Tones vs Polywave
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Tones
Create music easily with simple tap controls. This app offers a range of high-quality sounds and tempo adjustments, making it accessible for all ages and musical experience levels. Shake your device to clear the sound pads.
- Tap to create music
- High-quality sound selection
- Adjustable tempo
- Add columns for longer tunes
- Shake to clear sound pads
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Tones makes music creation easy for everyone. It really couldn't be any simpler. Even if you can't play a musical instrument, you'll be making cool sounding tunes in no time. You don't need any musical experience at all! Tones is so simple that people of all ages, from young children to adults, can begin effortlessly tapping across sound pads and begin creating fun and interesting sounds that will impress your friends and keep you happily entertained for hours. Features: - Simply tap to activate or deactivate sound pads and start creating music straight away. - Choose from a carefully selected range of high quality sounds. - Adjust the speed of your tune in the tempo menu. - Add extra columns to add length to your music. - Shake your device to quickly and easily clear the display of active sound pads.
Polywave
Create unique, evolving sonic experiences with a novel wavetable sequencer inspired by vintage synths. Draw your own waveforms, explore a vast library, and connect to external keyboards or DAWs. Record your creations directly within the app.
- Wavetable sequencer
- Custom waveform drawing
- Expansive waveform library
- 100+ factory presets
- MIDI and Audio Unit support
- Live recording module
- 8-voice polyphony
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From Fingerlab (multiple-time winner of Music App of the Week, 2012 Apple Design Award) and Jordan Rudess (keyboardist of Dream Theater), comes Polywave — a revolutionary wavetable sequencer synthesizer for iPhone, iPad & Mac. Inspired by the legendary Korg Wavestation, Polywave lets you draw your own waveforms with your finger and create unique, ever-evolving sounds that are truly yours. Draw your own waveforms directly on screen 100+ factory presets: leads, pads, loops & FX Connect any MIDI keyboard or load as AUv3 in your DAW Live recording built-in Free version includes 12 factory presets and a selection of core features. Get the Full Version IAP to unlock everything. Features: • 8-voice polyphony & 6 octaves • Wavetable & waveform sequencer • VCO & FM Oscillators • FM Modulation & Detune • ADSR Envelope editor • Moog Ladder filter with ADSR • 2 LFOs with custom modulation waveform • LFO Sync & Loop mode • Waveform drawing editor & library (100 waveforms) • Preset Randomizer & export/import • 5 FX: Tube Amp, Vibrato, Chorus, Delay & Reverb • Live recording & export • Full MIDI & MIDI Mapping support • AudioBus & Inter-App Audio (iOS) • Full AudioUnit AUv3 support • iCloud Family Sharing Questions or feedback? We'd love to hear from you: contact@fingerlab.net Stay tuned! The Fingerlab Team
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Polywave at 4.7 against Tones's 3.5. Polywave also leads on ads (none vs shown) and update cadence (every 3 months vs every 26 months). Tones's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 15.0). On price and device support 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
Both are free to download. Polywave sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Tones asks for nothing beyond the download.
Polywave holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 3.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Polywave has 34 ratings behind it against 4, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 71% of Tones's written reviews are positive against 80% of Polywave's.
Tones ships an update every 26 months, Polywave every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on September 29, 2026 and October 6, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Tones | Polywave |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.5 (4 ratings) | 4.7 (34 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 71.4% of reviews | 80.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 4 | 34 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 26 months | Every 3 months — better |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Ad-supported — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — better |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 — better | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 61 MB | 44 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Ben Walker | Fingerlab |
Customer experience
Tones
Polywave
In-app purchases
Tones
No in-app purchases
Polywave
- Full Version$7.99
