Comparison

FormKey vs Pruina

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

Head to head
About

FormKey

This app is an intuitive MIDI controller that helps musicians improve by using shapes for notes and colors for octaves. Its unique isomorphic keys aid in pattern recognition and chord discovery, making music creation more accessible.

Highlights
  • Shape-based note input
  • Color-coded octaves
  • Isomorphic key layout
  • Pattern recognition aid
  • Chord discovery assistance
  • Future update commitment
Features
Read full description

Unlock your music potential. FormKey is the first music suite that helps you become the musician you've always imagined being, just by using it. INTRODUCING FORM Form is a new way to read and create music. Notes become shapes. Octaves become colors. Duration becomes a simple to read fraction. You can learn to read and play music in minutes. FormKey is the first release of the Form notation language, an open licensed music language designed to create instant music literacy. With the goal being to become a standard you'll see everywhere. THREE MODES: CREATE, LEARN, AND CONTROL • Create mode gives you a 16-track sequencer built on the classic drum machine workflow, modernized for today. Use your own AUv3 plugins or the three we built in to create full tracks from the ground up. • Learn lets you play and read your way through classical pieces while Form teaches you exactly what the music is doing, note by note. • Control turns FormKey into a MIDI controller for your external workflows, so it fits right into the setup you already have. THREE BRAND NEW AUv3 PLUGINS • Tone is a fully interactive subtractive synth that makes synthesis make sense. Every knob and connection is something you can hear and understand, so the architecture of a sound stops being a mystery. • Wave is a file-based sampler that lets you chop audio samples from your device, designed to make Slicing, and rearranging samples feel effortless instead of technical. • Patt3rn is a suite of modeled instruments curated to provide users with high quality options when looking for go to sounds every sequencer needs. • All 3 work in any host, so the instruments you learn in FormKey come with you wherever you go. SCALE MODE Reshape the keyboard to any of 26 scales, so every note you play stays in key. Choose from: • Major and minor: Major, Natural Minor, Melodic Minor, Harmonic Minor • Modes: Ionian, Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, Mixolydian, Aeolian, Locrian • Pentatonic and blues: Major Pentatonic, Minor Pentatonic, Blues • Symmetric: Whole Tone, Whole-Half Diminished, Half-Whole Diminished, Augmented Hexatonic • World and exotic: Hungarian Minor, Neapolitan Minor, Byzantine, Enigmatic, Hirajoshi, In Sen, Kumoi, Iwato We've refined the interface across the app, making FormKey easier and more enjoyable to use. Every feature in FormKey is free to try. In celebration of our launch, $14.99 unlocks everything for the life of the app. We hope you love it as much as we do.

About

Pruina

This app captures and sustains audio, transforming it into evolving drones and textures. Explore modes like Freeze, Smear, and Shimmer to sculpt unique soundscapes with effects like reverb and modulation. It functions as both a standalone application and an AUv3 audio effect.

Highlights
  • Spectral audio capture and sustain
  • Freeze, Smear, and Shimmer modes
  • Sound sculpting with Blur, Sparkle, Warp
  • Modulated reverb and spatial effects
  • Layering for chord and pad creation
  • AUv3 plugin and standalone operation
Features
Read full description

Pruina freezes sound. Tap once and Pruina captures the spectrum of whatever is playing, a chord, a vocal, a whole mix, and holds it as an endless, gently evolving drone that never decays. Then shape it into rising shimmer clouds, breathy air, crystalline bells, or a huge reverberant wash. Under the hood it runs a real spectral analysis of your audio and, the instant you freeze, takes a snapshot and resynthesizes it with slowly drifting phase. Instead of fading away, the sound sustains forever and breathes, like a pad you never have to hold down. THREE MODES, ONE ENGINE Freeze: tap to capture and hold the spectrum indefinitely. Smear: continuously blur the spectrum into a soft, washing texture. Shimmer: pitched, regenerating layers that rise endlessly. SHIMMER THAT RISES Choose an interval (octave, fifth, octave plus fifth, or two octaves) and turn up Regen to feed the shimmer back on itself, building infinite cascading clouds. BUILD CHORDS BY EAR Turn on Layer and every freeze adds to what is already held. Stack captures into evolving chords and pads, live, one tap at a time. SCULPT THE SOUND Blur: smear the spectrum across frequency to morph a pitched freeze into breath and air. Sparkle: gate down to the spectral peaks for glassy, bell-like tones. Warp: stretch the timbre. Motion: slow drift and breathing that keep a frozen pad alive. Tone: low cut, high cut, and tilt. SPACE A lush, modulated reverb (Reverb, Size, Damp) wraps everything in a wide, dimensional tail, from an intimate room to a cathedral that rings for minutes. Stereo Spread and Width open it up. 16 READY-TO-PLAY PRESETS Infinite Cathedral, Rising Aurora, Supermassive, Glass Bells, Crystalline, Frozen Choir, Ghost Vox, Vapor Trails, Nebula, Granular Dust, Shimmer Wash, Dark Matter, Sub Bloom, Slow Tide, Chord Builder, and Default. Browse them with the header arrows, tweak anything, and save your own. PLUGIN AND STANDALONE Full AUv3 audio effect for GarageBand, AUM, Logic, and any AUv3 host, with host presets, parameter automation, and reported latency so your project stays in sync. Runs on iPhone, iPad, and Mac. Standalone mode includes a built-in demo pad, live microphone input, and song import with export of the processed result.

Screenshots

Pruina2 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: FormKey at Free against Pruina's $2.99. FormKey also leads on ratings volume (8 vs 2). Pruina's advantage is rating (5.0 vs 4.5) and in-app purchases (none vs 1). On ads, monetization model, device support and iOS requirement 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

FormKey is free to download; Pruina costs $2.99 up front. FormKey sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Pruina asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Pruina holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.5. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 8 and 2 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
FormKey versus Pruina: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterFormKeyPruina
PriceFree — better$2.99
Rating4.5 (8 ratings)5.0 (2 ratings) — better
Positive reviews57.1% of reviews—
Number of ratings8 — better2
Update frequencyFortnightly—
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationPaidPaid
DevicesiPadiPhone, iPad — better
Requires iOS18.617.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size88 MB3 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperPolyhedraKonstantin Torsten Schutz

Customer experience

FormKey

All ratings8 ratings
Positive75.0%
Neutral25.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews7 reviews
Positive57.1%
Neutral28.6%
Negative14.3%

Pruina

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

1 purchases

FormKey

One-time1
  • FormKey Full Unlock$14.99
None

Pruina

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is FormKey free?
FormKey is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Pruina free?
Pruina costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, FormKey or Pruina?
Pruina is rated higher. FormKey averages 4.5 out of 5 from 8 ratings, while Pruina averages 5.0 from 2 ratings.
Do FormKey or Pruina have ads?
Neither FormKey nor Pruina shows ads.

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