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.
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.
- Generative particle system
- Real-time animation modes
- Interactive 3D manipulation
- Drawing mode
- Microphone input response
- Customizable presets
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"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
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.
- Gesture-based control for modes, speed, and beats
- Beat pattern customization
- UDP command sequencing
- OS2L integration with DJ software
- Color customization via long press
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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
Verdict
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
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.
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.
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.
| Parameter | Uzu, An Interactive Light Show | subflow |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $3.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 4.8 (261 ratings) — better | 4.3 (17 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 91.1% of reviews — better | 66.7% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 261 — better | 17 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Every 6 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Free — better |
| Best chart rank | #146 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, Apple TV — better |
| Requires iOS | 17.6 | 16.6 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 16 MB | 3 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Colordodge Labs | Ello Skelling Productions |
Customer experience
Uzu, An Interactive Light Show
subflow
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
Uzu, An Interactive Light Show
No in-app purchases
subflow
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Uzu, An Interactive Light Show free?
Is subflow free?
Which has better reviews, Uzu, An Interactive Light Show or subflow?
Do Uzu, An Interactive Light Show or subflow have ads?
Which is updated more often, Uzu, An Interactive Light Show or subflow?
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