Comparison

spectwhirl vs WaveCloud

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

Head to head
About

spectwhirl

This audio effect app transforms input sound into new textures and bell-like tones by extracting and manipulating sinewave components. It offers advanced control over delay lines, frequency shifting, and filtering, with gesture recording for parameter automation.

Highlights
  • Sinewave component extraction and grouping
  • Delay lines with feedback
  • Frequency shifter and sample-and-hold effects
  • Configurable filtering
  • Gesture recording for automation
  • Scene saving and management
Features
Read full description

"bells and whistles, literally" spectwhirl is a hybrid spectral audio effect. It can extract and rearrange sinewave components from input signal to make new sound textures and bell-like sounds. * input sound is converted to sinewave components that are divided into 4 groups: harmonic, inharmonic, 12-edo and other * each component is fed into a delay line with feedback * there is a group of frequency shifter and sample-and-hold effects before and after delay lines * each set of sinewave components can be filtered * all the parameters can be instantly automated with gesture recording !!! Please note that this effect consumes much CPU and requires a modern device. ====================== Quick Start: Top row of controls enables different parts of user interface: scenes editor ("scene"), controls switch ("edit") and "zoom" controls When "edit" is switch on, you can show or hide various controls (marked as "ctrl") and switch gesture recording automation for some of them (marked with ">") Main control surface displays sonogram with tracked elements. Colors are set accordingly to the group they are assigned (red-orange-green-blue are for harmonic, inharmonic, 12-edo and others). Each "lane" contains delay time controls. * Triangle facing left is for the start locator, it determines initial delay time * Square moves both start and end locators together * When left locator is first moved you can see the right locator with the same triangle. It shows the end of the selected region, the secondary delay time is determined by the difference between left and right locators * if you drag over the area of the region in a lane, the four-dotted/one circle indicator will change its appearance; this changes the arpeggio mode of the region. If set to leftmost position (one circle) the components go in-sync; if set to maximum value (shown as diagonal line with circles) - components are played sequentially * all settings can be stored as "scene" and multiple scenes can be switched sequentially; there is a set of button to move, add and delete scenes. All scenes will be stored as machine state; it can be exported / imported as a single file or as separate file with current scene in the "setup" view The standalone version always starts with output level set to -70 dB to avoid feedback

About

WaveCloud

This app offers advanced tools for manipulating audio samples into unique sounds. It allows for precise control over tiny audio fragments, enabling the creation of diverse textures, effects, and soundscapes. Features include a morphing oscillator, LFOs, filters, and unique movement modules.

Highlights
  • Granular synthesis engine
  • Morphing oscillator
  • Orbit and WaveGlide modules
  • MPE support
  • Built-in effects suite
  • Audio editor and managers
  • 200+ presets
Features
Read full description

WaveCloud is an innovative granular synthesizer that offers powerful tools for manipulating and playing sounds. Granular synthesis divides an audio sample into tiny fragments, called grains, each typically a few milliseconds in length. These grains are then manipulated independently in terms of pitch, duration, position in time, and amplitude. Unlike traditional synthesis, the capability to manipulate tiny grains of audio offers enormous precision of sound control, transformation, and compositional possibilities. WaveCloud offers a wide range of tools for experimentation – oscillator, LFOs, filters, envelopes, routing matrix, innovative WaveGlide and Orbit modules for grain movement, effects, MPE support, extensive waveform editing, customizable themes, MIDI CC control, aftertouch, audio pool manager, and 200+ presets to get you started. Granular synthesis is extremely versatile and can produce a vast range of sounds and textures, from subtle, atmospheric sounds to complex, dynamic ones. WaveCloud offers dozens of parameters, enabling you to sculpt the sound grains in any way you wish – textural pads and atmospheres, time-stretched effects, glitchy and stutter effects, vocal and instrumental manipulations, granular synthesis percussive sounds, experimental effects, as well as microtonal and harmonic soundscapes. WaveCloud features a drag and drop system for importing and exporting of audio files and presets. It has its own built-in Preset and Audio Managers to help keep everything in order. WaveCloud even features a fully-fledged zoomable audio editor along with a suite of tools to crop, fade, cut, copy, paste, and normalise your samples. We include a morphing 3-state Oscillator to support the granular engine. The granular engine allows up to 50 grains per second per note, with grain lengths up to a second in length. Grains can be sculpted with our morphing envelope generator, manipulated with our LFOs, FEGs and VCFs, and passed through lots of randomisation to keep things continually evolving. WaveCloud also features two unique features for adding movement to audio grains. Orbit mode allows you to play sweeping patterns tied to the physical host tempo of your DAW, and WaveGlide is a sequencer with glides and fades from one location to another. To top it all off, we include 7 built-in effects, delay, reverb, chorus, overdrive, phaser, resonator, and 8-band EQ. The resonator controls per-note feedback and dispersion for amazing MPE effects. WaveCloud is not only a deep and powerful granular synth but also a fun way to create many incredible sounds. Features • Over 200 presets • 3-state morphing oscillator (sine, square, saw) • Morphing grain shapes • 2 low-frequency morphing oscillators • 4 multistep envelope generators • 2 visual filters (series and parallel modes) • Per-channel feedback resonators with dispersion • MPE Support (per-channel pitch bend, aftertouch, and CC74) • Orbit mode • WaveGlide sequencing • Fully Featured Mod-Matrix • Direct record and playback of samples • Built-in sample editor with editing tools • 7 built-in effects • Built-in Audio Manager with drag and drop support • Preset Manager with easy import/export, drag and drop • Colour scheme editor

Screenshots

spectwhirl4 screens
WaveCloud4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: spectwhirl at $4.99 against WaveCloud's $14.99. WaveCloud's advantage is rating (4.9 vs 4.0) and review sentiment (69% vs 33%). On update cadence, ads, in-app purchases 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

spectwhirl costs $4.99 and WaveCloud $14.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

WaveCloud holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: WaveCloud has 26 ratings behind it against 5, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 33% of spectwhirl's written reviews are positive against 69% of WaveCloud's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

spectwhirl ships an update every 5 weeks, WaveCloud every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 24, 2026 and September 19, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
spectwhirl versus WaveCloud: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterspectwhirlWaveCloud
Price$4.99 — better$14.99
Rating4.0 (5 ratings)4.9 (26 ratings) — better
Positive reviews33.3% of reviews69.2% of reviews — better
Number of ratings526 — better
Update frequencyEvery 5 weeksEvery 3 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS12.0 — better13.0
Further details — not scored
Size7 MB286 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAlexey Nadzharov4Pockets.com

Customer experience

spectwhirl

All ratings5 ratings
Positive60.0%
Neutral20.0%
Negative20.0%
Written reviews3 reviews
Positive33.3%
Neutral33.3%
Negative33.3%

WaveCloud

All ratings26 ratings
Positive96.2%
Neutral3.8%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews13 reviews
Positive69.2%
Neutral15.4%
Negative15.4%

In-app purchases

None

spectwhirl

No in-app purchases

None

WaveCloud

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is spectwhirl free?
spectwhirl costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is WaveCloud free?
WaveCloud costs $14.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, spectwhirl or WaveCloud?
WaveCloud is rated higher. spectwhirl averages 4.0 out of 5 from 5 ratings, while WaveCloud averages 4.9 from 26 ratings.
Do spectwhirl or WaveCloud have ads?
Neither spectwhirl nor WaveCloud shows ads.
Which is updated more often, spectwhirl or WaveCloud?
spectwhirl ships an update every 5 weeks, and WaveCloud every 3 weeks. Most recently, spectwhirl was updated on September 24, 2026 and WaveCloud on September 19, 2026.

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