Comparison

TouchBells vs CarillonSS

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

Head to head
About

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.

Highlights
  • 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
Read full description

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!

About

CarillonSS

Experience the grandeur of a carillon on your mobile device. Play a wide range of notes, record your performances, and even play along with your favorite music.

Highlights
  • Play a virtual carillon
  • Record audio performances
  • Play along with other music apps
  • Select audio file format
  • Email recorded audio
  • iTunes file sharing support
Features
Read full description

Carillon is a musical instrument that is typically housed in a tower, either as part of some other building, or as a separate structure built specifically to house the bells. It consists of at least 23 cast bronze bells with 2 octaves. Carillon is distinguished by chimes or bells. CarillonSS is designed to easily play a grand carillon on your iPad/iPhone. The actual carillon has foot pedals to move the heavy clappers but CarillonSS doesn't feature them since it's not required any strength to play. A musician who plays the carillon is called the carillonneur. With CarillonSS, you can be a carillonneur as well! Added the recording function! It picks the surrounding sounds as well, and you can use it in many different ways such as recording your vocals or creating a voice memo. You can also send the recorded data via email. Note that the maximum attachment size of an email depends on the iOS device you are using. Please contact your cell phone service provider for further information. - A 10 seconds recording is around 450 kB. - Support iTunes file sharing(http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4094?viewlocale=en_US) Added the play with other music app button on the right side of the record button (however, this disables the recording). For example, you can play along with your favorite songs on Music app. Now you can select the audio file format when recording. If you want to send a file via email, record at "22kHz / 8 bit" to reduce the file size. - Users who have a problem with the musical instrument app that doesn't make any sound. (http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5137?viewlocale=en_US) Range: C3-C6 3 octaves (37 keys) - iPad, iPad mini Range: C4-C6 2 octaves (25 keys) - iPhone, iPod Touch - Display scale on keyboard - Support orientation - Record button / Play button / Stop button / Send the sound data via Email button - Support iTunes file sharing - Play with other music app button

Screenshots

CarillonSS1 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: CarillonSS at 4.7 against TouchBells's 2.5. CarillonSS also leads on review sentiment (100% vs 78%) and device support (3 vs 1). TouchBells's advantage is price ($1.99 vs $2.99). On ratings volume, update cadence, 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

TouchBells costs $1.99 and CarillonSS $2.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

CarillonSS holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 2.5. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 2 and 3 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 78% of TouchBells's written reviews are positive against 100% of CarillonSS's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

TouchBells ships an update every 5 months, CarillonSS every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on October 8, 2026 and October 10, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
TouchBells versus CarillonSS: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterTouchBellsCarillonSS
Price$1.99 — better$2.99
Rating2.5 (2 ratings)4.7 (3 ratings) — better
Positive reviews77.8% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings23 — better
Update frequencyEvery 5 monthsEvery 3 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidPaid
DevicesiPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS15.09.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size66 MB17 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperThomas BraunYUJI HASEBE

Customer experience

TouchBells

All ratings2 ratings
Positive50.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative50.0%
Written reviews9 reviews
Positive77.8%
Neutral0.0%
Negative22.2%

CarillonSS

All ratings3 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews8 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

TouchBells

No in-app purchases

None

CarillonSS

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is TouchBells free?
TouchBells costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is CarillonSS free?
CarillonSS costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, TouchBells or CarillonSS?
CarillonSS is rated higher. TouchBells averages 2.5 out of 5 from 2 ratings, while CarillonSS averages 4.7 from 3 ratings.
Do TouchBells or CarillonSS have ads?
Neither TouchBells nor CarillonSS shows ads.
Which is updated more often, TouchBells or CarillonSS?
TouchBells ships an update every 5 months, and CarillonSS every 3 months. Most recently, TouchBells was updated on October 8, 2026 and CarillonSS on October 10, 2026.

Other comparisons