Circuit Playground vs Audio Function Generator
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Circuit Playground
This app serves as a comprehensive electronics reference and calculation tool. It helps makers and hobbyists by simplifying complex calculations for various circuits, deciphering component codes, and providing essential diagrams.
- Circuit value calculations
- Resistor and capacitor code deciphering
- Ohm's Law and power calculators
- Number and character conversions
- Series/parallel component calculations
- IC and connector pinout diagrams
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Circuit Playground simplifies electronics reference & calculation – so you can have more fun hacking, making, & building your projects. Features: • Calculate component values for Op Amp, 555, RC Filter, Resistor Divider circuits & more • Decipher resistor & capacitor codes with ease • Calculate power, resistance, current, and voltage with Ohm's Law & Power Calculators • Quickly convert between decimal, hexadecimal, binary or ASCII characters • Calculate values for multiple resistors or capacitors in series or parallel • Pinout diagrams for widely-used ICs, connectors, & boards • Find color for LED wavelength • Detect a magnet's polarity • Show off your project by submitting pics to Adafruit's Show & Tell • Access exclusive deals from Adafruit Industries All that, plus more functions & enhancements to come!
Audio Function Generator
Generate various audio test tones, including sine, square, triangle, and sawtooth waves. Explore frequency and volume sweeps, noise generation, and custom preset creation. Advanced features like extended frequency ranges and multi-tone playback are available with an upgrade.
- Generate sine, square, triangle, and sawtooth tones
- Frequency and volume sweep generation
- Noise generation (white, pink, violet, etc.)
- Custom preset creation and saving
- Extended frequency range (PRO feature)
- Multi-tone playback (PRO feature)
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This is the highly recommended and praised Function Generator App - an amazingly great and powerful tone generator. Enriched with a vast amount of features yet it is extremely intuitive and designed for simplicity. Get to know this great App now! It is very well maintained and has received considerable upgrades over the past years. So, … what can you do with this App? • PLAY TEST TONES Sine, Rectangular, Triangular and Sawtooth. • PLAY FREQUENCY SWEEP TEST TONES in both directions (minimum to maximum frequency and maximum to minimum frequency). • PLAY VOLUME SWEEPS (from minimum to maximum volume). • Try the SWEEP REPEAT / WOBBLE function. • Try the MUSIC TONES PLAYBACK. • Experiment with the huge FINE TUNE SELECTON, PRESETS SELECTION! • Or create your own CUSTOM PRESETS! • And SAVE an endless amount of CONFIGURATIONS (Frequency, Sweep, Noise) for later quick access and direct playback function. • Even play back different kinds of NOISE – White, Pink, Violet, Grey, Brown, Blue is also supported. The Function Generator is AMAZINGLY INTUITIVE and SIMPLE to use! AND THESE ARE THE ADVANCED SETTINGS/FEATURES (upgrade to PRO required): => Extending The Frequency Range (1Hz - 21kHz) => Extending The Sweep Times (0.1s - 600s) => Changing Min/Max Slider Frequency Ranges => Changing Max Sweep Time Slider Range => Changing Signal Amplitude => Enabling Of The Sweep Repeat / Wobble Function => Frequency Slider Setting to Linear or Logarithmic => Left/Right Channel Individual Selection => Permanently Saving Custom Presets => Saving Of Endless Number Of Audio Configurations => Phase Out Setting (custom phase shift of the generated signal) => BPM (Beats per Minute) Feature => Dual Function Generator => MultiTone Generator (playback of up to eight individual tones) => Background Theme Selection (Light/Dark) Check out the tutorial page: www.ee-toolkit.com/audio-function-generator
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Audio Function Generator at Free against Circuit Playground's $2.99. Audio Function Generator also leads on rating (4.7 vs 4.3) and ratings volume (2.2K vs 19). Circuit Playground's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1) and chart position (#193 vs unranked). On update cadence, ads 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
Audio Function Generator is free to download; Circuit Playground costs $2.99 up front. Audio Function Generator sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Circuit Playground asks for nothing beyond the download.
