Orphion vs SAND
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Orphion
Create expressive music and melodies with a unique virtual instrument. Explore your creativity through intuitive finger movements on virtual pads, generating sounds between string and percussion. Ideal for both beginners and experienced musicians.
- Unique string and percussion sound
- Expressive polyphonic music
- Intuitive finger pad interaction
- Customizable pad layouts
- MIDI and Audiobus support
- Multiple articulations
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## Featured by Apple as "Band in your Hand" and 'Explore your creativity' ## Orphion is a musical instrument with a unique sound between string instrument and percussion. Everyone can play expressive, wonderful sounds and easy or virtuosic melodies on it just by moving fingers on virtual pads. This video shows you more: https://vimeo.com/35131490 What can I do with it? • Express the sounds you feel • Play polyphonic music very expressively • Crazy drumming • Dream and relax • Create soundscapes and melodies without musical knowledge • Visually explore music and music theory Features: • Different articulations from soft to plucked to hardly slapped • Natural interaction • Extend your ways of expression as a percussionist, guitarist, pianist or other musician • 15 transposable pad layouts with different tonalities from easy to complex • 8 individual voices for 8 fingers • MIDI support: Play your favorite synth with the revolutionary Orphion interface • Audiobus support: Stream live audio from Orphion directly to other Audiobus-compatible apps • Orphion Editor (availible as upgrade): Create and share your own custom pad layouts. Download new pad layouts from Orphion Universe What others say about Orphion: "We love this instrument! So cool. Great for Deep House, IDM, Ambient, and whatever!" - iPadloops "A simple but profoundly beautiful and expressive music app" - Evolutionaryarts.org "Orphion is very customizable and flexible — truly functioning as a full-fledged electronic instrument" - Harrison Weber, The next web Follow on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/Orphion or Twitter: https://twitter.com/OrphionApp
SAND
This app is a grid-based music sequencer that allows users to create compositions using AUv3 plugins and external MIDI devices. It offers extensive tools for arranging clips, editing notes, automating parameters, and routing MIDI.
- Grid-based MIDI sequencing
- AUv3 plugin hosting
- External MIDI device support
- Advanced clip editing
- Track and effect management
- Song mode for arrangement
- MIDI routing and mapping
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Have SAND in your pocket. Create music anywhere. Sketch your ideas, compose with MIDI and audio clips, host your favorite plugins. All designed for creative flow, whether you're at home or on the go. SAND is a music sketchpad for AUv3, MIDI, and audio clips—built so you can try ideas quickly, without setup getting in the way. Please note: SAND does not generate sound on its own—it relies on AUv3 plugins you can find on the App Store. Try SAND free for 14 days; in-app purchases unlock features after the trial. GRID SEQUENCER Arrange MIDI and audio clips on a grid to build your ideas. Copy, duplicate, merge, combine, and drag-and-drop clips to shape your project. Quick clip tools: quantize, length, legato, transpose from the clip menu. Render MIDI clips as audio by dropping them onto an audio track. MIDI TRACKS Work with instrument and MIDI tracks in your projects. Load an instrument and unlimited audio and MIDI effects on each track. Hide tracks and assign custom icons to keep sessions organized. Save tracks as templates for future projects. Edit MIDI in a piano-roll clip editor: quantize, legato, split, duplicate, copy, and paste. Build chords with the chord selector. Adjust note position, pitch, duration, and velocity. Handle bars edit position and pitch on the note. Use an adjustable grid or free placement. Scale highlighting helps you stay in key. Record with an optional count-in or from the first note. Quantize recordings for tighter timing. AUDIO TRACKS Add dedicated audio tracks alongside your MIDI material. Import audio into clips from other apps or the clip import flow, with preview before committing. Record audio into clips with per-track input settings and track arming. Set loop or one-shot playback, beat-aligned or immediate start, and optional clip BPM. Looping clips follow project tempo. The audio editor supports copy, paste, crop, gain adjustment, normalize, silence, fades, reverse, pitch, stretch, and split. With automatic or manual preview. PLUGIN HOST Host AUv3 instruments, audio effects, and MIDI processors. Control parameters and presets, and save default states for new instances. Record notes and MIDI from plugin interfaces, and capture output from MIDI plugins. Mark plugins as favorites for faster access. SONG MODE Arrange clips in sections with independent lengths, played back seamlessly in order. Launch every clip in a section at once, sections work as scene launchers. Set