Comparison

ZX Plectrum vs Longplayer

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

Head to head
About

ZX Plectrum

Transform your iPhone or iPad into a musical instrument by recreating the iconic loading sounds of the ZX Spectrum. Customize phase and pitch to generate unique audio and visuals, and integrate with AUv3 hosts for advanced music production.

Highlights
  • ZX Spectrum loading sound recreation
  • Adjustable phase and pitch
  • Visual customization
  • AUv3 plugin support
  • Live performance integration
Features
Read full description

Play the ZX Spectrum loading sounds as a musical instrument on your iPhone or iPad! Relive the crisp sounds of your youth! Change the loading sounds (and visuals) phase and pitch to make some weird, wonderful and familiar sounds! Plugin to your favourite AUv3 host and make unique music unlike anything else. BeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeBOP!! "As seen on TV" on Dara O Briain's Go 8 Bit Used by multi-Platinum band Placebo in their live envents. "ZX Plectrum lets you make music Spectrum style on your iPhone" pocket-lint.com "Utterly pointless but also utterly engaging" bamm.tv "For Nostlagia lovers of a very specific demographic this will sound like heaven" calmdowntom.com "The Greatest iPad App of ALL TIME" conoroneill.net

About

Longplayer

Experience a unique, ever-evolving musical composition designed to last 1000 years. This app provides real-time, high-quality playback without needing a data connection, allowing you to listen in the background while using other applications. It offers a real-time score display and detailed information about the composition's history and conceptual background.

Highlights
  • Real-time high-quality playback
  • Offline playback
  • Plays in the background
  • Real-time score display
  • Detailed information section
  • Up-to-date news
Features
Read full description

Longplayer: a thousand years of music in your pocket! Longplayer is a musical composition that has been playing since the beginning of the year 2000, and will play on, never repeating, until it reaches the point at which it first started, exactly 1000 years later. Longplayer is in effect an everlasting piece of music; its score mirrors a planetary system, six musical events whose orbits come into phase once a millennium. Until now, Longplayer has only been accessible by visiting a handful of "listening posts" or via an online stream. This app is the first standalone version of Longplayer, creating the music in real time based on the composition's thousand-year-long score. It requires no data connection and automatically synchronises itself with every other copy of the app across the globe. With this app, you become part of a community of listeners distributed through space and time, across many lifetimes. - real time high-quality playback of Longplayer, with no need for a data connection - plays in the background: listen to Longplayer while you continue to use other apps, and while your phone is locked. - real time score display - graphic and textual information explaining how it works - detailed information section about Longplayer's history, development, composition, conceptual background and much more - up-to-date news from the Longplayer website (data connection required) Recommended for headphones or external speakers. Watch a short video explaining Longplayer: http://vimeo.com/94166447 Longplayer was composed by Jem Finer and commissioned by Artangel in 1995. It is now in the care of the Longplayer Trust.

Screenshots

ZX Plectrum4 screens
Longplayer4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Longplayer at 4.6 against ZX Plectrum's 3.8. Longplayer also leads on iOS requirement (15.6 vs 18.0). ZX Plectrum's advantage is update cadence (every 4 months vs every 136 months). On price, 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

ZX Plectrum costs $3.99 and Longplayer $3.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Longplayer holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 3.8. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 4 and 11 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 76% of ZX Plectrum's written reviews are positive against 83% of Longplayer's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

ZX Plectrum ships an update every 4 months, Longplayer every 136 months. The most recent releases landed on September 18, 2026 and October 12, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
ZX Plectrum versus Longplayer: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterZX PlectrumLongplayer
Price$3.99$3.99
Rating3.8 (4 ratings)4.6 (11 ratings) — better
Positive reviews76.0% of reviews83.3% of reviews — better
Number of ratings411 — better
Update frequencyEvery 4 months — betterEvery 136 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS18.015.6 — better
Further details — not scored
Size8 MB102 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperDave Sapien Ltd.The Longplayer Trust

Customer experience

ZX Plectrum

All ratings4 ratings
Positive75.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative25.0%
Written reviews25 reviews
Positive76.0%
Neutral8.0%
Negative16.0%

Longplayer

All ratings11 ratings
Positive90.9%
Neutral9.1%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews12 reviews
Positive83.3%
Neutral16.7%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

ZX Plectrum

No in-app purchases

None

Longplayer

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is ZX Plectrum free?
ZX Plectrum costs $3.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Longplayer free?
Longplayer costs $3.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, ZX Plectrum or Longplayer?
Longplayer is rated higher. ZX Plectrum averages 3.8 out of 5 from 4 ratings, while Longplayer averages 4.6 from 11 ratings.
Do ZX Plectrum or Longplayer have ads?
Neither ZX Plectrum nor Longplayer shows ads.
Which is updated more often, ZX Plectrum or Longplayer?
ZX Plectrum ships an update every 4 months, and Longplayer every 136 months. Most recently, ZX Plectrum was updated on September 18, 2026 and Longplayer on October 12, 2026.

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