Comparison

Uzu, An Interactive Light Show vs subflow

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

Head to head
About

Uzu, An Interactive Light Show

Explore a generative design playground that combines math, physics, and art. Create dynamic light shows with interactive particle systems, customizable animations, and drawing modes. Experience endless possibilities for visual creation and interaction.

Highlights
  • Generative particle system
  • Real-time animation modes
  • Interactive 3D manipulation
  • Drawing mode
  • Microphone input response
  • Customizable presets
Features
Read full description

"This is doodling for digital natives . . . mind blowing." — Wired Magazine "Uzu for iPad is endlessly complicated, simply fun." — Ars Technica Uzu is a generative design playground — a math-physics-art toy for anyone who ever loved spirographs, fireworks, planetariums, lava lamps, light painting, kaleidoscopes, or graphing calculators. Touch the screen and watch thousands of particles swirl, spiral, and bloom in real time. Change the entire feel by simply changing how many fingers you use. Relax. Play. Meditate. Create wallpapers. Or lose yourself for an hour tweaking symmetry, animation modes, and effects. Uzu is endlessly deep and simply fun. Now completely rebuilt with a native Metal engine and a beautiful SwiftUI interface — smoother, richer, and more powerful than ever. FEATURES • Fully dynamic generative particle system • 21 animation modes for each touch count (0 through 10) • Rotational, translational, and reflective symmetry • 122 factory presets plus unlimited user presets • 10 visual effects: Glow, Warp, Kaleidoscope, Sparkle, Feedback, Color, Gradient, Pixelate, Scanlines, and Vignette • Export and import presets — save, share, and back up your creations • Fast preset switching, shake to hide the menu, adjustable quality settings • Freeze mode, microphone reactivity, and thousands of possible combinations • Create stunning backgrounds for iPhone and iPad ACCLAIM • Winner of Apple's "App of the Week" • Apple Rewind: Best Generative Art and Sound App • Reached #1 on the App Store • Featured in Apple's "App Store Essentials Hall of Fame" • Seen in the "Year of the iPad" video at the iPad keynote • Featured as an Apple Staff Favorite SUPPORT Questions or stories? We'd love to hear from you. jason@colordodge.com www.colordodge.com

About

subflow

Create dynamic music visualizations for any setting. Control modes, speed, and beat patterns with intuitive screen gestures. Advanced users can leverage UDP and OS2L for complex control with DJ software.

Highlights
  • Gesture-based control for modes, speed, and beats
  • Beat pattern customization
  • UDP command sequencing
  • OS2L integration with DJ software
  • Color customization via long press
Features
Read full description

Crisp visualizations for your music stage or living room. Tap left or right edge of screen to change modes. Vertical swipes change speed. Tap the upper half of the screen several times to set a beat pattern. Tap the lower half to cancel or to add single beats. Horizontal swipes fine-tune the beat alignment. Long press will change color. You can also send more complex command sequences over UDP, and you can control via OS2L using most DJ software. See http://subflow.org/

Screenshots

Uzu, An Interactive Light Show4 screens
subflow2 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: subflow at Free against Uzu, An Interactive Light Show's $3.99. subflow also leads on update cadence (every 6 days vs every 2 months). Uzu, An Interactive Light Show's advantage is rating (4.8 vs 4.3) and review sentiment (91% vs 67%). On ads, in-app purchases, device support and iOS requirement 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

subflow is free to download; Uzu, An Interactive Light Show costs $3.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Uzu, An Interactive Light Show holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Uzu, An Interactive Light Show has 261 ratings behind it against 17, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 91% of Uzu, An Interactive Light Show's written reviews are positive against 67% of subflow's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Uzu, An Interactive Light Show ships an update every 2 months, subflow every 6 days. The most recent releases landed on October 19, 2026 and October 12, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 4 level
Uzu, An Interactive Light Show versus subflow: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterUzu, An Interactive Light Showsubflow
Price$3.99Free — better
Rating4.8 (261 ratings) — better4.3 (17 ratings)
Positive reviews91.1% of reviews — better66.7% of reviews
Number of ratings261 — better17
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 6 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidFree — better
Best chart rank#146 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, Apple TV — better
Requires iOS17.616.6 — better
Further details — not scored
Size16 MB3 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperColordodge LabsEllo Skelling Productions

Customer experience

Uzu, An Interactive Light Show

All ratings261 ratings
Positive95.0%
Neutral2.3%
Negative2.7%
Written reviews369 reviews
Positive91.1%
Neutral4.1%
Negative4.9%

subflow

All ratings17 ratings
Positive82.4%
Neutral5.9%
Negative11.8%
Written reviews6 reviews
Positive66.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative33.3%

Bugs and requests

Uzu, An Interactive Light Show

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Crashes on iOS 4.2 and newer
  • Menu controls not working on iPad Pro
  • Screenshot feature not functioning properly

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add music/sound reactive features
  • Implement full-screen mode without UI
  • Introduce more advanced preset options
  • Add ability to save and share custom presets
  • Optimize performance for latest iPad models

subflow

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Uzu, An Interactive Light Show

No in-app purchases

None

subflow

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Uzu, An Interactive Light Show free?
Uzu, An Interactive Light Show costs $3.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is subflow free?
subflow is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Uzu, An Interactive Light Show or subflow?
Uzu, An Interactive Light Show is rated higher. Uzu, An Interactive Light Show averages 4.8 out of 5 from 261 ratings, while subflow averages 4.3 from 17 ratings.
Do Uzu, An Interactive Light Show or subflow have ads?
Neither Uzu, An Interactive Light Show nor subflow shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Uzu, An Interactive Light Show or subflow?
Uzu, An Interactive Light Show ships an update every 2 months, and subflow every 6 days. Most recently, Uzu, An Interactive Light Show was updated on October 19, 2026 and subflow on October 12, 2026.

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