ShadowPlayKA vs plugdata
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
ShadowPlayKA
This app transforms light and shadow patterns into music as you cycle through outdoor spaces. It uses your smartphone's brightness sensor and a Bluetooth speaker to create a unique auditory experience based on your surroundings.
- Light and shadow as musical score
- Bicycle-mounted smartphone sensor
- Bluetooth speaker integration
- Exploration of urban architecture
- Unique soundscape generation
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ShadowPlay is an exploration of the architecture and light in outdoor spaces through sound. Using a bicycle-mounted smartphone as a brightness sensor and a bluetooth speaker, the mottled patterns of light and shadow become the musical score as one rides along city streets. Supported through the UNESCO City of Media Arts Karlsruhe as well as through the City of Karlsruhe. Scene contributions by Sofy Yuditskaya and Damian Stewart.
plugdata
This app provides a visual programming environment for audio experimentation, prototyping, and education. It allows users to create and run audio patches on their mobile devices, enabling creative sound design on the go.
- Visual programming environment
- Audio experimentation
- Prototyping
- Educational tool
- Standalone application
- Audio plugins
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plugdata is visual programming environment for audio experimentation, prototyping and education. With plugdata for iOS, you can bring your plugdata patches with you everywhere you go. This app ships with a standalone application and audio plugins.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: ShadowPlayKA at 5.0 against plugdata's 4.4. plugdata's advantage is update cadence (every 3 months vs every 25 months) and ratings volume (17 vs 1). On price, 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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
ShadowPlayKA holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: plugdata has 17 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.
ShadowPlayKA ships an update every 25 months, plugdata every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on September 29, 2026 and October 9, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | ShadowPlayKA | plugdata |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better | 4.4 (17 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | — | 63.2% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 1 | 17 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 25 months | Every 3 months — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 | 12.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 6 MB | 147 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Daniel Wilcox | Timothy Schoen |
Customer experience
ShadowPlayKA
plugdata
In-app purchases
ShadowPlayKA
No in-app purchases
plugdata
No in-app purchases
