Bloom vs Fluss
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Bloom
Create unique melodies and elaborate patterns by simply tapping the screen. This generative music player offers an infinite selection of compositions and accompanying visualizations, even when left idle. It's a musical instrument, composition, and artwork all in one.
- Create melodies by tapping
- Generative music player
- Visualizations
- 12 mood settings
- Adjustable delay
- Shake to clear
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Developed by ambient pioneer Brian Eno and musician / software designer Peter Chilvers, Bloom explores uncharted territory in the realm of applications for the iPhone and iPod touch. Part instrument, part composition and part artwork, Bloom's innovative controls allow anyone to create elaborate patterns and unique melodies by simply tapping the screen. A generative music player takes over when Bloom is left idle, creating an infinite selection of compositions and their accompanying visualisations. "Bloom is an endless music machine, a music box for the 21st century. You can play it, and you can watch it play itself." - Brian Eno Features - 12 different mood settings - Random mood shuffle - Adjustable delay - Shake to clear - Evolve when idle - Sleep Timer Recommended for headphones or external speakers. “Bloom Raises the Bar for Musical iPhone Apps… if you're a fan of ambient music or music in general, you'll be wanting to get it right now” - Gizmodo “A relaxing alternative to just about anything else you can do with an iPhone” Wired “Hypnotic and ludicrously addictive” - Guardian
Fluss
Explore granular synthesis with a tactile interface. Import, record, or live-process audio to create unique sound textures, drones, and echoes. Features kinetic sliders for dynamic modulation and a unique shimmer feedback effect.
- Granular synthesis engine
- Import, record, or live process audio
- Kinetic sliders for modulation
- Shimmer feedback effect
- MIDI playable
- Oberheim Xpander inspired filter
- Microtonal experiment support
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Fluss is a sonic playground designed by Bram Bos and Berlin-based musician Hainbach to let you explore granular synthesis in a hands-on way. The playful touch UI invites anything from live performance, experimentation to learning and mastering the granular concept. Multiple plugins: Import, Record or Live Process You can import your own WAVs (standalone & AUv3 Instrument plugin), Record audio (Record effect plugin) or live-process sound (Process effect plugin) to create anything from drones and granular echoes to moving microtonal audio textures. Designed for touch: Kinetic Sliders All sliders and XY pads are linked to a physics model which lets you flick and throw them around. Minimise the friction for endless bouncing motion, as an innovative substitute for traditional LFOs and modulation. There was never a better reason for using a touchscreen for music. Shimmer Feedback effect Like a shimmer reverb, except it feeds the processed audio back into the grain engine. This lets you create an endless loop of pitch-shifting spaciousness, turning even the simplest of sounds into massive woolly mammoths. - 3 Voice grain engine, each with an independent playhead - Playable via MIDI (since version 1.1) - Filter inspired by the Oberheim Xpander, including its resonant Phase filter - Kinetic sliders and pads for playful interaction with the sound - Universal design (iPhone and iPad; iPad Air 2 or higher recommended) - Custom scales, unquantised mode and even Scala-import for microtonal experiments - Use WAVs (or other audio files), record audio or load the app as a live-processing audio effect - Real world tested as an instrument in numerous live performances by Hainbach - Offers light mode and dark mode UI
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Bloom at $3.99 against Fluss's $13.99. Fluss's advantage is update cadence (every 3 months vs every 11 months) and iOS requirement (12 vs 15.0). On rating, review sentiment, ratings volume and ads 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
Bloom costs $3.99 and Fluss $13.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.8 for Bloom against 4.8 for Fluss. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 99 and 71 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 84% of Bloom's written reviews are positive against 78% of Fluss's.
Bloom ships an update every 11 months, Fluss every 3 months. Both last shipped on October 23, 2026.
| Parameter | Bloom | Fluss |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $3.99 — better | $13.99 |
| Rating | 4.8 (99 ratings) | 4.8 (71 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 84.5% of reviews — better | 78.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 99 — better | 71 |
| Update frequency | Every 11 months | Every 3 months — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Paid |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 12 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 17 MB | 453 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Opal Limited | Bram Bos |
Customer experience
Bloom
Fluss
User reviews
Bloom
From 99 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🌟 Fantastic
- 🎨 Beautiful
- 🧘♀️ Relaxing
- 👨🎨 Creative
- 🎶 Mesmerizing
Room to improve
- 🔇 High frequencies prevent relaxation
- 🔇 Harsh/imbalanced sounds
- 🔇 Limited sound variety
- 🔇 Lack of recording/export function
- 🔇 Crashes on iOS 8/11
Fluss
From 71 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 💡 Innovative touch interface
- 🎶 Great for soundscapes
- ✨ Unique sound manipulation
- 🎛️ Intuitive controls
- 🎵 Highly playable instrument
Room to improve
- 🐛 Crashes frequently
- ⚫ Black screen issue
- 🎧 No audible output
- 🎛️ Not enough control
- 😵 Too much chaos
Bugs and requests
Bloom
Reported bugs
3 issues- Crashes on iOS 8/11 updates
- Stops working in background
- High notes cause issues for some users
Requested features
7 requests- Add more sound options/instruments
- Implement recording and export capabilities
- Add sleep timer and background playback
- Improve low-end sound quality
- Introduce MIDI support
Show 2 moreShow fewer
- Expand sound manipulation options (pitch bending, sustain, etc.)
- Add visual customization (blurred edges, etc.)
Fluss
Reported bugs
4 issues- Crashes with black screen
- No audible output
- App resets when put in background
- Cyan play head difficult to see on waveform
Requested features
20 requests- Adjustable layer field per grain
- Record from internal microphone
- More control over grain direction
- BPM settings
- Transition from clean to new sounds
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- AUv3 plugin version
- Scan speed multiplier (x2, x4)
- Draw lines on pitch XY pad
- Lock oscillators on pitch XY pad
- Assign play heads triggered by external controller
- Snapshots for pitch section
- More clock and tempo syncing options
- Visualization of buffer, playback head speed, modulation
- Quantizer visualization
- User-changeable pitch XY pad layout
- Global friction and separate sensitivity option
- Modulation to specific play head
- Proper sampling button (microphone access)
- Preset browser arrows
- More control over panning, filter, scan speed
In-app purchases
Bloom
No in-app purchases
Fluss
No in-app purchases







