Comparison

Touch Waves vs HARAKU

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

Head to head
About

Touch Waves

Explore wave physics with interactive animations and detailed explanations. This app covers vibrations, waves on strings, acoustics, and optics, making complex concepts visual and understandable for students and educators.

Highlights
  • Wave physics concepts
  • Interactive animations (2D & 3D)
  • Basic equations
  • Classroom projection support
  • Covers vibration, acoustics, optics
  • Detailed subject list
Features
Read full description

Touch Waves is an educational application helpful for a high-school or university course of wave physics. It contains not only a memorandum of the basic equations, but it also contains approximately thirty animations (some in 3D) illustrating the various concepts of wave physics. More than 70 screens of wave physics! For teachers !! Connect your iPad to a video projector and show the animations to your students in classroom. List of covered subjects: Vibration: Harmonic oscillator, damped oscillator, driven oscillator. Wave on strings: Introduction, reflection and transmission, standing waves. Acoustics: Introduction, reflection and transmission, Doppler effect. Optics: Geometric optics, wave optics, polarization, Jones formulation of polarization, reflection and transmission, interference, diffraction, Doppler-Fizeau effect. Each section contains at least one animation. List of animations: Motion of harmonic oscillator, Motion of damped oscillator, Motion of driven oscillator, Progressive transversal wave, Reflection and transmission on string, Standing waves on string, Progressive longitudinal wave, Beating wave, Acoustic frequency, Acoustic Spectrometer, Acoustic Doppler effect, Snell-Descartes’ law, Law of spherical interface, Law of thin lens, Law of thick lens, Law of spherical mirror, Geometric aberration, Chromatic aberration, Visible spectrum, Electromagnetic wave in 3D, Electromagnetic spectrum, Absorption and emission of photon, Types of polarization, Types of polarization in 3D, Fresnel’s coefficients, Reflection and transmission in 3D, Degree of polarization in reflection, Interference in 3D, Young's interferometer, Michelson's interferometer, Fabry-Pérot interferometer, Diffraction by rectangular aperture, Diffraction by circular aperture.

About

HARAKU

Features
Read full description

HARAKU is an interactive physics simulator that brings wave phenomena to life. Designed for students, educators, and anyone curious about how waves work, HARAKU lets you see and control wave behavior in real time. Developer: Fuji Bit Inc. Part of the educational "Raku" physics series, HARAKU is the wave-physics edition. Whether you are studying for a test, looking for a classroom demo, or simply enjoy how waves behave, HARAKU turns abstract wave equations into vivid, touchable experiences. 10 Simulations: - Superposition: Combine two sine waves and observe constructive and destructive interference. Adjust amplitude, frequency, and phase for each wave independently. - 2D Ripples: Tap to place wave sources on a 2D surface. Watch interference patterns form in real time using finite-difference wave equation solving. Multiple sources create beautiful interference fringes. - Doppler Effect: Drag a moving wave source and observe how wavefronts compress ahead and stretch behind. Two observers show the frequency shift. Push past Mach 1 to see a sonic boom. - Standing Wave: Explore harmonics on a fixed string. See nodes and antinodes appear as you change the harmonic number. Adjust tension and damping to observe how they affect the wave. - Refraction: Visualize Snell's law as a wave crosses between two media. Change the angle of incidence and wave speeds to observe refraction and total internal reflection. - Beat Frequency: Superimpose two waves with slightly different frequencies and watch beats emerge. The red envelope clearly shows the amplitude modulation. - Interference: Watch two-point-source interference fringes form bright (constructive) and dark (destructive) bands. Vary source separation and frequency to see how fringe spacing changes. - Diffraction: A plane wave passes through a slit and spreads out via Huygens' principle. Adjust the slit width relative to the wavelength to see how diffraction strength varies. - Fourier Synthesis: Build square, triangle, and sawtooth waves from a sum of sine harmonics. Increase the harmonic count to watch the synthesis approach the target waveform while seeing each harmonic's contribution. - Reflection: Watch a traveling wave hit a boundary and reflect back. Toggle between fixed-end (phase inverted) and free-end (phase preserved) boundaries to see how the standing wave forms from the incident and reflected waves. Features: - Real-time simulation with smooth 60fps animation - Intuitive parameter sliders for hands-on exploration - Physics info sheets with formulas and explanations - Beautiful dark-themed canvas visualization - Light and Dark mode support - Japanese and English localization (auto-switches by device language) - No sign-up required — open and explore instantly Pricing and Monetization: - Price: Free - In-App Purchases (IAP): None - Ads: A single AdMob banner is shown Part of the "Raku" educational series: - SUUGAKU - Mathematics - BUTURAKU - Mechanics - DENRAKU - Electromagnetism - HARAKU - Wave Physics

Screenshots

Touch Waves4 screens
HARAKU4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: HARAKU at Free against Touch Waves's $3.99. HARAKU also leads on update cadence (weekly vs every 5 months) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 26.0). Touch Waves's advantage is ads (none vs shown). On in-app purchases and device support 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

HARAKU is free to download; Touch Waves costs $3.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Touch Waves ships an update every 5 months, HARAKU weekly. The most recent releases landed on September 5, 2026 and September 17, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Touch Waves versus HARAKU: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterTouch WavesHARAKU
Price$3.99Free — better
Rating3.0 (2 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews63.2% of reviews—
Number of ratings2 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 5 monthsWeekly — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaid—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS26.013.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size49 MB24 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperXavier DaxheletFuji Bit Inc.

In-app purchases

None

Touch Waves

No in-app purchases

None

HARAKU

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Touch Waves free?
Touch Waves costs $3.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is HARAKU free?
HARAKU is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Touch Waves or HARAKU have ads?
HARAKU shows ads; Touch Waves does not.
Which is updated more often, Touch Waves or HARAKU?
Touch Waves ships an update every 5 months, and HARAKU weekly. Most recently, Touch Waves was updated on September 5, 2026 and HARAKU on September 17, 2026.

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