John Cage Piano (Free) vs Decent Sampler
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
John Cage Piano (Free)
Experience the unique sounds of a prepared piano, inspired by the work of John Cage. This app offers meticulously sampled notes from a piano prepared with actual materials used by Cage himself. Explore new sonic textures and experiment with musical composition on your device.
- Prepared piano sound simulation
- Meticulously sampled notes
- Inspired by John Cage's work
- Random shuffle for other notes
- Free to play
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Celebrate the music of John Cage by playing the John Cage Piano app on your iOS handheld device. One of the many ingenious innovations of American composer/writer/artist John Cage was his creation of the "prepared piano", in which he placed objects beneath and between the strings of a grand piano to create an entirely new instrument. The sounds of John Cage's prepared piano are now available for you to play on your portable device with this innovative app. Play meticulously sampled sounds of a piano prepared with the actual materials used by John Cage in the preparations for his Sonatas and Interludes (1946-48) as sampled under the supervision of the John Cage Trust. This free version offers 9 sampled notes on screen at a time, while a random shuffle button makes available other prepared notes.
Decent Sampler
This app lets you use professional-quality sample libraries on your mobile device, supporting Decent Samples, SF2, and EXS files. It functions as a standalone app and an AUv3 plugin for use with other music production applications.
- Use Decent Samples libraries
- Supports SF2 and EXS files
- AUv3 plugin compatibility
- Standalone app functionality
- Access to new libraries weekly
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Did you ever wish you could use professional quality sample libraries on your mobile device? Now you can! The Decent Samples plugin is a sample player that allows you to use your favorite Decent Samples sample libraries on the go (as well as SF2s, SFZs, and EXS files). Many of the most popular Decent Samples releases are available through the app with more being added every week. Because it's also an AUv3 plugin, you can use it from within GarageBand or with AUM.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: John Cage Piano (Free) at 100% against Decent Sampler's 52%. John Cage Piano (Free) also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 10) and rating (5.0 vs 4.6). Decent Sampler's advantage is update cadence (weekly vs every 30 months) and ratings volume (53 vs 1). 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. Decent Sampler sells 10 one-off in-app purchases. John Cage Piano (Free) asks for nothing beyond the download.
John Cage Piano (Free) holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Decent Sampler has 53 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 100% of John Cage Piano (Free)'s written reviews are positive against 52% of Decent Sampler's.
John Cage Piano (Free) ships an update every 30 months, Decent Sampler weekly. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and November 7, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | John Cage Piano (Free) | Decent Sampler |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better | 4.6 (53 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better | 52.2% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 1 | 53 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 30 months | Weekly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 6.0 — better | 13.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 50 MB | 41 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Larson Associates | Decidedly, LLC |
Customer experience
John Cage Piano (Free)
Decent Sampler
Bugs and requests
John Cage Piano (Free)
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
Decent Sampler
Reported bugs
23 issues- Instant crash on load
- App stopped working after iOS update
- AUV3 crashes out of nowhere
- Unresponsive upon opening
- Server issues for login
Show 18 moreShow fewer
- Instrument remains stuck on a note
- Projects need to be reloaded to show app
- Crash when loading samples
- Failing to load presets when reloading host project
- Adding unwanted temp presets
- Crashing when selecting different samples
- Login prompt won't let paste text
- Can't paste password to login
- Login screen covered by keyboard
- Error 500 when downloading
- Restore Purchases button not working
- Forgotten Password button not working
- Invalid email address for registration
- No URL found when downloading sound packs
- Clicking sounds while using
- Glitching, clicking, and ghost sounds on held notes
- Instrument crashes after a few minutes
- Earthquake pad 02 glitching
Requested features
14 requests- Add user/pass fill from password keeper
- Implement a download manager for multiple instruments
- Allow running within IAA or Audiobus
- Add ability to clear cache
- Fix multi-track support in AUV3
Show 9 moreShow fewer
- Add MIDI sequencing
- Add pitch bend functionality
- Add velocity response curve knob
- Add filter stage and more flexible envelope
- Allow disabling iOS auto-lock
- Configure receiving MIDI channel
- Improve preset selection
- Add dark mode
- Support VoiceOver
In-app purchases
John Cage Piano (Free)
No in-app purchases
Decent Sampler
- Ukelin$0.99
- Weber 1929 Baby Grand$4.99
- Decent Sampler Store Item 5$4.99
Show 7 moreShow fewer
- Indie Guitar$5.99
- Decent Sampler Store Item 8$7.99
- Viola Ensemble$9.99
- Indie Bass$9.99
- Decent Sampler Store Item 10$9.99
- Decent Samples Store Item 20$20.00
- Decent Samples Store Item 29$29.00
Questions
Is John Cage Piano (Free) free?
Is Decent Sampler free?
Which has better reviews, John Cage Piano (Free) or Decent Sampler?
Do John Cage Piano (Free) or Decent Sampler have ads?
Which is updated more often, John Cage Piano (Free) or Decent Sampler?
Other comparisons
