# Twelve Tone vs PhonoPaper

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.

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.

## The numbers

| Metric | Twelve Tone | PhonoPaper |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | $4.99 | **Free** |
| Rating | **[4.7 (16 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/twelve-tone/id411708898/reviews)** | [4.6 (46 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/phonopaper/id865947553/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | 16 | **46** |
| Positive reviews | 75.0% of reviews | **82.9% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Every 18 months | **Every 4 months** |
| Monetization | Paid | **Free** |
| Size | 50 MB | 4 MB |
| Requires iOS | 26.0 | **12.0** |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | **iPhone, iPad, iPod** |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Patrick Q. Kelly](https://appshunter.io/developer/310068987) | [Alexander Zolotov](https://appshunter.io/developer/324462547) |

## What reviewers say

### Twelve Tone

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/twelve-tone/id411708898)

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.

**Highlights:** 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

**In-app purchases:** none


### PhonoPaper

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/phonopaper/id865947553)

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.

**Highlights:** 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

**Features:** macOS Compatibility

**In-app purchases:** none


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Twelve Tone free?

Twelve Tone costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.

### Is PhonoPaper free?

PhonoPaper is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Which has better reviews, Twelve Tone or PhonoPaper?

Twelve Tone is rated higher. Twelve Tone averages 4.7 out of 5 from 16 ratings, while PhonoPaper averages 4.6 from 46 ratings.

### Do Twelve Tone or PhonoPaper have ads?

Neither Twelve Tone nor PhonoPaper shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Twelve Tone or PhonoPaper?

Twelve Tone ships an update every 18 months, and PhonoPaper every 4 months. Most recently, Twelve Tone was updated on October 16, 2026 and PhonoPaper on October 22, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*