a different time signature per section when needed. AUTOMATION Automate volume, pan, effect parameters, and MIDI for dynamic changes across your tracks. MASTER TRACK Apply effects globally across the project. Use the master track's clip to generate bass lines and chord progressions. MIDI ROUTING Record from external MIDI devices, including hardware synths. Send MIDI out for real-time playback and route MIDI between tracks. Use SAND as a virtual MIDI input and output. MIDI MAPPING Map a MIDI controller to control the app with a flexible, customizable layout. "Shift" mappings extend what a single controller surface can do. PROJECT VERSIONS Save and restore named snapshots of a project—experiment freely, then return to an earlier state. PROJECT MANAGEMENT Rename projects and branch copies with Save As…. (iOS 18+) Start new work from project templates. (iOS 18+) SYNC Sync with other apps and DAWs using Ableton Link. ON-SCREEN KEYBOARD AND PADS Record with a velocity-sensitive on-screen keyboard. Choose scale and root to limit keys to a scale, and adjust visible keys to match how you play. Play and record beats with on-screen drum pads. IMPORT / EXPORT Export clips as audio or MIDI. Export projects as Ableton Live sets. Record performances and export audio, including stems for separate processing.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: SAND at Free against Orphion's $3.99. SAND also leads on rating (4.6 vs 4.0) and device support (3 vs 1). Orphion's advantage is iOS requirement (7.0 vs 15.0). On review sentiment, ratings volume, update cadence 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
SAND is free to download; Orphion costs $3.99 up front. Orphion sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and SAND sells 4 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
SAND holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 4.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 31 and 86 respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 85% of Orphion's written reviews are positive against 79% of SAND'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 2 months. The most recent releases landed on August 2, 2026 and September 26, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Orphion | SAND |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $3.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 4.0 (31 ratings) | 4.6 (86 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 84.7% of reviews — better | 79.4% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 31 | 86 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Every 2 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 7.0 — better | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 27 MB | 54 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Bastus Trump | Matteo Caldari |
Customer experience
Orphion
SAND
User reviews
Orphion
From 31 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🎵 Unique and expressive musical instrument design
- 👍 Intuitive touch interface for playing music
- 🎛️ Customizable pad layouts and configurations
- 🔌 Works well as MIDI controller for other apps
- 🎨 Beautiful, simple, and elegant user interface
Room to improve
- 🐛 Audio crackling and distortion issues on recent iPadOS versions
- ❌ App crashes and fails to launch on newer devices
- 📱 UI rendering problems on iPad mini and newer iPad models
- 🔧 Abandoned by developer - no updates or support
- 🚫 Incompatible with latest iPadOS (18+)
SAND
From 86 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Great UI and features
- 💡 Potential for music creation
- 🚀 Fast and creative workflow
- 👍 Easy to use, no instructions needed
- 💡 Most usable studio on small screen
Room to improve
- 🐛 Record function always starts
- 🐛 Sand not opening in overview
- 🐛 Integration with other apps seems off
- 🐛 Record does not pick up data
- 🐛 Cannot save ideas from one app to another
Bugs and requests
Orphion
Reported bugs
14 issues- Audio crackling and distortion on iPadOS 18 and M4 devices
- App crashes on startup with recent iPad OS versions
- UI elements out of place on iPad mini
- MIDI not working in AUM and other DAWs
- Virtual MIDI instruments not detected when loaded as IAA
Show 9 moreShow fewer
- App stops playing audio when iPad is closed
- Bluetooth headphone connectivity issues
- Orientation stuck on iOS 11+
- Pad sensitivity issues after iOS 8 update
- Velocity feature removed after forced Apple update
- App crashes intermittently even after reboot
- Incompatibility with newer iPad models (10.5 inch)
- SoundCloud upload function non-functional
- Forum support page returns errors
Requested features
15 requests- Recording and export functionality
- Additional sound patches and voices
- Custom scale and layout editor
- Pitch bend and modulation wheel controls
- AudioCopy/Paste support
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- AirPlay support for wireless speaker output
- More velocity increment options
- Adjustable timbre per touch type
- Finer sensitivity slider adjustment
- Support for different scales (Dorian, Hijazkiar, etc.)
