vs Sounding Tides

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

Head to head
About

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.

Highlights
  • 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
Features
Read full description

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™

About

Sounding Tides

This app transforms 50 years of tidal data into an interactive musical experience. Users can manipulate sound layers, wave visuals, and data timelines to create unique sonic representations of tidal heights.

Highlights
  • Interactive musical composition
  • Translates tidal data into sound
  • Mix sound layers (sine wave, noise, piano)
  • Adjust wave visuals
  • Scroll through 50 years of data
  • Create unique sonifications
Features
Read full description

Sounding Tides Erik Griswold and Rebecca Cunningham Sounding Tides is an interactive musical composition that translates 50 years of scientific data into sound. In Sounding Tides, the record of tide heights from Brisbane river is represented as sound waves, white noise, and piano samples. By live mixing sound layers, wave visuals, and scrolling through the decades, you can create your own colourful sonifications of the tides. How to use the App Use the vertical faders to mix volume of sine wave, noise, and piano layers, and change the colour and texture of the visuals. Use horizontal faders to change the speed and scroll through 50 years of tidal data. Credits Created by composer Erik Griswold and climate social scientist Rebecca Cunningham. App coding and design by Steve Berrick. Sounding Tides was created for Curiocity Brisbane 2022.

Screenshots

Holon4 screens
Sounding Tides3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Holon at 75% against Sounding Tides's 0%. Sounding Tides's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 2) and update cadence (every 2 days vs every 3 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. Holon sells 2 one-off in-app purchases. Sounding Tides asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Holon ships an update every 3 months, Sounding Tides every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on October 3, 2026 and October 2, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Holon versus Sounding Tides: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHolonSounding Tides
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.5 (14 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews75.0% of reviews — better0.0% of reviews
Number of ratings14 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsEvery 2 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationPaidFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch — betteriPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS12.09.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size144 MB95 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperHolonic Systems OySteve Berrick

Customer experience

Holon

All ratings14 ratings
Positive85.7%
Neutral7.1%
Negative7.1%
Written reviews12 reviews
Positive75.0%
Neutral8.3%
Negative16.7%

Sounding Tides

Written reviews1 reviews
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Holon

One-time2
  • Apple Watch supportFree
  • Movesense SupportFree
None

Sounding Tides

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Holon free?
Holon is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Sounding Tides free?
Sounding Tides is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Holon or Sounding Tides have ads?
Neither Holon nor Sounding Tides shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Holon or Sounding Tides?
Holon ships an update every 3 months, and Sounding Tides every 2 days. Most recently, Holon was updated on October 3, 2026 and Sounding Tides on October 2, 2026.

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