Comparison

SwarmFlow vs Ambientica

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

Head to head
About

SwarmFlow

Features
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SwarmFlow is a meditative fish swarm simulation, born from a moment at the beach in Mauritius. Watch the swarm move, touch the water, and experience the quiet fascination of collective life. Free Features: - Interactive fish swarm with realistic flocking behavior - Tap the screen and watch the flight reaction - Drag the food source to guide the swarm - Adjust swarm size and behavior Premium Features (one-time purchase): - Up to 150 fish for impressive swarms - 5 color themes: Deep Sea, Night, Coral, Ocean, and Beach - Current simulation: Tilt your iPhone and watch fish swim with or against the flow - AI-generated meditative soundscapes - Screensaver mode as a digital aquarium - Speed control to find your perfect pace - Subtle food sources with soft shadows for an even more harmonious experience No competition. No scores. Just the simple beauty of a swarm responding to your touch.

About

Ambientica

Transform your device into a calming screensaver and live wallpaper with dynamic visualizers and clocks. Enjoy a meditative space where your music comes alive with beautiful ambient effects and customizable clock styles.

Highlights
  • 20 ambient visual effects
  • 52 clock variations
  • Customizable clock fonts and positions
  • Interactive Zen sand and matcha latte effects
  • Customizable stickers for logos and artwork
  • Auto-play feature for cycling effects
Features
Read full description

Quiet, relaxing moments with your music. Ambientica turns your iPhone, iPad, and Mac into a calming screensaver and live wallpaper — a GPU-powered visualizer and clock with 22 ambient effects and 40 beautiful clock variations, all paired with the music you love. Touch the screen to draw Zen sand patterns, stir matcha latte foam, or watch rain fall on glass. A meditation space where your favorite songs come alive, beautifully and aesthetically. 22 AMBIENT EFFECTS Overlay Effects (combine with any scene): • Ripple — Touch to create water ripples • Rainfall — Rain streaks with ground splash • Snowfall — Snowflakes drifting in the wind • Incense Smoke — Graceful smoke rising and swirling • Fog — Fractal mist you can push aside • Komorebi — Underwater light rays • CRT — Retro CRT monitor with scanlines and RGB sub-pixels • RGB Shift — Chromatic aberration post-process overlay • Echo Rays — Light radiating from a point unique to each song, bouncing off the edges as it fades Scene Effects: • Sand Garden — Draw Zen sand patterns with your finger • Stardust — 65,536 particles forming a cosmic cloud • Rain on Glass — Raindrops on glass over your artwork • Dusk — Sunset sky with a movable sun • Sumi-e — Japanese ink painting with brush strokes • Watercolor — Paint blooming softly across wet paper • Matcha Latte — Stir green tea foam with your finger • Cafe Latte — Swirl coffee art patterns • Sora — Blue sky with drifting clouds • Aura — Rainbow ring trails over your artwork • Fall Text — Song titles and clock digits gently falling • Lava Lamp — Mesmerizing metaball blobs over your artwork • Pulsar — Joy Division-inspired waveform lines A RELAXING CLOCK & FONTS • 2 styles: Digital and Flip Clock • 12 fonts, 40 variations (Helvetica, New York, Museo Moderno, Bodoni Moda, Chicago (Pixel), and more) • Variable Fonts: Playfair Display, Museo Moderno, Bodoni Moda with smooth weight transitions • Position (X/Y), Opacity, Color (White/Black), Shadow • 12/24 hour, seconds, and date display • Adjustable size (48–200pt; up to 140pt on iPhone) Perfect as a sleep companion, a meditation backdrop, an aesthetic live wallpaper, or a calm ambient display on your desk. CUSTOM STICKERS Place your logo, photo, or artwork on screen. Drag to move, pinch to resize, adjust opacity. Perfect for cafe and shop BGM displays, exhibitions, and events. AUTO PLAY (IDEAL FOR DISPLAYS & EXHIBITIONS) Automatically cycle through your favorite effects. Set the interval, choose which effects to include, and let Ambientica do the rest. FREE & PREMIUM Free: Rainfall, Snowfall, Echo Rays, Dusk, Stardust + full clock and font access. Premium ($6.99, one-time purchase): All 22 effects + Custom Stickers + Auto Play. Try everything free for 14 days. Powered by Metal GPU shaders for smooth, battery-efficient rendering on iPhone, iPad, and Mac. Whether you're winding down for sleep, building a calm and aesthetic workspace, setting up a cafe or shop display, or looking for a meditative screensaver — Ambientica is the quiet background your music deserves. The clock and effects work without Apple Music. Music from your library plays as is; an Apple Music subscription is required only for catalog streaming.

Screenshots

SwarmFlow4 screens
Ambientica4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: SwarmFlow at weekly against Ambientica's every 2 weeks. SwarmFlow also leads on iOS requirement (15.0 vs 26.2). On price, 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

Both are free to download. SwarmFlow sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Ambientica sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

SwarmFlow ships an update weekly, Ambientica every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 30, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 7 level
SwarmFlow versus Ambientica: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSwarmFlowAmbientica
PriceFreeFree
Rating—3.0 (2 ratings) — better
Number of ratings—2 — better
Update frequencyWeekly — betterEvery 2 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
Monetization—Freemium
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, Mac
Requires iOS15.0 — better26.2
Further details — not scored
Size8 MB8 MB
Age rating9+4+
DeveloperOliver Lievenhalloweenjack inc.

In-app purchases

1 purchases

SwarmFlow

One-time1
  • SwarmFlow Premium$1.99
1 purchases

Ambientica

One-time1
  • Ambientica Premium$6.99

Questions

Is SwarmFlow free?
SwarmFlow is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Ambientica free?
Ambientica is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do SwarmFlow or Ambientica have ads?
Neither SwarmFlow nor Ambientica shows ads.
Which is updated more often, SwarmFlow or Ambientica?
SwarmFlow ships an update weekly, and Ambientica every 2 weeks. Most recently, SwarmFlow was updated on October 30, 2026 and Ambientica on October 31, 2026.

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