Comparison

Continua vs Celestine Granular FX

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

Head to head
About

Continua

This professional synthesizer for iPad offers a unique morphing sound design experience. Explore a vast sonic palette with versatile oscillators and continuously shifting filters. Deep modulation capabilities and an innovative patch evolution system allow for highly expressive and evolving musical textures.

Highlights
  • Morphing filters
  • Versatile oscillators
  • Deep modulation routing
  • Interactive patch evolution
  • Full MPE support
  • AUv3 plugin compatibility
Read full description

Continua is a professional synthesizer for iPad, built around a single idea: everything should move. Three oscillators with five modes each — Virtual Analog, Additive, Supersaw, Supersquare, and IXA — give you a palette that runs from warm analog warmth to aggressive digital textures to sounds that have no easy name. Stack 64 sine waves. Detune five sawtooths simultaneously. Explore phase modulation borrowed from a synthesizer most people have never heard of. The oscillators are just the beginning. Continua's filters don't switch between types — they morph between them. Low pass becomes band pass becomes high pass in a continuous sweep, with resonance and two- or four-pole slope selectable at any point. Two filters running in series or parallel, each one a moving target. Modulation is where Continua earns its name. Nearly every parameter is a destination. Every knob can receive up to five simultaneous modulation sources — envelope generators, flexible multi-point envelopes, four shapeable LFOs, sample and hold, and a random source that gives each voice its own personality. Right-click any knob to connect a source. The routing is as deep as you want it to be. New in version 1.2: the Genetics panel lets you evolve your patches through an interactive mutation tree. Start with any sound, explore branches of subtle variations, and drill down into whatever catches your ear. The arpeggiator adds eighteen patterns — from standard ascending runs to Brownian motion and probabilistic rests — all synced to your DAW tempo. Four new oscillator modes expand the raw material available from the ground up. Full MPE support means Continua responds to every dimension of expression from a Linnstrument, Osmose, Roli Seaboard, or any MPE controller. Or play it with a standard keyboard and automate everything else. Works as an AUv3 plugin in Logic Pro, AUM, Cubasis, Drambo, Garage Band, and any AUv3-compatible host. iPad only.

About

Celestine Granular FX

Transform any audio input into evolving soundscapes, from shimmering clouds to rhythmic fragments. This app offers real-time granular processing with eight distinct engines and built-in effects for creative sound design and musical performance.

Highlights
  • Live-buffer granular processing
  • Eight distinct granular engines
  • Real-time audio transformation
  • Built-in wavefolding, bitcrush, and reverb effects
  • Tempo-synced rhythmic patterns
  • AUv3 compatible
Currently charting
Read full description

Feed it vocals, guitar, synths, piano, drums, field recordings, or full mixes, and Celestine transforms the incoming sound into shimmering clouds, drifting harmonics, orbiting textures, rhythmic fragments, and evolving ambient beds. No samples to load. Celestine listens continuously through a rolling live buffer. Whatever you play becomes the source material. Incoming audio is broken into swarms of micro-grains that can be pitched, reversed, widened, scattered, synchronized, softened, distorted, and animated in real time. Insert it on a track, blend dry and wet, send multiple sounds into it, or perform it like an instrument. From delicate halos to chaotic scatter, Celestine is built to feel organic, musical, and expressive. Eight granular engines: Grain: classic granular textures Mosaic: pitch-shifted harmonic clusters Glide: bending, sliding grains Reverie: dreamy reverse washes Bloom: ghost-echo reflections Tide: amplitude wave undulations Stars: rhythmic anchor patterns Orbit: circular spatial movement Shape time, pitch, density, motion, tone, and space. Scrub through the live buffer by hand, or lock grain triggering to the host tempo for evolving patterns and rhythmic clouds. Built-in effects: Wavefolding distortion for rich harmonic color Bitcrush for subtle grit or digital destruction Lush reverb for spacious depth Magic multi-FX with seven tone-shaping algorithms Dry/wet blending for subtle enhancement or full transformation Celestine turns melodies into glowing pads, vocals into spectral choirs, guitars into frozen halos, drums into glittering glitches, and simple loops into evolving celestial motion. Ideal for ambient, cinematic, IDM, and sound design. Under the hood: Real-time live-buffer granular processing 8 distinct granular engines Up to 30 simultaneous grain voices Tempo-synced, bar-locked grain triggering Pitch, reverse, width, scatter, motion, and timing controls Wavefold, bitcrush, reverb, and Magic multi-FX Smooth, click-free DSP Celestine is an AUv3 audio effect and requires an AUv3-compatible host app. Made by ijo audio.

Screenshots

Celestine Granular FX3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Celestine Granular FX at 100% against Continua's 55%. Celestine Granular FX also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.4) and update cadence (every 2 days vs every 4 weeks). Continua's advantage is price ($5.99 vs $9.99) and iOS requirement (12.0 vs 17.0). On ratings volume, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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

Continua costs $5.99 and Celestine Granular FX $9.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Celestine Granular FX holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.4. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 15 and 11 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 55% of Continua's written reviews are positive against 100% of Celestine Granular FX's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Continua ships an update every 4 weeks, Celestine Granular FX every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on November 11, 2026 and November 9, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 5 level
Continua versus Celestine Granular FX: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterContinuaCelestine Granular FX
Price$5.99 — better$9.99
Rating4.4 (15 ratings)5.0 (11 ratings) — better
Positive reviews55.1% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings15 — better11
Update frequencyEvery 4 weeksEvery 2 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidPaid
Best chart rank—#192 — better
DevicesiPadiPhone, iPad — better
Requires iOS12.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size29 MB16 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAudio Damage, Inc.ian johnston

Customer experience

Continua

All ratings8 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews49 reviews
Positive55.1%
Neutral26.5%
Negative18.4%

Celestine Granular FX

All ratings11 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews6 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

Continua

Reported bugs

11 issues
  • Bad signal messages in AUM
  • Audio cuts out
  • App stops making sound
  • Force closes on iPad
  • Crash on Bluetooth MIDI settings
Show 6 more
  • Bluetooth not working (initially)
  • MPE keys function sporadically
  • UI lagging and slow
  • App won't start with Bluetooth headset connected
  • MIDI config window too small
  • Touch on routing windows too slow

Requested features

9 requests
  • Add an arpeggiator
  • Implement MIDI learn/mapping
  • Increase polyphony
  • Add unison detune control
  • Improve preset browser (tags, search, favorites)
Show 4 more
  • Make UI more iOS/touch friendly
  • Add MIDI sync/tempo settings
  • Implement pitch automation recording
  • Add a sequencer

Celestine Granular FX

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Continua

No in-app purchases

None

Celestine Granular FX

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Continua free?
Continua costs $5.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Celestine Granular FX free?
Celestine Granular FX costs $9.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Continua or Celestine Granular FX?
Celestine Granular FX is rated higher. Continua averages 4.4 out of 5 from 15 ratings, while Celestine Granular FX averages 5.0 from 11 ratings.
Do Continua or Celestine Granular FX have ads?
Neither Continua nor Celestine Granular FX shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Continua or Celestine Granular FX?
Continua ships an update every 4 weeks, and Celestine Granular FX every 2 days. Most recently, Continua was updated on November 11, 2026 and Celestine Granular FX on November 9, 2026.

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