Comparison

PatternLab vs pocketFORTH

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

Head to head
About

PatternLab

Features
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Discover the beauty of patterns. PatternLab is a creative sandbox for exploring cellular automata β€” simple rules that give rise to endless complexity. Inspired by Conway’s Game of Life, PatternLab lets you draw, experiment, and watch living patterns unfold in real time. Whether you’re curious about math, love puzzles, or just want to relax and watch mesmerizing shapes evolve, PatternLab makes science playful and accessible. Features: β€’ Multiple rule sets: Conway, Seeds, Maze, Day & Night β€’ Pre-built patterns: Glider, Blinker, Pulsar, and more β€’ Custom drawing tools to create your own designs β€’ Adjustable grid size and simulation speed β€’ Color themes including high contrast & accessibility modes β€’ Undo/redo support for fast experimentation Why you’ll love it: β€’ Relax and watch infinite patterns evolve β€’ Spark creativity with mathematical art β€’ Learn about complex systems in a hands-on way PatternLab is perfect for students, creators, and anyone who enjoys interactive experiments. Dive in, play with rules, and see how small changes create surprising results.

About

pocketFORTH

Features
Read full description

Discover one of the programming languages that helped shape modern computing. PocketFORTH is a modern FORTH environment inspired by the golden age of pocket computers and home computing, bringing the power of interactive programming directly to your iPhone and iPad. Whether you're a retro-computing enthusiast, a student, an electronics maker or simply curious to explore one of the most influential programming languages ever created, Pocket FORTH lets you write, run, edit and save FORTH programs through a clean, fast and completely offline interface. Designed for both learning and experimentation, Pocket FORTH combines the simplicity of the original language with modern features including live editing, dictionary browsing, source inspection, QR code sharing, persistent storage and a growing collection of built-in words compatible with classic FORTH systems.

Screenshots

PatternLab4 screens
pocketFORTH4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is iOS requirement: pocketFORTH at 15.6 against PatternLab's 18.4. On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price Β· Rating Β· Positive reviews Β· Number of ratings Β· Update frequency Β· Ads Β· In-app purchases Β· Monetization Β· Best chart rank Β· Devices Β· Requires iOS

CostPrice Β· In-app purchases Β· Ads Β· Monetization

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

Scorecard1 real difference Β· 5 level
PatternLab versus pocketFORTH: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPatternLabpocketFORTH
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyβ€”Every 3 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod β€” better
Requires iOS18.415.6 β€” better
Further details β€” not scored
Size1 MB1 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperCARLOS ANTONIO MURRIETA STEINMANLeonardo Del Nonno

In-app purchases

None

PatternLab

No in-app purchases

None

pocketFORTH

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is PatternLab free?
PatternLab is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is pocketFORTH free?
pocketFORTH is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do PatternLab or pocketFORTH have ads?
Neither PatternLab nor pocketFORTH shows ads.

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