Comparison

Oscilloscope & Spectrogram vs pocketOscilloscope

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

Head to head
About

Oscilloscope & Spectrogram

Analyze audio in real-time with detailed oscilloscope and spectrogram views. Pause, scroll, and zoom to precisely identify frequencies, notes, and sound events. Offers advanced triggering and a unique Bark-frequency scale for detailed analysis.

Highlights
  • Real-time oscilloscope and spectrogram
  • Pause and scroll audio history
  • Pinch-to-zoom functionality
  • Frequency and MIDI note identification
  • Stereo and mono views
  • Trigger with lookahead
Features
Read full description

OSCILLOSCOPE & SPECTROGRAM is a powerful audio analyzer app and audio unit plugin KEY FEATURES - Run as both Audio Unit and standalone app - View up to three seconds of audio on the screen - Pause and scroll horizontally to browse back in time - Pinch to zoom in / zoom out - See both oscilloscope and spectrogram separately or overlayed together - Frequency trigger mode helps identify the precise frequency and MIDI note of sounds in the spectrogram - Stereo and mono views - Level based trigger mode has lookahead, pause, and zoom - XY mode shows stereo correlation - Automatically adjusts FFT size to fit zoom setting - Bark-frequency scale spectrogram shows nice detail at low and high frequencies - When zoomed in, the oscilloscope uses sinc upsampling to show you a close approximation of what actually outputs from your audio interface after digital to analog conversion, rather than just displaying raw audio samples. WHAT DOES THIS APP DO THAT OTHERS DO NOT? 1. Pause Button We can't emphasize enough how useful this is. You never have to worry about trying to catch short events that disappear quickly because you can watch the sounds go by slowly at a 3 second viewer scale, then just pause and scroll back if you missed something. When you get to the event you want to see you can pinch to zoom in right down to sub-sample level of detail, then zoom back out when you are done and zoom in on something else. This feature alone makes almost all other oscilloscope apps unnecessary because it means you can easily see ANYTHING that you need to see. 2. Frequency Identification Mode In frequency mode, when you touch the frequency scale on the right of the screen a blue line appears on the spectrogram. When you position the line above a specific frequency on the spectrogram, a panel on the left side of the screen displays the octave, note name, and MIDI number. You can then use the frequency timing oscilloscope to lock in on the exact pitch in cents so that you not only know which MIDI note that sound corresponds to but you know exactly how many cents sharp or flat. The ability to simultaneously see the frequency on the spectrogram and confirm it with precision on the oscilloscope allows you to quickly and easily identify musical pitches to a level of accuracy that have not seen anywhere else, not even in desktop software. 3. Trigger with Lookahead Almost every oscilloscope has a feature where it re-draws the screen each time the input signal level crosses a specified threshold. This is the main and most basic function of any oscilloscope. However, when setting the trigger at a high level to view the attack section of musical notes or drums, we miss the first part of the note. By using lookahead, this app allows you to see a few milliseconds BEFORE the trigger point so that you can see the whole sound you want to examine. 4. Carefully Designed Spectrogram In all spectrum analyzer displays, the upper end of the frequency scale is crowded, meaning that a single pixel corresponds to 10 or 20 frequencies in the frequency analysis. In many other analyzer apps one of two things occur: either 9 out of 10 frequencies in that upper range simply get ignored and disappear from the spectrogram display, or all 10 frequencies combine together to make the pixels in the upper range appear brighter than low frequency sounds of similar volume. This may seem like a technicality until you run a sine sweep or a 20 KHz tone through the analyzer and find that large sections of the input simply aren't displayed on the analyzer screen. Looking at these kinds of test signals on a spectrogram is the primary way that we test and evaluate the quality of audio effect plugins. If a spectrogram is to be of any real use as an analysis tool, it should do this right. Other spectrograms often mess up the lower frequencies too, either by making them take up too much space or by making them very pixelated. This spectrogram carefully avoids these problems.

About

pocketOscilloscope

Visualize audio waveforms on your Mac, PC, or iOS device. This tool offers detailed controls for RMS/Peak metering, voltage, gain, and visual elements like line thickness and rotation. Customize channel colors for a personalized audio analysis experience.

Highlights
  • Stereo capable oscilloscope
  • RMS/Peak meter
  • Controllable Vertical/Horizontal Offset
  • Voltage and Gain controls
  • Line Thickness and Rotation
  • Custom color selection
Features
Read full description

pocketOscilloscope is a Mac/PC and iOS compatible stereo capable oscilloscope tool for audio nerds. Complete with RMS/Peak meter and controllable Vertical and Horizontal Offset. As well as separate Voltage and Gain controls, coupled with visual controls like Line Thickness and Rotation for a complete experience. Custom color selection for audio channels 1 & 2. This tool is great for checking your custom built oscillators, plug-ins, or just visualizing your audio. VST3, AU, AUv3, & Stand-alone compatible. *Stand alone app works with external audio hardware devices.

Screenshots

Oscilloscope & Spectrogram4 screens
pocketOscilloscope4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Oscilloscope & Spectrogram at 4.6 against pocketOscilloscope's 3.6. Oscilloscope & Spectrogram also leads on update cadence (every 4 days vs every 12 months) and review sentiment (70% vs 50%). pocketOscilloscope's advantage is price ($0.99 vs $5.99). On ads, in-app purchases, monetization model 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

Oscilloscope & Spectrogram costs $5.99 and pocketOscilloscope $0.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Oscilloscope & Spectrogram holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 3.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Oscilloscope & Spectrogram has 28 ratings behind it against 5, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 70% of Oscilloscope & Spectrogram's written reviews are positive against 50% of pocketOscilloscope's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Oscilloscope & Spectrogram ships an update every 4 days, pocketOscilloscope every 12 months. The most recent releases landed on October 4, 2026 and October 9, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Oscilloscope & Spectrogram versus pocketOscilloscope: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterOscilloscope & SpectrogrampocketOscilloscope
Price$5.99$0.99 — better
Rating4.6 (28 ratings) — better3.6 (5 ratings)
Positive reviews70.0% of reviews — better50.0% of reviews
Number of ratings28 — better5
Update frequencyEvery 4 days — betterEvery 12 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS12.012.0
Further details — not scored
Size3 MB16 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperBlue Mangoo Consulting Company LimitedOSC Audio

Customer experience

Oscilloscope & Spectrogram

All ratings28 ratings
Positive92.9%
Neutral0.0%
Negative7.1%
Written reviews10 reviews
Positive70.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative30.0%

pocketOscilloscope

All ratings5 ratings
Positive60.0%
Neutral20.0%
Negative20.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive50.0%
Neutral50.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

Oscilloscope & Spectrogram

No in-app purchases

None

pocketOscilloscope

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Oscilloscope & Spectrogram free?
Oscilloscope & Spectrogram costs $5.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is pocketOscilloscope free?
pocketOscilloscope costs $0.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Oscilloscope & Spectrogram or pocketOscilloscope?
Oscilloscope & Spectrogram is rated higher. Oscilloscope & Spectrogram averages 4.6 out of 5 from 28 ratings, while pocketOscilloscope averages 3.6 from 5 ratings.
Do Oscilloscope & Spectrogram or pocketOscilloscope have ads?
Neither Oscilloscope & Spectrogram nor pocketOscilloscope shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Oscilloscope & Spectrogram or pocketOscilloscope?
Oscilloscope & Spectrogram ships an update every 4 days, and pocketOscilloscope every 12 months. Most recently, Oscilloscope & Spectrogram was updated on October 4, 2026 and pocketOscilloscope on October 9, 2026.

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