Comparison

Art in Motion vs variant

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

Head to head
About

Art in Motion

This app allows users to create dynamic, evolving digital art scenes rather than static paintings. Utilize a powerful physics engine to bring orbs, colors, and interactive elements to life, offering a unique artistic experience on multi-touch devices.

Highlights
  • Create dynamic art scenes
  • Powerful physics engine
  • Interactive multi-touch support
  • Customizable orb behavior
  • Evolving color palettes
  • Pre-bundled scene examples
Features
Read full description

Art in Motion is a new kind of art application. It’s based on the idea that art should evolve with technology. The iPad is the best multi-touch device on the market, and it is packed with huge processing power. Standard drawing can be very fun, but it hardly makes full use of these advancements in technology. How does Art in Motion compare to standard drawing? • With Art in Motion you create a scene instead of a painting. • Instead of drawing mountains, or trees, you customize and add orbs to your scene. • Instead of looking at your drawing, you watch your orbs come alive. • Unlike a painting, there is motion and life in your creation. You can even interact with your scene. • In a painting colors don’t change, in the scene colors fade and flow constantly. What are some examples of scenes I can create? • By adding many small orbs with little friction and bounce, you can create a water effect. It can slosh around realistically as you tilt your iPad. • You can create a large orb with gravity, and many smaller ones. Watch them as they orbit around like comets flying around a star. • You can create a scene where brilliant colors follow your fingers as you touch the screen. • You can create a scene where you fling fireworks with your fingers and watch them explode into beautiful colors. Features • Powerful physics engine • 20 bundled scenes (to play with and study) • Intuitive interface for creating new scenes of your own • Full multi-touch support, so all 10 fingers can play at once • Many settings allowing for unique and one of a kind scenes • Clear documentation • VGA out support What are people saying about it? • "... very organic, smooth, I like it a lot!" Jordan Rudess from Dream Theater! • “It’s what they would use on board the USS Enterprise for entertainment” G. C. • "Be prepared to melt away hours of your night!" J. S. • “Every iPad owner should have this app, there’s nothing like it!” C. K.

About

variant

This app generates ever-changing music and imagery through a combination of user input and randomness. Explore a unique work of generative art where sound influences visuals, offering a new experience with every interaction.

Highlights
  • Generative audiovisual artwork
  • Interactive music creation
  • Evolving visual compositions
  • User-controlled music flow
  • Visuals influenced by sound
  • Screenshot capture
Features
Read full description

variant:flare is an audiovisual artwork that creates beautiful, ever-changing music and imagery. The app combines user input and built-in randomness to create images and music that will continually change, grow and evolve, offering a new and different experience every time. For users of all ages, variant:flare is a chance to explore and experience a unique work of generative art. To interact with variant:flare, tap the screen with one finger; each tap will start a new track of the music. After six tracks have been loaded, each tap will reset one track and load a new random selection. By gradually resetting different elements of the composition, you control the flow and evolution of the music. The visuals are in turn controlled by the sound, so by changing the music, you will influence the development of the visuals. You can view the indeterminate audio engine by tapping the dot in the lower right. The display shows the different elements of the musical composition as they are loaded by the engine through a combination of chance and user input. The center button opens a menu of settings for the app, and the button to the right allows you to take screenshots of the visuals, automatically saving them to your photo library. The Variant apps are a new series of generative audiovisual artworks from Interval Studios featuring visuals by Joshue Ott and music by Kenneth Kirschner. Each Variant features a unique visual composition by Ott based on his superDraw visual performance software, as well as a new indeterminate musical composition by Kirschner. Each Variant app also offers a different set of interactive controls for the user, ranging from the ability to subtly influence the development of the piece to total interactive control over both visuals and sound. All of the Variants are generative artworks: through a varying combination of built-in randomness and user input, each Variant will continually grow and evolve over time without ever directly repeating itself either visually or musically, offering the user an ever-changing, ever-evolving audiovisual experience.

Screenshots

variant4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: variant at Free against Art in Motion's $1.99. variant also leads on review sentiment (100% vs 64%) and update cadence (fortnightly vs every 11 months). Art in Motion's advantage is rating (4.8 vs 4.4). On 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

variant is free to download; Art in Motion costs $1.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Art in Motion holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.4. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 5 and 7 respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 64% of Art in Motion's written reviews are positive against 100% of variant's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Art in Motion ships an update every 11 months, variant fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 21, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
Art in Motion versus variant: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterArt in Motionvariant
Price$1.99Free — better
Rating4.8 (5 ratings) — better4.4 (7 ratings)
Positive reviews63.9% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings57 — better
Update frequencyEvery 11 monthsFortnightly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidFree — better
DevicesiPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS11.08.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size9 MB95 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperPDJ AppsInterval Studios

Customer experience

Art in Motion

All ratings5 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews36 reviews
Positive63.9%
Neutral8.3%
Negative27.8%

variant

All ratings7 ratings
Positive85.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative14.3%
Written reviews4 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

Art in Motion

No in-app purchases

None

variant

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Art in Motion free?
Art in Motion costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is variant free?
variant is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Art in Motion or variant?
Art in Motion is rated higher. Art in Motion averages 4.8 out of 5 from 5 ratings, while variant averages 4.4 from 7 ratings.
Do Art in Motion or variant have ads?
Neither Art in Motion nor variant shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Art in Motion or variant?
Art in Motion ships an update every 11 months, and variant fortnightly. Most recently, Art in Motion was updated on October 21, 2026 and variant on October 24, 2026.

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