Comparison

iAltair vs BASIC

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

Head to head
About

iAltair

Experience vintage computing with a simulation of the MITS Altair 8800. Explore old software like CP/M 2 and run programs such as Eliza using built-in BASIC. This self-contained system offers a unique glimpse into early computing history.

Highlights
  • MITS Altair 8800 simulation
  • CP/M 2 operating system support
  • Built-in BASIC interpreter
  • Run Eliza program
  • Self-contained system
Read full description

iAltair pretends to be a MITS Altair 8800 computer. It allows you to get the feeling of really old software such as the CP/M 2 operating system. The system is fully self contained and does not allow you to remotely add any code but you can try out Basic to run Eliza.

About

BASIC

Learn and experiment with the classic BASIC programming language. This app provides a user-friendly environment to write, run, and understand BASIC code, complete with examples for various commands and functions. Ideal for beginners and those nostalgic for early computing.

Highlights
  • BASIC code interpreter
  • Interactive programming environment
  • Examples for PRINT, INPUT, IF/THEN
  • FOR/NEXT loops and GOTO/GOSUB
  • Graphics commands (TEXT, CIRCLE, RECT, LINE)
  • Mathematical functions
  • SOUND and DELAY commands
Features
Read full description

BASIC: THE FEELING OF THE GOOD OLD TIMES ! 10 INPUT A 20 B = SIN(A) 30 PRINT "ANSWER: ", B 40 END BASIC USER'S GUIDE: • PRINT 10 PRINT "HELLO WORLD !" 20 END • INPUT 10 INPUT “A=”, A 20 PRINT A 30 END • IF...THEN... Number Comparison: 10 INPUT A 20 IF A>90 THEN B=“A” 30 PRINT B 40 END Conditional Operators: > greater than < less than >= greater than or equal to => equal to or greater than <= less than or equal to =< equal to or less than = equal to == equal to <> not equal to != not equal to THEN can be followed by GOTO, GOSUB, INPUT, PRINT. String Comparison: 10 INPUT A 20 IF A=“TOM” THEN PRINT “BOY” 30 END Conditional Operators: = is == is <> is not != is not • FOR...NEXT... 10 FOR I=1 TO 4 STEP 2 20 PRINT “HELLO”, I 30 NEXT I 40 END STEP specifies the counter increment for each loop. If STEP doesn’t exit, the default increment is 1. FOR...NEXT... loop can be nested. 10 FOR I=1 TO 5 20 FOR J=1 TO 4 30 PRINT I, J 40 NEXT J 50 NEXT I 60 END • GOTO 10 ... 20 ... 30 ... 40 GOTO 10 50 ... • GOSUB 10 PRINT “H” 20 GOSUB 100 30 PRINT “L” 40 END 100 PRINT “A” 110 RETURN • SOUND 10 SOUND C, M, 0.5 The line 10 plays Middle C piano note for 0.5 seconds. Note: C, C#, D, D#, E, F, F#, G, G#, A, A#, B Pitch Range: L (low), M (middle), H (high) Lasting Time: specifies how long a note lasts. C, D, E, F, G, A, B can also be labeled as 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. (C# as 1#). • TEXT 10 TEXT “HELLO”, x, y, size (x,y): position of the string “HELLO”. • CIRCLE 10 CIRCLE x, y, radius (x,y): the center of the circle. • RECTANGLE 10 RECT x, y, width, height (x,y): top-left point of the rectangle. • LINE 10 LINE x1, y1, x2, y2 (x1,y1): the starting point of the line. (x2,y2): the ending point of the line. • POINT 10 POINT x, y (x,y): the position of the point. • CLR: clear the edit window. • CLS: clear the graph window. • DELAY 10 DELAY 0.5 0.5:lasting time in seconds This function is used to suspend execution of a program for a particular time. • CURVE 10 CURVE x, y, radius, 0, PI 0: starting angle PI: ending angle The curve draws clockwise with center (x,y). • Mathematical Functions: SIN(X), COS(X), TAN(X), COT(X), ASIN(X), ACOS(X), ATAN(X), SINH(X), COSH(X), TANH(X), ASINH(X), ACOSH(X), ATANH(X). SQR(X): square root of x. ABS(X): absolute value of x. FCT(X): x factorial. LOG(X): natural logarithm of x. LOG10(X): base-10 logarithm of x. LOG2(X) :base-2 logarithm of x. EXP(X): base-e exponential of x. ERF(X): the error function of x. ERFC(X): the complementary error function of x. ROUND(X) :integral nearest to x. CEIL(X): the smallest integral that is not less than x. FLOOR(X): the largest integral that is not greater than x. TGAMMA(X): the gamma function of x. LGAMMA(X): the natural logarithm of the absolute value of the gamma function of x. • Reserved Variables: INKEY : once a key is pressed, the value of INKEY changes. RND : a random number. PI : π • Some Tips: 1. Undo & Redo typing on iPhone with a shake. 2. Copy an Emoji or some character from other places (like Notes), then paste them on the edit window. 3. Exponentiation is expressed as X^Y.

Screenshots

iAltair4 screens
BASIC4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: iAltair at 75% against BASIC's 25%. iAltair also leads on price (Free vs $2.99) and rating (4.8 vs 2.7). BASIC's advantage is update cadence (every 4 months vs every 11 months). On ads, in-app purchases, 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

iAltair is free to download; BASIC costs $2.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

iAltair holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 2.7. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 21 and 7 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 75% of iAltair's written reviews are positive against 25% of BASIC's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

iAltair ships an update every 11 months, BASIC every 4 months. The most recent releases landed on September 27, 2026 and October 13, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
iAltair versus BASIC: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameteriAltairBASIC
PriceFree — better$2.99
Rating4.8 (21 ratings) — better2.7 (7 ratings)
Positive reviews75.0% of reviews — better25.0% of reviews
Number of ratings21 — better7
Update frequencyEvery 11 monthsEvery 4 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree — betterPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.4 — better15.6
Further details — not scored
Size10 MB12 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperPeter Schorn俊 姜

Customer experience

iAltair

All ratings21 ratings
Positive95.2%
Neutral4.8%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews12 reviews
Positive75.0%
Neutral16.7%
Negative8.3%

BASIC

All ratings7 ratings
Positive28.6%
Neutral28.6%
Negative42.9%
Written reviews20 reviews
Positive25.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative75.0%

In-app purchases

None

iAltair

No in-app purchases

None

BASIC

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is iAltair free?
iAltair is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is BASIC free?
BASIC costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, iAltair or BASIC?
iAltair is rated higher. iAltair averages 4.8 out of 5 from 21 ratings, while BASIC averages 2.7 from 7 ratings.
Do iAltair or BASIC have ads?
Neither iAltair nor BASIC shows ads.
Which is updated more often, iAltair or BASIC?
iAltair ships an update every 11 months, and BASIC every 4 months. Most recently, iAltair was updated on September 27, 2026 and BASIC on October 13, 2026.

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