Washboard vs FrequencyCat
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Washboard
Transform your device into a virtual washboard with customizable sounds and decorations. Play along with your music or connect to an amp for live performances. It also functions as a MIDI controller for music production.
- Virtual metal washboard instrument
- Add-on instruments like horns and woodblocks
- Customizable decorations
- Play along with music
- Connect to external amplifiers
- MIDI controller functionality
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Turn your mobile device into a musical washboard! You can play the classic metal washboard as is, or customize it by adding instruments like horns and woodblocks in any combination. You can even add decorations like a flower, a sticker or party lights. Play along with your iPod music, or plug into an amp and join a jug band! Some reviews say the app doesn't sound like a washboard, but it does use audio samples taken from a real washboard. The samples come from a metal board played with 1" zinc washers -- this gives a sound harder than thimbles but softer than spoons -- and include a tap, scrub and wood sound. The add-on instruments also use real audio samples. Instruments include: - Small cowbell - Large cowbell - Small horn - Large horn - Tambourine - Cymbal - Small woodblock - Large woodblock - Service bell - Vibraslap - Toy chicken Decorations (no sound) include: - Toy dinosaur - Flower - Bow tie - Hula girl - Woody Guthrie sticker - Party lights If you have any MIDI equipment, you can also use Washboard as a MIDI controller. Map each instrument in the app to a note number in your sound module, then tap the board or attached instruments to send note-on commands. The MIDI commands are sent on channel 10 for easy access to most percussion modules. Before buying this app, I recommend watching the demo video at washboardapp.com to see how it works. If you need help after your purchase, please contact me before writing a bad review. I have no way to respond or help you if you publish your complaints in a review, but I respond promptly to all emails.
FrequencyCat
Transform your photos into unique sound art using advanced image-to-sound technology. Explore, enjoy, and share your creative audio-visual pieces. Embrace your inner artist and discover the unexpected.
- Morph images into sound art
- Create spectrogram oddities
- Share sound art creations
- Unique audio-visual experience
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Hide an image inside sound. FrequencyCat is a playful tool for exploring the connection between images, sound, and spectrograms. Choose an image, and FrequencyCat transforms it into a unique audio signal. Play the sound and view its spectrogram, and you’ll see the original image emerge again from the frequencies. With FrequencyCat, you can: - Turn images into sound - View audio spectrograms in real time - Play sounds and reveal the images hidden inside them - Explore how different images create different sounds - Discover the relationship between sound, frequency, and Fourier transforms in an intuitive way There’s no magic behind it. Just frequencies, phases, an inverse Fourier transform, and a little curiosity about sound. Whether you’re interested in acoustics, music, signal processing, or simply wondering what an image might sound like, FrequencyCat gives you a new way to explore. Pick an image. Hear what it sounds like.
Screenshots
Verdict
Washboard and FrequencyCat both sit at 5.0 stars, but that hides the real split: 100% of FrequencyCat's written reviews are positive against 43% of Washboard's. FrequencyCat also leads on price (Free vs $1.99). Washboard's advantage is update cadence (every 3 months vs every 40 months) and device support (3 vs 1). On rating, ratings volume, 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
FrequencyCat is free to download; Washboard costs $1.99 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 — 5.0 for Washboard against 5.0 for FrequencyCat. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1 and 1 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 43% of Washboard's written reviews are positive against 100% of FrequencyCat's.
Washboard ships an update every 3 months, FrequencyCat every 40 months. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Washboard | FrequencyCat |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $1.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 5.0 (1 ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 42.9% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 1 | 1 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months — better | Every 40 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 12.0 — better | 16.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 8 MB | 3 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Arlo Leach | Xuesong Zhang |
Customer experience
Washboard
FrequencyCat
In-app purchases
Washboard
No in-app purchases
FrequencyCat
No in-app purchases









