Comparison

Pixound vs pOus

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

Head to head
About

Pixound

Transform any image into a musical instrument and create unique songs. Explore a deep musical experience with extensive controls, over 127 instruments, and various scales. It's a fun and educational tool for all ages, allowing you to play live video and record your performances.

Highlights
  • Turn any picture into music
  • Play live video as an instrument
  • Record performances with touch playback
  • Over 65 scales and modes
  • 127+ instruments for four voices
  • Save and share creations
  • MIDI export
Features
Read full description

"Pixound Turns Photos into Musical Instruments, and It’s Better Than You Think" — Gizmodo "Pixound is a trippy music app for iOS that allows users to turn any snap into a song." — MTV Hive Enjoyed by top musical artists including: Herbie Hancock, David Byrne (Talking Heads), Mark Mothersbaugh (DEVO), Michael Shrieve (Santana) and many more. Have you ever jammed on Saturn's Rings with a whammy bar? Have you ever played the rainbow? What about you're dog's nose? What does it sound like? How about creating your own music just by dancing? With Pixound you can do all this and much more! Pixound is a revolutionary form of musical entertainment! Pixound provides a deep musical experience that lets YOU instantly create music using any picture. It's pure fun to play (at any age) and deep because it can be used to play music like you've never heard before. It's so much fun that artist Peter Max bought an iPhone just to have Pixound! Since there is no limit to what pictures you can play from art and graphics to photos and they can be combined with thousands of different musical settings, there is no limit to the music you can create and enjoy. You owe it to yourself to try Pixound!!! By the way, you will learn a lot about music just playing with Pixound so it's also an educational tool, sometimes referred to as a Deep Toy. Features: • Play any picture from snaps to outer space to art masterpieces • Play Live Video (in-app purchase) so that reality becomes a musical instrument • Record audio or use effects processors via Audiobus 2.1 or Inter-app Audio • Record performances including where you touched in the photo that plays back for others to see. • Play in any key or scale (over 65 scales/modes) • Add Bass and Drums from lots of choices • Tons of musical controls to create a huge variety of great music • Select from many different autoplay styles including device tilt • Add harmony voices • Add Song Progressions from basic to classical and more • Select from over 127 instruments for four voices R, B, G and bass • Import samples using AudioShare™ • Save your own settings to Banks and share with others via community or email • Built-in Reverb • Save MIDI files and go direct out to MIDI synthesizers (in-app purchase) • Access and share your creations with the Pixound Community

About

pOus

This app emulates analog drum machine bass drums with adjustable tuning and decay. It offers MIDI OUT functionality for envelope follower data and a scale mode for playing musical scales. Designed for musicians using AUv3 hosts.

Highlights
  • BassDrum emulation
  • Adjustable tune and decay
  • MIDI OUT envelope follower
  • Scale mode for musical notes
  • AUv3 instrument
  • MIDI CC routing
Read full description

Concept: The app is an AUv3 instrument that emulates the so-called “BassDrum” of analog drum machine. In addition it features MIDI OUT functionality of Envelop Follower, that is, the user can send out this instrument's unique envelop via midi CC for modulating external plugins. Also there is "scale mode" where the user can play "pOus" with musical scale like Bass. System Requirements: AUv3 host that has a flexible capability of MIDI routing (AUM, apeMatrix, etc) Usage: There are 9 sliders & one button. Tune: BassDrum’s fundamental frequency (30hz - 160hz). text-editable. Decay: determines its duration. Amp: audio’s decibel representation. MIDI OUT: whether the functionality of envelop follower is turned on or off (default: off) MIDI Gain: gain amount of MIDI out Offset: balances the output parameter’s value Channel: determines MIDI channel MIDI CC: determines the destination MIDI CC number. text-editable Scale Mode: This is a sort of Bass mode, that is, it can play musical scale in response to incoming MIDI notes. Button: triggers the instrument. Recommended Scheme: drum machine (MIDI out) -> “pOus” -> audio effect (compressor, saturator etc)

Screenshots

Pixound4 screens
pOus2 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: pOus at 5.0 against Pixound's 4.1. pOus also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 2) and iOS requirement (12.0 vs 15.6). Pixound's advantage is update cadence (monthly vs every 4 months) and ratings volume (8 vs 1). On ads, monetization model 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Pixound costs $0.99 and pOus $2.99 up front. Pixound sells 2 one-off in-app purchases. pOus asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

pOus holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.1. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Pixound has 8 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Pixound ships an update monthly, pOus every 4 months. The most recent releases landed on October 2, 2026 and October 8, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Pixound versus pOus: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPixoundpOus
Price$0.99 — better$2.99
Rating4.1 (8 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews72.2% of reviews—
Number of ratings8 — better1
Update frequencyMonthly — betterEvery 4 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationPaidPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.612.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size1.1 GB15 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperTechné MediaSatoshi Kajii

Customer experience

Pixound

All ratings8 ratings
Positive75.0%
Neutral12.5%
Negative12.5%
Written reviews18 reviews
Positive72.2%
Neutral0.0%
Negative27.8%

pOus

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Pixound

One-time2
  • Pixound Live Video$1.99
  • Pixound MIDI Features$2.99
None

pOus

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Pixound free?
Pixound costs $0.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Is pOus free?
pOus costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Pixound or pOus?
pOus is rated higher. Pixound averages 4.1 out of 5 from 8 ratings, while pOus averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Pixound or pOus have ads?
Neither Pixound nor pOus shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Pixound or pOus?
Pixound ships an update monthly, and pOus every 4 months. Most recently, Pixound was updated on October 2, 2026 and pOus on October 8, 2026.

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