Twelve Tone vs PhonoPaper
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Twelve Tone
This app helps musicians and teachers compose and analyze music using dodecaphonic and set theory. It allows users to enter tone rows, automatically generates musical matrices, and provides playback and sharing options for compositions.
- Enter tone rows via staff or piano keyboard
- Automatic generation of Prime, Inversion, Retrograde, RI matrices
- Real-time Interval Vectors and Circular Analysis updates
- Save and manage tone rows with names and markings
- Share PDF of notation, keyboard, and analysis
- Listen to row playback with selected rhythm patterns
- Matrix audio playback for pitch identification
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An extensive music composition and analysis tool. An indispensable resource for any musician or music teacher interested in dodecaphonic and set theory analysis. • Enter a tone row by touching the staff or playing the piano keyboard. • It lets you know if any notes are repeated by highlighting both notes, checking enharmonic values regardless of octave or accidentals. • Automatically creates the Prime, Inversion, Retrograde, and Retrograde Inversion Magic Square. • Constantly updates the Interval Vectors and Circular Analysis of the tone row as you edit it. • Save your rows (rows may contain from 1 to 12 notes), complete with name and current P, R, I, RI matrix markings. Saved rows appear in a list with their name and midi numbers to help you identify them. • Share a pdf of the notation, piano keyboard, and circular analysis. • Watch and listen to your row played with a selected rhythm pattern. • Playback: - Prime - Prime then Retrograde - Retrograde then Prime - Retrograde - Inversion - Inversion then Retrograde Inversion - Retrograde Inversion then Inversion - Retrograde Inversion • Each can be repeated and transposed with each iteration. • The Root is kept within an octave above and below the original pitch when looping and transposing. • Matrix Audio: Hear the pitches as you mark them in the matrix square. The marks indicate the row form in which the pitch belonged; Prime, Inversion, Retrograde, and Retrograde Inversion. • Lock the prime row and transpose it to C to use the Absolute Pitch Method for row labeling in the matrix. Comes preloaded with the following rows: Alban Berg's Lyric Suite Babbitt's Composition for Four Instruments Schoenberg's Variations for Orchestra Op.31 Schoenberg's Piano Piece Op.33a Webern's Concerto Op.24 Webern's Piano Variations Op.27 Webern's String Quartet Op.28
PhonoPaper
This app decodes images containing encoded sound, allowing you to play back audio embedded within visual patterns. You can also record your own sounds and convert them into these unique visual codes. It's designed for creative audio messaging and artistic expression.
- Decode images with encoded sound
- Create sound codes from recordings
- Offline decoding capability
- Analogue code for distortion resilience
- Real-time, hand-controlled playback
- Draw codes for unique sounds
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PhonoPaper is a camera app for playing pictures with encoded sound (PhonoPaper-codes). With this app, you can also create your own codes: 10 seconds of sound can be recorded from a microphone and converted into an image. [ Key features ] * PhonoPaper does not require access to the network for decoding; * PhonoPaper code is analogue, so it is not so sensitive to different types of the image distortion (bad camera, dark picture, wrinkled paper, etc.); at least you will hear the "silhouette" of the original sound; * code can be played in real-time with hand-controlled speed and direction; * code can be drawn by hand to get some unusual sounds. [ Examples of usage ] * voice messages (or pieces of music) on t-shirts, billboards, posters, postcards, goods; * audio labels for phonorecords; * audio examples in books; * secret messages; * art-experiments. [ How to use ] Launch the app, point the camera at the code (tap on the screen to focus if necessary) and smoothly scan the picture from left to right. The code should be parallel to the frame - try to keep the camera level. The black code markers (top and bottom) should fall entirely into the frame. If the application recognizes code markers, you will hear a sound. If you are unable to play the code smoothly, press the record button on the right side of the screen, this will enable automatic scanning.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: PhonoPaper at Free against Twelve Tone's $4.99. PhonoPaper also leads on update cadence (every 4 months vs every 18 months) and iOS requirement (12.0 vs 26.0). On rating, review sentiment, ratings volume 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
PhonoPaper is free to download; Twelve Tone costs $4.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for Twelve Tone against 4.6 for PhonoPaper. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 16 and 46 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 75% of Twelve Tone's written reviews are positive against 83% of PhonoPaper's.
Twelve Tone ships an update every 18 months, PhonoPaper every 4 months. The most recent releases landed on October 16, 2026 and October 22, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Twelve Tone | PhonoPaper |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $4.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 4.7 (16 ratings) — better | 4.6 (46 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 75.0% of reviews | 82.9% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 16 | 46 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 18 months | Every 4 months — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 26.0 | 12.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 50 MB | 4 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Patrick Q. Kelly | Alexander Zolotov |
Customer experience
Twelve Tone
PhonoPaper
In-app purchases
Twelve Tone
No in-app purchases
PhonoPaper
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Twelve Tone free?
Is PhonoPaper free?
Which has better reviews, Twelve Tone or PhonoPaper?
Do Twelve Tone or PhonoPaper have ads?
Which is updated more often, Twelve Tone or PhonoPaper?
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