Sampletoy vs Midnight Plaza
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Sampletoy
Capture and manipulate sounds using a unique musical instrument and plaything. This app allows you to record audio, then loop, pitch, and distort it live with multitouch controls. Explore creative sound design with filters, delays, and envelopes, and export your performances as high-quality audio files.
- Capture sounds via microphone
- Live playback, looping, pitching, and distortion
- Multitouch control for up to 5 notes
- Resonant filters, delays, and envelopes
- Stepped and free playback modes
- Record and email performances as WAV files
- Import audio from various sources
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Sampletoy is a radical new musical instrument/plaything; part sampler, part granular synthesiser. Use it to capture sounds through the microphone, then play, loop, pitch and distort them live on the screen. There are plenty of features under the hood, such as resonant filters, delays and envelope. You can enable "stepped" mode to play your sounds like a traditional keyboard, or keep it in "free" mode for some microtonal madness. Once you've recorded a sound, use the main area of the screen to play it back at different pitches (up to 5 fingers at a time). You can crop the sound by dragging a selection over the waveform. The crop area is also multitouch and you can adjust the crop while playing the sound too. The y-axis is pitch of the sound, and the x-axis is configurable to control filters or envelope. You can record your performances on Sampletoy and send them via email within the app as a CD-quality wav file (mono or stereo) FEATURES ------- * Create your own instruments out of any sound. * Email your performances as audio files straight from the app. * Built-in resonant filters, delay and envelope. * Auto-saves current recording and state and recalls it again on next launch. * Stepped mode allows chromatic, major, minor, pentatonic and whole-tone scales to be played. * Totally multitouch - play up to 5 notes at once. * 44kHz/16bit - professional quality sound. * AudioBus3 output * Import any audio file to Sampletoy from Files, Voice memos, DropBox etc * Open non-audio files and hear what they sound like * Bluetooth / Airplay support * Built-in comprehensive manual.
Midnight Plaza
Transform your audio into a nostalgic, degraded soundscape with this AUv3 effect. Designed for genres like vaporwave and lo-fi, it adds a unique tape-style slowdown, age, and dreamy reverb to your sounds.
- AUv3 audio effect plugin
- Vaporwave, mallsoft, lo-fi sound design
- Tape-style slowdown
- Degraded character effect
- Dreamy reverb
- Works on iPhone and iPad
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Midnight Plaza is an AUv3 audio effect that turns clean sound into faded memory, slow neon reflections, and worn-out late-night atmosphere. Built for vaporwave, mallsoft, ambient, lo-fi, and nostalgic sound design, Midnight Plaza gives you three simple controls: Time - Slows playback (tape style) Memory - Adds age, wear, and degraded character Place - Surrounds your sound with a dreamy reverb Use it on drums, synths, samples, keys, vocals, or full mixes to create blurred, emotional spaces that feel like memories. Features: - AUv3 effect plugin - Designed for vaporwave, mallsoft, lo-fi, ambient, and degraded textures - Simple three-dial workflow - Great for sound design and resampling - Works with compatible AUv3 hosts on iPhone and iPad Important: Midnight Plaza does not make sound on its own. It is an audio effect, not a standalone instrument or standalone app. A compatible AUv3 host app is required, such as Logic Pro, GarageBand, AUM, Cubasis, or another app that supports Audio Unit v3 plugins.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Midnight Plaza at 5.0 against Sampletoy's 4.1. Midnight Plaza also leads on monetization model (free vs paid) and update cadence (every 10 days vs every 7 months). Sampletoy's advantage is ratings volume (106 vs 9) and iOS requirement (8.0 vs 15.0). On price, ads, 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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Midnight Plaza holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.1. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Sampletoy has 106 ratings behind it against 9, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 90% of Sampletoy's written reviews are positive against 100% of Midnight Plaza's.
Sampletoy ships an update every 7 months, Midnight Plaza every 10 days. The most recent releases landed on October 23, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Sampletoy | Midnight Plaza |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.1 (106 ratings) | 5.0 (9 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 89.8% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 106 — better | 9 |
| Update frequency | Every 7 months | Every 10 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 8.0 — better | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 24 MB | 22 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Mazbox Limited | LEWIS GARETH K LE VAL |
Customer experience
Sampletoy
Midnight Plaza
In-app purchases
Sampletoy
No in-app purchases
Midnight Plaza
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Sampletoy free?
Is Midnight Plaza free?
Which has better reviews, Sampletoy or Midnight Plaza?
Do Sampletoy or Midnight Plaza have ads?
Which is updated more often, Sampletoy or Midnight Plaza?
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