Audio Function Generator holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Audio Function Generator has 2.2K ratings behind it against 19, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 86% of Circuit Playground's written reviews are positive against 77% of Audio Function Generator's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 6 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 23, 2026 and September 26, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Circuit Playground | Audio Function Generator |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $2.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 4.3 (19 ratings) | 4.7 (2.2K ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 86.0% of reviews — better | 77.1% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 19 | 2.2K — better |
| Update frequency | Every 6 weeks | Every 6 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Best chart rank | #193 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 12.0 — better | 15.5 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 27 MB | 14 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Adafruit Industries | Thomas Gruber |
Customer experience
Circuit Playground
Audio Function Generator
User reviews
Circuit Playground
From 19 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Clean, intuitive, easy-to-use interface
- 🚀 Fast load times and responsive performance
- 📚 Comprehensive reference tools and calculators
- 🎯 Resistor and capacitor color code tools
- 📍 Useful pinout references for various boards
Room to improve
- 🐛 Frequent crashes and stability issues
- ⚠️ Outdated and needs regular updates
- ❌ Limited calculator functionality and flexibility
- 🎨 Poor visual design in some areas
- 📱 Compatibility issues with newer iOS versions
Audio Function Generator
From 2.2K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Great app
- 🎶 Helps with Tinnitus
- 💯 Best app I've paid for
- 🔍 Highly recommended
- 🎨 Attention to detail
Room to improve
- 🐛 Crashes
- 💰 Deceptive/Money hungry
- 🔒 Basic features paywalled
- 🔒 Limited without paying
- 🔒 Removed functionality to push paid version
Bugs and requests
Circuit Playground
Reported bugs
10 issues- App crashes when opening multiple capacitors section
- LED Resistor Help Menu crashes the app
- Wavelength to Colour slider inoperable until text field activated
- Capacitor code function broken (incorrect default values)
- Number converter only accepts value 50
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- Resistor color codes show conflicting color solutions
- iPad side-wiping error with page ghosting
- Calculator input issues requiring excessive fiddling
- Document folder missing in version 2
- Crashes on iPad mini 1st generation
Requested features
21 requests- Update USB Type-C connector information
- Add transistor pinouts and HFE values
- Transistor and op-amp calculators
- Voltage divider calculator
- Arduino and Raspberry Pi pinout references
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- More Adafruit board pinouts (HATs, KiPPAHs, TFT, Trinkets)
- LED parallel circuit handling
- Logic gate truth tables (NAND, AND, NOR, etc.)
- Function generator with sine, square, sawtooth, triangle waves
- Tuned LC circuit calculator
- NPN and PNP transistor calculator
- Mica capacitor color codes for vintage radios
- Better PDF datasheet import (via Safari/Dropbox instead of iTunes)
- Ability to rename datasheets for easier identification
- Breadboard templates for drawing
- Number keypad instead of full keyboard for inputs
- Power dissipation calculations on resistor calculator
- Schematic symbol reference
- iCloud syncing for datasheets
- Direct browsing of Adafruit store within app
- iOS 11+ compatibility updates
Audio Function Generator
Reported bugs
4 issues- Crashes on launch
- Volume slider issues
- Airplay not working
- Sound distortion when display is active
Requested features
6 requests- Add download/save feature for custom sounds
- Improve sweep function (continuous mode, better frequency control)
- Add more multi-frequency rows
- Implement 432Hz base frequency option
- Add phase control for noise generators
Show 1 moreShow fewer
- Improve accessibility (VoiceOver support)
In-app purchases
Circuit Playground
No in-app purchases
Audio Function Generator
- Upgrade to PRO$9.99
Questions
Is Circuit Playground free?
Is Audio Function Generator free?
Which has better reviews, Circuit Playground or Audio Function Generator?
Do Circuit Playground or Audio Function Generator have ads?
Which is updated more often, Circuit Playground or Audio Function Generator?
Other comparisons
