Comparison

Makanim Light vs variant

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

Head to head
About

Makanim Light

Create stunning, interactive animations with multi-touch gestures. Explore endless visual effects, shapes, and patterns for relaxation or live performance. Save your creations as wallpapers.

Highlights
  • Multi-touch graphic generator
  • Real-time preset editing
  • Up to 3-finger gestures
  • Multiple animation modes and shapes
  • Adjustable speed, size, and chaos
  • Save creations as screenshots/wallpapers
Features
Read full description

AppAdvice.com review: "This generative art app will provide you with pure visual stimulation." AppSplit.com review: "With its level of customization, it's definitely still worthy to try it." Want to relax or have fun? Enjoy an amazing graphic experience with Makanim. Create stunning animations by playing with multi-touch. Snap your creations and use them as wallpapers. Play with Makanim at home for fun, at a party, or on stage for VJing: improvise during live performances and create new animations on the fly. Makanim offers endless combinations of visual effects by changing nine simple parameters. You can spend hours discovering the different ways to animate shapes. Makanim is a powerful app that can both entertain and relax. FEATURES - Multi-touch particle generator - Up to 10 fingers at once, depending on your device - 10 animation modes - 48 beautiful and original shapes - 22 color palettes - 112 editable presets, saved as you play - Thousands of possible combinations - Edit presets in real time - Switch between modes, shapes and colors - Control speed, size and chaos - Background color and particle opacity controls - Random button for surprise combinations - Interactive sounds - Animation auto-play - Screenshot button to save images to your photo library - Expert mode: hide or show the menu bar - Fingers limit, to avoid clashing with your device's multi-touch gestures LINKS Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flR6mz788h0 Visit http://appakabar.com for more information. Makanim Light is the free version of Makanim: it includes 12 of the 112 presets, 4 of the 10 modes and 7 of the 48 shapes, with up to 3 fingers at once. Unlock everything with a single in-app purchase. No subscription.

About

variant

Experience a unique audiovisual artwork that generates ever-changing music and imagery. Interact by tapping to trigger musical fragments and responsive visuals, or drag to steer the visuals. Build complex combinations of sound and visuals through interactive controls.

Highlights
  • Generative audiovisual artwork
  • Interactive music generation
  • Evolving visual imagery
  • User input for control
  • Screenshot functionality
  • Indeterminate audio engine display
Features
Read full description

variant:SONiC is an audiovisual artwork that creates beautiful, ever-changing music and imagery. The app combines user input and built-in randomness to create images and music that will continually change, grow and evolve, offering a new and different experience every time. For users of all ages, variant:SONiC is a chance to explore and experience a unique work of generative art. variant:SONiC was commissioned by the American Composers Orchestra for the 2015 SONiC Festival. The musical composition is built entirely from individual notes played by different participants in the festival, including: Andy Akiho Alarm Will Sound (Miles Brown, Michael Clayville, Erin Lesser, Courtney Orlando, Jason Price) Clarice Assad Christopher Cerrone The Crossing Melody Eötvös Angelica Negron Nieuw Amsterdams Peil (Gerard Bouwhuis, Heleen Hulst) Nina C. Young To interact with variant:SONiC, tap the screen; each tap will trigger a randomly selected fragment of the musical composition, as well as a visual element that responds to it. You can steer the visuals by dragging after tapping, and you can trigger up to 10 sounds at one time. To repeat a sound, keep your finger held down and that sound will loop. By using some fingers to loop sounds and others to trigger individual elements, you can build up complex combinations of sound and visuals. You can view the indeterminate audio engine by tapping the dot in the lower right. The display shows the different elements of the musical composition as they are loaded by the engine through a combination of chance and user input. The center button opens a menu of settings for the app, and the button to the right allows you to take screenshots of the visuals, automatically saving them to your photo library. The Variant apps are a new series of generative audiovisual artworks from Interval Studios featuring visuals by Joshue Ott and music by Kenneth Kirschner. Each Variant features a unique visual composition by Ott based on his superDraw visual performance software, as well as a new indeterminate musical composition by Kirschner. Each Variant app also offers a different set of interactive controls for the user, ranging from the ability to subtly influence the development of the piece to total interactive control over both visuals and sound. All of the Variants are generative artworks: through a varying combination of built-in randomness and user input, each Variant will continually grow and evolve over time without ever directly repeating itself either visually or musically, offering the user an ever-changing, ever-evolving audiovisual experience.

Screenshots

Makanim Light4 screens
variant4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: variant at 4.4 against Makanim Light's 3.8. variant also leads on review sentiment (100% vs 60%) and in-app purchases (none vs 1). On price, ratings volume, ads and monetization model 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

Both are free to download. Makanim Light sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. variant asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

variant holds the better App Store score, 4.4 against 3.8. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 5 and 9 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 60% of Makanim Light's written reviews are positive against 100% of variant's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Makanim Light ships an update every 13 months, variant monthly. Both last shipped on November 1, 2026.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Makanim Light versus variant: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMakanim Lightvariant
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.8 (5 ratings)4.4 (9 ratings) — better
Positive reviews60.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings59 — better
Update frequencyEvery 13 monthsMonthly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.08.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size11 MB53 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAppakabarInterval Studios

Customer experience

Makanim Light

All ratings5 ratings
Positive60.0%
Neutral20.0%
Negative20.0%
Written reviews5 reviews
Positive60.0%
Neutral20.0%
Negative20.0%

variant

All ratings9 ratings
Positive77.8%
Neutral11.1%
Negative11.1%
Written reviews8 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Makanim Light

One-time1
  • Unlock everything$4.99
None

variant

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Makanim Light free?
Makanim Light is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is variant free?
variant is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Makanim Light or variant?
variant is rated higher. Makanim Light averages 3.8 out of 5 from 5 ratings, while variant averages 4.4 from 9 ratings.
Do Makanim Light or variant have ads?
Neither Makanim Light nor variant shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Makanim Light or variant?
Makanim Light ships an update every 13 months, and variant monthly. Most recently, Makanim Light was updated on November 1, 2026 and variant on November 1, 2026.

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