Autoharp vs TouchBells
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Autoharp
Experience the realistic sound of an autoharp with intuitive chord buttons and strumming. Enhance your music with built-in effects and use it as a MIDI controller. Customize string and chord layouts for advanced control.
- Realistic autoharp sound
- Chord buttons and strumming
- Built-in chorus, delay, and reverb effects
- MIDI controller output
- Customizable string and chord layouts
- Save and switch effect programs
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This app works like a real autoharp: just push one of the chord buttons and strum! Autoharp uses high-quality audio samples and matches its volume to your strumming speed for the most realistic sound available. If you want to expand your sonic palette, Autoharp includes built-in chorus, delay and reverb effects. You can configure each effect and enable them in any combination. With an in-app purchase, you can save multiple effects programs and switch between your saved programs. If you have any MIDI equipment, you can also use Autoharp as a MIDI controller. Strum its strings and send note-on commands to another device to generate virtually any sound. The MIDI commands include velocity values determined by your strumming speed for expressive playing. Advanced players can even customize Autoharp's string and chord layout, to optimize the sound for a given song or test a new setup before modifying a real autoharp. With an in-app purchase, you can set the note assigned to each string (from a total of 53 available notes) and set the strings assigned to each chord bar (either 15 or 21), then switch between any of your saved layouts. Before buying this app, I recommend watching the demo video at autoharpapp.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.
TouchBells
This app is a virtual carillon instrument for iPad, offering xylophone, vibraphone, and tubular bell sounds. Users can play freely, record and share songs, and learn to play through a teach mode. It's designed for musical exploration and early childhood education.
- Virtual carillon instrument
- Xylophone, Vibraphone, Tubular Bells sounds
- Song recording and playback
- Song sharing with other users
- Teach mode for learning songs
- Adjustable stereo effect
- Tunable instrument pitch
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TouchBells is an easy and fun to use carillon music instrument (Glockenspiel) for the Apple iPad. The instrument covers a range of 1 1/2 octaves (from C3 to F#4). Classic Xylophone sounds, Vibraphone sounds and Tubular Bells sounds are available. With TouchBells, you can just freely play along or record and play back your songs. You can also share the songs you recorded with other TouchBells users. By using the TouchBells teach mode, you can learn how to play the songs other TouchBells users share with you. TouchBells is also great for kids early musical education. TouchBells has several unique features: - Xylophone or Vibraphone sounds. - Adjustable Stereo effect. - Its tunable, you can alter the instrument pitch. - Song recording and song management. - Share you songs with other TouchBells users by eMail. - Export your songs for iTunes. - Learn how to play using the Teach Mode. - Play dynamically using TouchBells touch-sensitivity feature. - Choose from four different bar captions (None, German-, American- and Solmisation-Style). Furthermore, TouchBells includes 25 demo songs: - Cradlesong (Wiegenlied) - Frere Jacques - Muss i denn, muss i denn zum Staedtele naus - Silent Night - My Bonny Is Over The Ocean - Ode to Joy - The moon as risen - Rondo all Turka (Turkish March) - When the Saints Go Marching In - Matilda - What shall we do with the trunken sailor? - Kojo no Tsuki - The Song of the Volga Boatmen - La Cucaracha - O Christmas Tree - Jingle Bells - Happy Birthday To You - Schneewalzer - Auld Lang Syne - Row, Row, Row Your Boat - Für Elise - Michael Row the Boat Ashore - She'll Be Coming 'Round the Mountain - Hänschen Klein - Old Mac Donald With the demo songs and the TouchBells Teach Mode, you can start directly with the learning how to play!
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Autoharp at 3.8 against TouchBells's 2.5. Autoharp also leads on chart position (#195 vs unranked) and ratings volume (9 vs 2). TouchBells's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 2) and review sentiment (78% vs 64%). On price, update cadence 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
Autoharp costs $1.99 and TouchBells $1.99 up front. Autoharp sells 2 one-off in-app purchases. TouchBells asks for nothing beyond the download.
Autoharp holds the better App Store score, 3.8 against 2.5. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 9 and 2 respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 64% of Autoharp's written reviews are positive against 78% of TouchBells's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Autoharp ships an update every 2 months, TouchBells every 5 months. The most recent releases landed on October 12, 2026 and October 8, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Autoharp | TouchBells |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $1.99 | $1.99 |
| Rating | 3.8 (9 ratings) — better | 2.5 (2 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 64.3% of reviews | 77.8% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 9 — better | 2 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months — better | Every 5 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases — better | Paid |
| Best chart rank | #195 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPad |
| Requires iOS | 12.0 — better | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 32 MB | 66 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Arlo Leach | Thomas Braun |
Customer experience
Autoharp
TouchBells
In-app purchases
Autoharp
- Save Multiple Effects Programs$0.99
- Set Up Custom Chord Layouts$3.99
TouchBells
No in-app purchases









