Comparison

Generator vs BFM

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

Head to head
About

Generator

Generate professional-grade audio signals like sine waves, square waves, and various noise types. Offers precise frequency control and remote operation via WiFi. Ideal for audio testing and production.

Highlights
  • Sine, square, white noise, and pink noise generation
  • Precise frequency control (20Hz-20kHz)
  • Octave, 1/3 octave, and fine frequency resolution
  • Remote control over WiFi via AudioTools app
  • Warble-tone signal generation
  • Stereo or mono output options
Features
Read full description

A high-quality audio Signal Generator for the iPhone. Now you can have a professional grade signal generator for your iPhone. Create sine waves, square waves, white noise, and pink noise. Don't let the well-worn look of this classic audio must-have fool you, Generator is accurate, reliable, precise, and clean. ** NEW! Now supports remote control over WiFi from our AudioTools app. Connect an iOS device running Generator to your audio system, link to AudioTools on another device, and control Generator from AudioTools as you are free to move around. Requires that both devices be on the same LAN. In sine and square wave mode, you can select between 20Hz and 20kHz using a controller that has three resolutions: octave, 1/3 octave, and fine. Frequency selection is controlled by smooth-gliding interlocking control wheels. Just spin to change frequency, by octaves, 1/3 octaves, or select fine mode to sweep through any value. *** NEW: Tap the frequency screen to pop up a keyboard so that you can enter any exact frequency. *** NEW: Tap the Wobble button to create a warble-tone signal for acoustics work. Doubles as an emergency siren! When you are generating pink noise and white noise, you can select full band (20Hz-20kHz), or octave band limited noise for acoustical testing. All waveforms are laboratory accurate, and use ANSI / IEC spec filters where appropriate. The frequency sweeps smoothly, with no glitches. The mute is soft, to prevent loud impulses when mute or turning on a lower-frequency signal. This signal can be sent to both channels (stereo), just the right or left channel, or the right channel output phase can be inverted for pseudo-balanced mode. This mode can be used with our iPhone Balanced Cable Adapter to get a balanced signal from your iPhone. See our web site for more information. On an iPhone 3G, we have measured distortion at .006% THD at 1000Hz at full volume (+6.5dBu balanced). See our web site for more level details. Note that digital square waves suffer from aliasing problems, and sound very strange above about 1500Hz. Future versions will have options to select different skins. Check out out other great professional-grade audio and acoustics apps: SPL, the iPhone professional-grade sound level meter, SPL Graph, for recording SPL over time, RTA, a 1/3 octave real time analyzer, FFT, for detailed audio analysis, ETC, the iPhone energy-time curve and decay app, RT60, for automated octave-band decay measurement, and Speaker Pop, the speaker polarity tester. Email us within any questions, problems, or suggestions, we answer all emails promptly.

About

BFM

This audio metering plugin offers a large, highly readable interface for monitoring audio levels across various modes like RMS, LUFS, and Peak. It provides multiple visual representations including text, bars, waveforms, VU meters, and spectrum analysis to help users keep their audio signals under control and avoid clipping.

Highlights
  • Large, readable interface
  • Multiple metering modes (RMS, LUFS, Peak)
  • Visualizations: Text, Bars, Waves, VU, Spectrum
  • Adjustable sensitivity and peak hold
  • Stereo image and phase response meters
  • Frequency spectrum analysis
Features
Read full description

BFM or Big F*ing Meters is a macOS, Windows, and soon to be iOS compatible Metering plug-in designed exactly how the name sounds... really f*ing big. With the main goal of readability we wanted to bring a meter that you can see from across the studio and keep your records clip-free. BFM currently offers 6 Modes with RMS, LUFs, Peak, and Peak Hold values, to give you a variety of views to keep your signal under control. The Text, Bars, Waves, VU Meters, Spectrum, & Time  let you decide how you want to keep track of your signal with multiple fonts/formats to view them in. Text gives you a quick look at just the values easy to see from across the room. This view offers the most values with RMS, Peak, Peak Hold, and LUFs (Short Term & Momentary with Maximum values and LUFS range) values available. Controllable sensitivity & peak hold time for all pages. Reset Peak Hold with a click off the value. Bar offers a more traditional meter for seeing the range of values showing RMS, Peak, Peak Hold, and LUFS. Correlation & Balance meters included to set your stereo image and phase response. Peak Hold resets on value click. Sensitivity changes on bar click. LUFS readings select on click. Included reference points for -24 (EBU), -16 (Apple Music), & -7 as a suggested maximum for most genres. Wave view gives you a look at your waveform after your channel effects with the ability to quickly mark in dB where you want to see your signals peak. To freeze click the waveform. To reset Peak Hold click the value. VU Meter Designed for a quick look at your overall levels. Featuring controllable Attack, Release, Minimum, and Maximum value control. Left/Right, Mid/Side, PPM, and LUFS options available. Click VU to enter dark mode. Spectrum is a simplified frequency spectrum view with 3 quality modes. Great for getting an overall look at where your frequencies are when mixing or editing. Tap to freeze and inspect. There is also the PEAK value displayed on this page. To reset Peak Hold click the value.

Screenshots

Generator2 screens
BFM4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: BFM at 100% against Generator's 56%. BFM also leads on rating (4.6 vs 3.3) and price ($4.99 vs $8.99). On ratings volume, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases 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

Generator costs $8.99 and BFM $4.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

BFM holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 3.3. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 3 and 5 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 56% of Generator's written reviews are positive against 100% of BFM's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 5 months. Both last shipped on October 24, 2026.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Generator versus BFM: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterGeneratorBFM
Price$8.99$4.99 — better
Rating3.3 (3 ratings)4.6 (5 ratings) — better
Positive reviews55.6% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings35 — better
Update frequencyEvery 5 monthsEvery 5 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.012.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size32 MB158 MB
Age rating4+9+
DeveloperAndrew SmithOSC Audio

Customer experience

Generator

All ratings3 ratings
Positive33.3%
Neutral33.3%
Negative33.3%
Written reviews18 reviews
Positive55.6%
Neutral22.2%
Negative22.2%

BFM

All ratings5 ratings
Positive80.0%
Neutral20.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

Generator

No in-app purchases

None

BFM

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Generator free?
Generator costs $8.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is BFM free?
BFM costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Generator or BFM?
BFM is rated higher. Generator averages 3.3 out of 5 from 3 ratings, while BFM averages 4.6 from 5 ratings.
Do Generator or BFM have ads?
Neither Generator nor BFM shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Generator or BFM?
Generator ships an update every 5 months, and BFM every 5 months. Most recently, Generator was updated on October 24, 2026 and BFM on October 24, 2026.

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