Comparison

Trompong vs Year One

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

Head to head
About

Trompong

Experience the authentic sounds of Balinese Gamelan Gong Kebyar with this app. It features a row of 10 gongs, offering a realistic playing experience with high-quality sampled sounds and interactive controls. Explore detailed instrument views and customizable notation displays.

Highlights
  • Authentic sampled sound bank
  • Realistic playing experience
  • Ultra-low latency audio
  • Zoomable instrument views
  • Customizable cipher notation
  • Ad-free experience
Features
Read full description

World's first iPhone/iPad implementation of the main instruments of a Balinese Gamelan Gong Kebyar! A Trompong is a row of 10 gongs or kettles mounted on a frame, and is played by four players in the Balinese Gamelan Gong Kebyar. It plays the interlocking or kotekan parts and also marks the music by the patterns it plays. * Authentic sound bank sampled directly from real instruments * User interaction designed to replicate true playing experience * Playing sound can be stopped --- essential for Gamelan! * High-quality photos showcasing real instruments * Optimized for ultra-low latency audio playback * Zoomable views for detailed instrument exploration * Customizable display of cipher notations to suit your preferences * Completely ad-free for uninterrupted enjoyment

About

Year One

Experience music in a new dimension with augmented reality. Move around your space to uncover hidden sounds, build melodies, and create unique listening experiences by interacting with spatial audio arrangements.

Highlights
  • Spatial album listening
  • Augmented reality soundscapes
  • Interactive music exploration
  • Build melodies and chords
  • Dynamic audio effects
  • Create unique listening experiences
Read full description

Hear different lyrics in the corners of your room; build melodies as you walk around your couch; hear hidden parts and build your own chords just by walking through the space around you. Year One is the first spatial album, utilizing the possibilities of augmented reality technology, by D.C. group and label TCW. Upon launching the Year One app, the different sounds and instruments of the songs will populate and begin moving through the space around you. Your movement, tracked by your smartphone, will affect which sounds you hear and change how individual effects are applied to them, making for a different listening experience each time. This final release of the album contains all eight spatial arrangements from TCW, Wall of Trophies, and N.E. Hertzberg. TCW has released a how-to guide for any musician to build their own similar app independently. Alongside the guide, TCW has begun cataloging spatial composition techniques for other musicians to use and contribute to. This guide and techniques can all be found on tcwav.com. TCW released their first spatial album, Inauguration, in early 2017 using smartphone GPS positional tracking, and released a similar guide for building spatial applications. Contact the group at tcw@tcwav.com Headphones required for proper audio spatialization.

Screenshots

Trompong4 screens
Year One4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Year One at Free against Trompong's $4.99. Year One also leads on update cadence (every 7 months vs every 33 months). On review sentiment, 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

Year One is free to download; Trompong costs $4.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Trompong ships an update every 33 months, Year One every 7 months. The most recent releases landed on October 3, 2026 and October 5, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Trompong versus Year One: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterTrompongYear One
Price$4.99Free — better
Rating—4.3 (3 ratings) — better
Positive reviews0.0% of reviews0.0% of reviews
Number of ratings—3 — better
Update frequencyEvery 33 monthsEvery 7 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS18.017.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size36 MB407 MB
Age rating4+4+
Developeremacsian Company LimitedTCW

Customer experience

Trompong

Written reviews1 reviews
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%

Year One

All ratings3 ratings
Positive66.7%
Neutral33.3%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive0.0%
Neutral100.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

Trompong

No in-app purchases

None

Year One

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Trompong free?
Trompong costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Year One free?
Year One is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Trompong or Year One have ads?
Neither Trompong nor Year One shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Trompong or Year One?
Trompong ships an update every 33 months, and Year One every 7 months. Most recently, Trompong was updated on October 3, 2026 and Year One on October 5, 2026.

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