Comparison

Visual Pinball vs TubeSort

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

Head to head
About

Visual Pinball

Experience the full virtual pinball simulator with realistic physics, lighting, and sound. This open-source app offers a redesigned interface, enhanced table management, and the complete desktop experience for mobile devices. Enjoy a vast library of tables without ads or in-app purchases.

Highlights
  • Realistic physics, lighting, and sound
  • Redesigned interface with Liquid Glass
  • Full in-game menu for graphics and controls
  • Support for various backglass and display types
  • Easy table import and management
  • Optimized memory usage
Features
Read full description

The official Visual Pinball app. Built by volunteers since 2000 and open source since 2010, Visual Pinball is the simulator the virtual pinball community has been playing for over two decades. More than 70 people have contributed to it, and this app runs the same engine as the desktop version, so every table plays with the physics, lighting and sound its creator intended. No ads. No in-app purchases. No tracking. Made by volunteers. Two years of work from the Visual Pinball volunteers, in one update. Thank you for your patience, and for playing! A FRESH NEW LOOK • Redesigned for iOS 26 with Liquid Glass • Favorites and recently played tables at the top of your list • Search, sorting and three tile sizes • Light, Dark or System appearance • New loading screen that shows progress THE FULL DESKTOP EXPERIENCE • The complete Visual Pinball in-game menu for graphics, sound, controls and table options • Remap every button on keyboards and game controllers • Save settings for every table, or just the one you're playing MORE TABLES, LOOKING BETTER • Show the backglass and score display (DMD, alphanumeric or reels) on screen, right where you want them • Support for PUP packs, FlexDMD, B2S backglasses, video playback and VNI colorizations • All the latest physics and rendering improvements from the desktop version • Much lower memory use: textures are compressed on first load, then cached EASIER TABLE MANAGEMENT • Import .zip files, along with .vpx and .vpxz • Share any table as a single .vpxz file • The web file manager can now upload whole folders, extract archives, edit scripts and settings, and show the log live AND MORE • Many stability and memory fixes This version requires iOS 26.6 or later.

About

TubeSort

Engage your mind by sorting colorful balls into their matching tubes, discovering the most efficient solutions. Navigate through 150 unique puzzles across six distinct worlds, with increasing challenges like frozen balls and bombs. Earn stars, collect rewards, and enjoy a daily puzzle to keep your skills sharp.

Highlights
  • 150 unique puzzles
  • Six distinct worlds
  • Increasing difficulty with new mechanics
  • Daily puzzle challenges
  • Star earning system
  • Hint and helper options
Features
Read full description

Sort colorful balls into matching tubes and find the smartest path to a perfect finish. Explore 150 puzzles across six worlds. As you progress, new challenges add frozen balls, locked positions, countdown bombs, and smaller tubes. Earn stars for efficient solutions, collect rewards, and come back for a fresh daily puzzle. Need a hand? Use a hint or a helper when a puzzle gets tricky. With smooth movement, bright visuals, and music choices, every move is designed to feel good.

Screenshots

Visual Pinball3 screens
TubeSort4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: TubeSort at 5.0 against Visual Pinball's 4.3. TubeSort also leads on review sentiment (100% vs 78%) and iOS requirement (16.0 vs 26.6). Visual Pinball's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and ratings volume (75 vs 3). On price, in-app purchases 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

TubeSort holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Visual Pinball has 75 ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 78% of Visual Pinball's written reviews are positive against 100% of TubeSort's.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Visual Pinball versus TubeSort: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterVisual PinballTubeSort
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.3 (75 ratings)5.0 (3 ratings) — better
Positive reviews78.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings75 — better3
Update frequencyFortnightly—
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree — betterAd-supported
DevicesiPhone, iPad — betteriPhone
Requires iOS26.616.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size134 MB19 MB
Age rating9+4+
DeveloperJason MillardT.O.M Horizons LLC

Customer experience

Visual Pinball

All ratings74 ratings
Positive81.1%
Neutral6.8%
Negative12.2%
Written reviews59 reviews
Positive78.0%
Neutral11.9%
Negative10.2%

TubeSort

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

Visual Pinball

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Tables don't load for some users
  • Certain complex/intensive tables error out or run at low FPS

Requested features

6 requests
  • List of most played tables
  • Ability to reposition DMD
  • Option to skip startup checks for some tables
  • Ability to edit table scripts on the app
  • Direct link to table depository
Show 1 more
  • iPad version with more screen space

TubeSort

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Visual Pinball

No in-app purchases

None

TubeSort

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Visual Pinball free?
Visual Pinball is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is TubeSort free?
TubeSort is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Visual Pinball or TubeSort?
TubeSort is rated higher. Visual Pinball averages 4.3 out of 5 from 75 ratings, while TubeSort averages 5.0 from 3 ratings.
Do Visual Pinball or TubeSort have ads?
TubeSort shows ads; Visual Pinball does not.

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