Orphion vs WretchUp
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
WretchUp
This app offers a unique audio manipulation experience, allowing users to create sonic mayhem with pitch-shifted delays, filters, and sampling. It's designed for live performance and studio use, enabling musicians and sound enthusiasts to generate wild noises and unique effects.
- Pitch-shifted delay with feedback and filter
- Live performance-oriented controls
- Gesture-based play
- Record vocals and instruments
- Sample and manipulate loops
- Inter-App-Audio and Audiobus support
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An effect instrument anyone can play - sonic anarchy in the palm of your hand. iOS Mars: "Barely controlled chaos“, "sonic extremes“, "well suited for live use“ Music App Blog: "if you like the occasional dose of sonic mayhem, then this is an app that will let you make it" WretchUp is the sonic instrument from the imagination of Mouse on Mars Instruments. Used by the duo in their live performances, it's a playable effect inspired by analog hardware. Sing into it, speak into it, plug in an instrument, sample sounds, and then make sonic mayhem. It's been tested in Mouse on Mars' live shows and used in studio albums. But now it's available to anyone - whether you're a musician wanting to create unique sounds or you just want to make some wild noises and frighten friends and enemies. // FEATURES - Pitch-shifted delay with feedback and filter - Unique controls, designed to be used in live performance and tested onstage - Play with gestures, even without looking closely at the screen - Record vocals or instruments from the built-in mic or another input - Sample loops and change their speed - Adjust the feedback loop, pitch, and filter for unique sounds - Make inputs by holding down your finger, or lock input for continuous sampling - Inter-App-Audio supported - Audiobus supported www.mouseonmars.com/mominstruments Features artwork by Rupert Smyth. Pure Data-based, open source patch created by Florian Grote and Peter Kirn with Mouse on Mars. App design by Oliver Greschke. Powered by free and open source software libpd. Note: like all mic-based effects, you need to enable microphone input. If you accidentally did not allow mic input, you can allow later via: Device settings, WretchUp, Data settings, Microphone, allow mic input.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Orphion at 4.0 against WretchUp's 3.1. Orphion also leads on ratings volume (31 vs 9) and price ($3.99 vs $4.99). WretchUp's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1) and update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 2 months). On review sentiment 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
Orphion costs $3.99 and WretchUp $4.99 up front. Orphion sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. WretchUp asks for nothing beyond the download.
Orphion holds the better App Store score, 4.0 against 3.1. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 31 and 9 respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 85% of Orphion's written reviews are positive against 91% of WretchUp's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Orphion ships an update every 2 months, WretchUp every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 13, 2026 and October 3, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Orphion | WretchUp |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $3.99 — better | $4.99 |
| Rating | 4.0 (31 ratings) — better | 3.1 (9 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 84.7% of reviews | 90.9% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 31 — better | 9 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Every 3 weeks — 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 | 11.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 27 MB | 15 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Bastus Trump | MoMinstruments GbR |
Customer experience
Orphion
WretchUp
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
WretchUp
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Orphion
- Orphion Editor$0.99
WretchUp
No in-app purchases









