Comparison

Ambient Symphony vs PLICATA

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

Head to head
About

Ambient Symphony

Features
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BACKGROUND MUSIC FOR DAILY LIFE Play it for yoga, meditation, rest, or background ambience at home or work. You can also perform with it or improvise alongside it as a generative musical instrument and stochastic agent. TIMER AND SESSIONS Set a timer to automatically stop the music after a chosen duration—perfect for timed meditations or focused work sessions. PLAYLISTS AND FAVORITES Currently choose from 8 included ambients. Create playlists and save favorites for your daily routines, meditation, or yoga sequencing. More ambients on the way. VISUAL AMBIENCE Select a visual style to accompany the music, enhancing your mood or environment with synchronized visuals. CUSTOMIZE THE AMBIENT You can adjust settings like speed, volume, and sound textures. Tap the info icon next to each slider to learn more. The music is generated in real time, so it never repeats the same way twice. It fades out smoothly when you stop it, like real instruments. OFFLINE AND ANYWHERE The app works fully offline. No internet or downloads are needed. Use it on airplanes, in the mountains, by the sea—anywhere. All the musical “intelligence” is built into the app. ONE-TIME PAYMENT No subscriptions. You pay once for the version you choose, and it's yours to keep. FREE UPDATES PER VERSION Each version includes free updates. You only pay again if you want to upgrade to a future version or switch platforms. Skip versions if you like. Upgrade when it suits you. PRIVACY FIRST Robots and Symphonies does not collect personal data. If future features require temporary connection data, we’ll update our policy to reflect that. EARLY ACCESS This is the first version of the app, offered at special early pricing. More features and updates are coming soon—and all updates to this version are included with your purchase. LIVE, NOT LOOPED Ambient Symphony plays like a live band, not a recording. When your timer ends, the music gently fades—no abrupt stops. RUNS IN THE BACKGROUND You can minimize the app and continue using your phone for games, browsing, or work while the music continues to play.

About

PLICATA

This is a compact monophonic synthesizer for hands-on sound design and performance. It features a morphing oscillator, wavefolding, a resonant filter, and a flexible VCA contour, with an independent SUB oscillator for added depth. A 28-socket patch system allows for extensive audio, CV, and event routing.

Highlights
  • Morphing oscillator with wavefolding
  • Independent SUB oscillator
  • 28-socket patch system
  • Microtonal XY keyboard
  • 32-step arpeggiator
  • Performance macros
  • AUv3 support
Features
Read full description

PLICATA is a compact patchable monophonic instrument for hands-on sound design and performance. A morphing oscillator feeds wavefolding, a resonant filter and flexible VCA contour, while an independent SUB oscillator adds octave, interval and eight waveform modes. PATCH IT The 28-socket patch system opens audio, CV and event routing. Modulate FOLD without replacing the oscillator path, reset the LFO externally, replace the internal SUB source, control SUB level by CV, distribute modulation through MULT, or build feedback and audio-rate networks. Patch cables are recalled with your sounds. MICROTONAL XY PERFORMANCE The 13-key XY keyboard spans C4–C5. Tune every key independently by ±100 cents or start from 12-TET, Just Intonation, Pythagorean and quarter-tone templates. Horizontal movement adds pitch expression up to ±24 semitones; vertical movement can map each key to as many as eight sound parameters or performance macros. PERFORMANCE VIEW + 32-STEP ARPEGGIATOR Tap PERF for an expanded keyboard-focused surface. The arpeggiator follows INTERNAL, HOST or MIDI clock and offers UP, DOWN, UP/DOWN, AS PLAYED, RANDOM, WALK, CONVERGE, DIVERGE and CHORD styles across up to four octaves. Build patterns from 1 to 32 steps with independent pitch, octave, velocity, gate, probability and ratchet lanes. HOLD captures the note pool; FILL creates a momentary variation. Adjust swing, gate, velocity behavior, probability and ratchets live. Rotate patterns, create temporary MUTATE variations, FREEZE the result, and recall seven ARP scenes with optional MIDI keyswitch control. MACROS, MIDI AND SYNC Six bounded performance macros shape tone, motion, fold, envelope, drive and level. IGNITE is editable: choose multiple targets, ranges and response curves, then store the mapping independently from sound presets. The keyboard can output 12-TET MIDI or preserve microtonal tuning through pitch bend with ±1, ±2, ±12 and ±24 semitone ranges. PLICATA also supports MIDI/MPE input, host sync and externally reset or free-running LFO operation. COMPLETE SOUND STATES PLICATA ships with 20 factory sounds and a full user-preset system. User sounds recall synthesis, patch cables and performance configuration together. Search, organize, favorite, duplicate and tag sounds, or use GEN to create a complete new musical state without overwriting your library. STANDALONE + AUv3 Use PLICATA standalone or as an AUv3 instrument inside compatible Apple music hosts. FEATURES • Morphing oscillator, wavefolding and pulse-width shaping • Independent SUB oscillator with interval and eight waveform modes • Resonant filter, ADSR articulation and drive • 28-socket audio, CV and event patch system • 13-key microtonal XY keyboard with independent tuning • Dedicated PERFORMANCE view with expanded keyboard • 32-step arpeggiator with nine styles and three clock modes • Per-step pitch, octave, velocity, gate, probability and ratchet • HOLD, FILL, rotate, MUTATE/FREEZE and seven ARP scenes • Six performance macros plus editable IGNITE • MIDI/MPE input and microtonal MIDI output • Factory and user presets with complete-state recall • Complete-state generation with GEN • Standalone and AUv3 operation Support, bug reports and feature requests: support@alessandroguardascione.com

Screenshots

Ambient Symphony4 screens
PLICATA4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Ambient Symphony at $3.99 against PLICATA's $7.99. Ambient Symphony also leads on iOS requirement (15.6 vs 17.0). On update cadence, ads, 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

Ambient Symphony costs $3.99 and PLICATA $7.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Ambient Symphony ships an update every 3 days, PLICATA every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on October 6, 2026 and October 13, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Ambient Symphony versus PLICATA: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterAmbient SymphonyPLICATA
Price$3.99 — better$7.99
Rating—3.5 (2 ratings) — better
Positive reviews—50.0% of reviews
Number of ratings—2 — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 daysEvery 2 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
Monetization—Paid
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.6 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size54 MB71 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperRobots and Symphonies LLCAlessandro Guardascione

In-app purchases

None

Ambient Symphony

No in-app purchases

None

PLICATA

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Ambient Symphony free?
Ambient Symphony costs $3.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is PLICATA free?
PLICATA costs $7.99, with no in-app purchases.
Do Ambient Symphony or PLICATA have ads?
Neither Ambient Symphony nor PLICATA shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Ambient Symphony or PLICATA?
Ambient Symphony ships an update every 3 days, and PLICATA every 2 days. Most recently, Ambient Symphony was updated on October 6, 2026 and PLICATA on October 13, 2026.

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