SpaceCraft Granular Synth vs Surface Builder
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
SpaceCraft Granular Synth
Transform any sound into a playable musical instrument using granular synthesis. Create unique textures, soundscapes, and rhythms from your voice, ambient noise, or built-in samples. Record audio, load files, and save your sonic creations.
- Granular synthesis engine
- Record audio via microphone
- Load audio files from storage
- Create textures and soundscapes
- Arpeggiated rhythm generation
- Save and recall presets
- MIDI and MPE support
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With SpaceCraft (MIDI, MPE, AUv3, IAA) you can transform any sound into a playable musical instrument via Granular Synthesis. You can create textures, soundscapes and arpeggiated rhythms from sounds such as your voice, ambient noise or the high quality built-in audio samples. Tap the 'Input' button (top left) to record audio via your device's microphone or load a file from your device (access* to iCloud, Dropbox, Google Drive, Audioshare*** etc.). Experiment with turning everyday sounds into unusual instruments. Save your creations and corresponding samples via presets. Also, tap the 'rec' button (top right) to record your performance (maximum 20 minutes). This is used in standalone only as the AUv3 host can be used to record the output. Supports AUv3 and IAA (recommended to use in the effects slot to allow live input audio recording). * NOT COMPATIBLE with GarageBand as AUv3 (but can be loaded as Inter App Audio (IAA) or via an effects insert in the GarageBand sampler, with no MIDI capability) ** iOS11 and above provides equivalent folder access to the built-in iOS 'Files' app. Note that iOS10 and below has limited access to folders (no Audioshare folder access for iOS10 and below) *** Access to Audioshare files is done via the iOS files app
Surface Builder
Create custom MIDI control surfaces for audio applications. Design interfaces with buttons, knobs, and faders to send and receive MIDI data, control audio clips, and customize appearance. Supports AUv3 plugins and standalone use.
- Customizable MIDI control surfaces
- AUv3 plugin and standalone modes
- Send/receive MIDI data (notes, controllers, pitch bend)
- Audio clip playback control
- Multi-scene interface design
- Drag and drop interface customization
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Surface Builder is a tool for creating control surfaces that send MIDI data to one or more audio components in order to simplify remote control tasks. You start by creating a surface of a given size, adding buttons, knobs, faders, etc. to the surface and configuring them to generate the required MIDI output. Surface Builder allows you to send note on/off, controller change and program change values as well as being able to emulate modulation wheel and pitch bend data. Buttons can also be configured to send bulk MIDI data using a single key press. You can build surfaces that span multiple scenes and link between them for large complex interfaces. Incoming MIDI data can also be used to control or trigger elements of the interface, giving a bi-directional stream of MIDI data. Surface Builder can be added as a pure MIDI plugin which allows processing of MIDI only, or as an instrument plugin, allowing you to process audio passing through it. You can even load it as an intrument and configure a surface to start and stop audio clips either manually or remotely. Surface Builder was designed to be used as an AUv3 plugin within your favourite DAW, but it can also be used in standalone to send MIDI directly to MIDI hardware using direct access to their MIDI ports. Many different object types are supported including buttons, switches, lights, rotary knobs, faders, sliders, XY-Pad, keyboards, as well as text, image and box objects. Each object has many different styles and colours, so no two surfaces look the same. Drag and drop an audio file onto a button and that button becomes a clip player. Attach rotary knobs to control the clips volume and pan. Throw on top of that a LP/HP filter knob and you are cooking on gas. Drop PNG transparent image icons on buttons to customise the look and feel. A button can record and playback bulk MIDI commands, on both button press and release. So pressing a button could send the notes of a chord when pressed, and appropriate note offs on release. A surface can consist of up to 6 scenes for really complex designs. Buttons and switches can be used to switch scenes and also to show and hide other objects to make better use of screen space. Once your surface is complete switch to presentation mode to hide all the toolbars. Each surface can be saved with compressed audio and images all in a single surface file. Features ○ AUv3 and standalone modes. ○ Bluetooth MIDI support. ○ Drag and Drop interface. ○ Send and Receive Note On/Off. ○ Supports all Control Change parameters. ○ Supports Program Change commands with bank support. ○ Multiple Audio Clip playback. ○ Record and playback bulk midi data. ○ Multi-Scene. ○ Multi-level undo/redo. ○ MIDI Monitor ○ Presentation Mode. ○ iPhone and iPad compatible.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: SpaceCraft Granular Synth at $9.99 against Surface Builder's $14.99. SpaceCraft Granular Synth also leads on ratings volume (151 vs 15) and iOS requirement (9.3 vs 13). On rating, review sentiment, update cadence 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
SpaceCraft Granular Synth costs $9.99 and Surface Builder $14.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for SpaceCraft Granular Synth against 4.7 for Surface Builder. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: SpaceCraft Granular Synth has 151 ratings behind it against 15, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 87% of SpaceCraft Granular Synth's written reviews are positive against 80% of Surface Builder's.
SpaceCraft Granular Synth ships an update every 2 weeks, Surface Builder every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 29, 2026 and September 22, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | SpaceCraft Granular Synth | Surface Builder |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $9.99 — better | $14.99 |
| Rating | 4.7 (151 ratings) | 4.7 (15 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 87.0% of reviews — better | 80.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 151 — better | 15 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 weeks — better | Every 3 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Paid |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 9.3 — better | 13 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 103 MB | 32 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Mark Watt | 4Pockets.com |
Customer experience
SpaceCraft Granular Synth
Surface Builder
Bugs and requests
SpaceCraft Granular Synth
Reported bugs
13 issues- App crashes when loading files from nested Dropbox folders
- Audio glitches and heavy crackling on older iPad models
- Unexpected background audio drone when app not in use
- AudioShare compatibility issues across different iOS versions
- App resets to factory settings on reopening
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- Live sampling mode latency and unintuitive behavior
- Red playhead sometimes extends beyond range selector
- Inconsistent audio input behavior in live sampling
- No audio output in DAW hosts on some iOS versions
- Crashes when multiple instances launched simultaneously
- File import failures on iOS 9 and 10
- Dropbox access limited to iCloud only on some devices
- Recording duration limitations on iPhone (1 minute vs advertised 20 minutes)
Requested features
20 requests- Background audio playback support
- Preset and project state saving functionality
- Faster and more flexible LFO with additional waveforms
- Wider grain selection windows for precise control
- Built-in delay effect
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- Amplitude envelopes for each oscillator
- Panning and multi-channel routing options
- Sample name display in UI
- Ableton Link support
- Rest notes in sequencer via double-tap
- Ability to feed synth output to another synth in real-time
- More reverb length options
- CC automation recording in DAWs
- Bluetooth MIDI support
- Custom color scheme options
- Broader grain readout curve options
- Wider parameter control ranges
- True IAA instrument support (not just effect)
- Streamlined file import and management
- More included presets
Surface Builder
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
SpaceCraft Granular Synth
No in-app purchases
Surface Builder
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is SpaceCraft Granular Synth free?
Is Surface Builder free?
Which has better reviews, SpaceCraft Granular Synth or Surface Builder?
Do SpaceCraft Granular Synth or Surface Builder have ads?
Which is updated more often, SpaceCraft Granular Synth or Surface Builder?
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