Orphion vs Pixelboop
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
Pixelboop
Create music visually by drawing on a colorful grid. This app transforms your device into a visual sequencer where notes become pixels, making music production accessible without prior theory knowledge. Explore melodies, basslines, chords, and rhythms with intuitive gestures and automatic key correction.
- Visual music creation by drawing on a grid
- Four independent tracks for melody, bass, chords, and rhythm
- Automatic key correction with interval modes
- Intuitive gesture controls for note placement and editing
- MIDI I/O for connecting external hardware
- Designed for accessibility with a visual-first approach
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Make music as visual as it is audible. Pixelboop turns your iPhone or iPad into a visual sequencer where every note becomes a colored pixel on screen. No music theory required: tap, draw, and see the sounds. DRAW YOUR MUSIC Create beats by painting on a colorful grid. Each row is a note, each column is a moment in time. Tap to place notes, drag to draw melodies or chords, and watch your music come alive as patterns scroll across the screen. Music production that feels like a game. 4 TRACKS, INFINITE POSSIBILITIES Layer across four independent tracks: • Melody, expressive lead lines and hooks • Chords, rich harmonic backing • Bass, deep and driving low end • Rhythm, punchy drums and percussion Each track has its own color palette, so you can read a whole arrangement at a glance. 48 INSTRUMENT SOUNDS Sixteen sounds each for melody, chords and bass, from electric piano and glass pads to growling bass and bell leads. Hold a track's control column to audition and switch sounds while the loop keeps playing. EFFECTS YOU PLAY ON THE GRID Every track has its own effects column. Tap to switch between reverb and delay, compression and distortion, or a filter sweep, then slide to set the amount. No menus to dig through, and the column animates with what you hear. ALWAYS SOUNDS GOOD Pixelboop keeps you in key automatically. Choose major or minor and every note you place sounds musical. Note colors follow the circle of fifths, so harmonious notes look alike and clashing ones stand out. Interval modes let you explore different note relationships: • Pentatonic, classic 5-note scales that always work • Thirds, fourths and fifths, stack notes in musical intervals GESTURES THAT FEEL NATURAL • Tap an empty cell to place a note, tap the note again to erase it • Double-tap a note for an accent • Drag right to draw long, sustained notes • Move up and down as you drag across to build arpeggios • Hold a chord to cycle through the diatonic options ON IPAD The grid has no labels by design. On iPad, tap ? and it names itself: every control, every lane, and the note each row plays. Change key or scale and the names follow. It fades while you play and returns when you stop. EXPORT YOUR MUSIC (PIXELBOOP PRO) Bounce a finished jam to audio, export per-track stems to mix elsewhere, or send MIDI straight to your DAW. One purchase, no subscription, yours forever. SAVE, REPLAY AND SHARE JAMS Every session is saved as you play. Browse and reload any jam, set one as your starting template, or send it to a friend. Open a shared jam link and it loads straight into the grid. TEMPO AND TIMING Adjust BPM from ambient textures to driving dance beats. A visual playhead shows exactly where you are in the loop. Variable grid lengths plus 8 banks of 8 sections cover everything from a 4-bar loop to an extended arrangement. Loop one bank while you build it, or run the whole song. AUv3 PLUGIN Load Pixelboop inside AUM, Logic Pro or any Audio Unit host as a MIDI plugin. The same scale-locked grid becomes the brain of your studio, following your host's transport and tempo. MIDI AND HARDWARE Connect hardware synths and drum machines over USB or Bluetooth MIDI, with per-track send channels. Pixelboop also plays from an Erae Touch controller, with the grid mapped across its surface. DESIGNED FOR ACCESSIBILITY Pixelboop was created by a deaf musician who believes music should be visual first. The interface relies on color, position and visual feedback rather than requiring you to hear every nuance. Whether you are deaf, hard of hearing, or simply prefer a visual approach, Pixelboop meets you where you are. PERFECT FOR • Beginners who want to make music without learning theory • Producers looking for a fresh creative tool • Anyone who thinks visually and wants music to match • Educators teaching music through visual patterns • Deaf and hard of hearing musicians seeking accessible tools Music creation reimagined for the visual mind. Paint your first beat in seconds.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Pixelboop at 5.0 against Orphion's 4.0. Pixelboop also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 1) and update cadence (fortnightly vs every 2 months). Orphion's advantage is price ($3.99 vs $7.99) and ratings volume (33 vs 2). On 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
Orphion costs $3.99 and Pixelboop $7.99 up front. Orphion sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Pixelboop asks for nothing beyond the download.
Pixelboop holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Orphion has 33 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 85% of Orphion's written reviews are positive against 100% of Pixelboop's.
Orphion ships an update every 2 months, Pixelboop fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Orphion | Pixelboop |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $3.99 — better | $7.99 |
| Rating | 4.0 (33 ratings) | 5.0 (2 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 84.7% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 33 — better | 2 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Fortnightly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases — better | Paid |
| Devices | iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 7.0 — better | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 27 MB | 12 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Bastus Trump | de Bastion, Inc |
Customer experience
Orphion
Pixelboop
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
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- 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
Pixelboop
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Orphion
- Orphion Editor$0.99
Pixelboop
No in-app purchases








