Makanim Light vs Grating Simulator
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- 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
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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.
Grating Simulator
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The laser interference pattern is similar to what would be produced by a Laser pointer’s beam passing through a diffraction grating – When you shine a laser pointer (green, 532nm wavelength) through a series of transmission diffraction gratings, you get a beautiful regular array of bright spots. The center spot is the zero-order (undiffracted beam), and the surrounding spots are the various diffraction orders. The symmetry and regularity of the pattern is characteristic of a diffraction grating pattern. This simulation could be used as a demonstration setup for physics education – teaching about wave optics, interference and diffraction. It is a classic physics demonstration that beautifully illustrates the wave nature of light and the principles of diffraction.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Grating Simulator at none against Makanim Light's 1. Grating Simulator also leads on update cadence (every 4 months vs every 13 months). Makanim Light's advantage is iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.6). On price, 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
Both are free to download. Makanim Light sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Grating Simulator asks for nothing beyond the download.
Makanim Light ships an update every 13 months, Grating Simulator every 4 months. The most recent releases landed on November 10, 2026 and November 9, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Makanim Light | Grating Simulator |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.0 (6 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 60.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 6 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 13 months | Every 4 months — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 — better | 17.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 11 MB | 1 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Appakabar | Mark Barclay |
In-app purchases
Makanim Light
- Unlock everything$4.99
Grating Simulator
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Makanim Light free?
Is Grating Simulator free?
Do Makanim Light or Grating Simulator have ads?
Which is updated more often, Makanim Light or Grating Simulator?
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