- Sequencing and arranging features
- iPhone version of the app
- More pad layout options
- CC support for different synths
- Mono output option
SAND
Reported bugs
27 issues- Record function always starts when entering Midi Instrument or FX
- Sand not opening in overview
- Integration with other apps seems off
- Record does not pick up data
- Cannot save ideas from one app to another
Show 22 moreShow fewer
- Auv3 interfaces don't scale well
- Note editing, snapping/quantization awkward and buggy
- Sand won't run within AUM anymore
- Sand not recognized within AUM
- Sand wouldn't recognize other apps as host
- Rendering issues
- Editing notes in pitch grid flies up
- Entering note values difficult
- Changing note length has issues
- Bugs not worked out, more brought in
- Clips out of sync when manually triggered
- Unpredictability for creating new notes
- Selecting notes for editing difficult
- Synchronizing between tracks problematic
- Occasional crashes
- Notes editing/selection/moving process is a pain
- No BT headphone support
- Less than 50% of synths/plugins show up
- Many plugins don't work properly
- App prompts for purchase again after buying
- Pattern length adjustment by 1 is crazy
- No snapping for note length stretch
Requested features
58 requests- Sand always open in overview
- Long press in sequence track window
- Random/chance abilities in clips (Polyend Play style)
- Semi-generative function or scale-based patterns/sequences
- Save AUv3 presets
Show 53 moreShow fewer
- Audio integration with audio quantization
- Audio clips
- Return to zero button
- More clip actions for performance (fire clip/scene, count in, repeat, single shot)
- Trigger sequences not just on bars
- Packaged as a MIDI AUv3 processor
- Sequencer for patterns and automation curves
- Triplet time signatures (3/4, 6/8)
- MIDI channels for instruments
- Export to MIDI file
- Deep piano roll note editing
- Song mode
- Stem support
- Automation
- Lower OS requirement
- Selection of multiple notes in sequencer
- Separate lane for MIDI control of FX plugins
- Proper mixer view
- Support for Bluetooth headphones
- More clip actions for performance
- MIDI AUv3 processor
- Sequencer for patterns and automation curves
- Triplet Time Signatures
- MIDI channels for instruments
- Export to MIDI file
- Deep piano roll note editing
- Song mode
- Stem support
- Automation
- Lower OS requirement
- Selection of multiple notes in sequencer
- Separate lane for MIDI control of FX plugins
- Proper mixer view
- Support for Bluetooth headphones
- Pattern length adjustment in note editor
- Snapping for note length stretch
- More clip actions for performance
- MIDI AUv3 processor
- Sequencer for patterns and automation curves
- Triplet Time Signatures
- MIDI channels for instruments
- Export to MIDI file
- Deep piano roll note editing
- Song mode
- Stem support
- Automation
- Lower OS requirement
- Selection of multiple notes in sequencer
- Separate lane for MIDI control of FX plugins
- Proper mixer view
- Support for Bluetooth headphones
- Pattern length adjustment in note editor
- Snapping for note length stretch
In-app purchases
Orphion
- Orphion Editor$0.99
SAND
- 14-day trialFree
- 14 Days TrialFree
- Unlock$9.99
Show 1 moreShow fewer
- Audio Tracks$9.99









