Comparison

NeonWave vs Refract

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

Head to head
About

NeonWave

Features
Read full description

Put on your headphones and let music come to life. Welcome to NeonWave — an immersive artistic world that transforms sound into neon-lit visuals. Here, music isn't just meant to be heard, but to be "seen" and "felt." Every melody blooms into flowing neon waves across your screen; Every beat transforms into rhythmic pulses you can feel at your fingertips. We've meticulously crafted 48 original epic cinematic soundtracks for you, paired with dreamlike neon visuals, all to take you on a breathtaking sonic journey. Music flows, neon glows. Now put on your headphones and awaken your senses. ______________________ Get ready to enter the world of NeonWave.  ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ 【Key Features】 • Exclusive Original Music Library: 48 cinema-quality tracks exclusively created by professional musicians, spanning ambient, electronic, classical and more. Each piece perfectly matches your mood. Every track deserves to be on repeat. • Premium Visual Engine: Powered by Apple's latest Metal graphics technology, real-time rendering of stunning particles, glow effects, spectrum and fluid dynamics. Pushing your device's performance to the limit for buttery smooth visuals. • Import Your Music: Import your favorite songs from your music library — whether cherished classics or trending hits, NeonWave brings them to life with brilliant new visual expressions. • Highly Customizable: Rich parameter adjustment options let you control every visual detail like an artist — colors, shapes, dynamic responses — to create a completely unique audiovisual style. 【Crafted for Your Unique Moments】 • Party Centerpiece: Connect your phone to a big screen and NeonWave instantly becomes the visual focal point of your party, igniting the atmosphere with dynamic light shows. • Immersive Relaxation: Whether you need an uplifting "morning music" to energize your day, or "ambient music" and "meditation music" late at night to release stress and clear your mind, NeonWave becomes your perfect companion for meditation and sleep, wrapping you in gentle light and leaving you refreshed. • Creative Inspiration Source: Provides endless visual inspiration for artists, designers, and video creators to spark unlimited creativity. • Focus Companion: During work or study, let NeonWave be your background, using harmonious audiovisuals to block distractions and help you enter a flow state faster. (●゚ω゚●) 【Why Choose NeonWave?】 Most audio visualization apps only provide visual effects — users need to bring their own music. But NeonWave is different — we understand that the perfect pairing of music and visuals creates the most stunning experience. That's why we invested 300+ hours creating 48 original cinema-quality tracks. These aren't random background music, but epic compositions specifically crafted for audio visualization. Each track is meticulously tuned to perfectly sync with visual effects, delivering an ultimate "audiovisual unity" experience. For free users, we offer at least 8 carefully selected epic cinematic tracks with dazzling visual effects. This isn't a limited trial version, but a complete invitation to experience. We want every user to experience the core magic of audiovisual art without barriers. You can not only enjoy the perfect fusion of these 8 selected tracks with our premium visual engine, but also import 2 of your favorite songs from your own music library to witness them bloom with unprecedented visual brilliance. We believe that when you immerse yourself in this carefully crafted audiovisual feast, you'll truly understand the unique value NeonWave creates. This gateway to a whole new sensory world is now open for you. For Pro subscribers, we promise to release at least 10 new original tracks every month (at least 120 per year), keeping your music library constantly fresh. This isn't a one-time purchase, but a continuously growing music treasury. (●゚ω゚●) Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Refract

Create dynamic music videos from any audio track using your own photos, text, and effects. This app analyzes music to choreograph visuals in real-time, offering a full timeline editor and export options for major social platforms.

Highlights
  • Beat-synced visualizers
  • Customizable effects and overlays
  • Full multi-track timeline editor
  • Import audio from various sources
  • One-tap presets for social platforms
  • Offline processing and export
Features
Read full description

TURN ANY TRACK INTO A VIDEO THAT MOVES WITH IT An audio visualizer and music video maker: beat-synced visualizers, your photos, text and effects, exported for Reels, Shorts, TikTok and YouTube. Refract is an audio-reactive video studio for your iPhone. Load a song and a real-time engine listens to its beat, bass and energy, then choreographs every layer to the music. No keyframes. No guesswork. No template that ignores your track. No account, no sign-in. Your music and your videos never leave your phone. YOUR MUSIC, FROM ANYWHERE Pick a song from Files, iCloud Drive or Voice Memos. Take the soundtrack straight from a video you shot, in Photos or Files, or from a direct link to an audio or video file. Refract checks the video first, keeps only its sound, and lets you hear it before you begin. Keep that sound as its own audio file in one tap. A VISUAL ENGINE THAT LISTENS • 8 GPU-accelerated visualizers — Linear Spectrum, Waveform, Ring, Polar Bars, Dual Wave, Pulse, Streaks and Dots • 20 studio effects — Glow, VHS, CRT Scanlines, Film Grain, RGB Shift, Oil Paint, Fisheye, Wave Warp, Swirl, Posterize, Edge Detect and more • 8 particle overlays for depth, atmosphere and motion • 6 auto-choreographed looks — Neon Pulse, VHS, Poster, Liquid, Handheld, Drift — each a finished edit in a single tap • A text tool with 8 typefaces and 4 ink styles, and type that pulses with the bass A REAL TIMELINE, NOT A TEMPLATE Every layer lives on a full multi-track timeline. Move it, retime it, restyle it, bind any parameter to the audio, and watch the preview follow at 60 fps. Trim a five-minute track to its strongest thirty seconds, add precise fades, and export exactly that. READY FOR EVERY PLATFORM One-tap presets for portrait, square, tall and widescreen — 9:16, 1:1, 4:5 and 16:9 — with resolution, frame rate and quality set for you. Or take full manual control, up to 4K at 60 fps, at any length. LIGHT OR DARK Refract follows your iPhone's appearance, or stays in the one you choose. PRIVATE BY DESIGN Analysis and rendering happen on your phone's GPU. Nothing is uploaded, so creating and exporting work anywhere — on a plane, in a studio, offline. Refract counts which features get used, anonymously and with no identifier of any kind, so we can see what to improve. Unlimited projects and exports, every aspect ratio, your own photos and the full timeline editor — free. Refract Pro unlocks the entire catalogue, 4K at 60 fps, unlimited length and watermark-free export. Everything you make keeps working and keeps exporting, whichever you're on. Made for musicians, producers, DJs, podcasters and labels who need a release-ready visual for every track. Privacy Policy: https://greg-wolny.github.io/refract/privacy.html Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

NeonWave4 screens
Refract4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Refract at every 5 days against NeonWave's every 5 weeks. 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. NeonWave sells 7 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month and Refract sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

NeonWave ships an update every 5 weeks, Refract every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on October 30, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard1 real difference · 9 level
NeonWave versus Refract: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterNeonWaveRefract
PriceFreeFree
Rating—5.0 (2 ratings) — better
Positive reviews—100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings—2 — better
Update frequencyEvery 5 weeksEvery 5 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
Monetization—Freemium
DevicesiPhone, iPad — betteriPhone
Requires iOS17.017.0
Further details — not scored
Size1.9 GB12 MB
Age rating4+4+
Developer思明 陈Greg Wolny

In-app purchases

7 purchases

NeonWave

Subscriptions6
  • Pro (Monthly) - Large Discount1 Month trial$2.991 Month
  • NeonWave Pro - Weekly$5.997 Days
  • Pro (Monthly)$6.991 Month
Show 3 more
  • Pro (Yearly) - Large Discount3 Days trial$14.991 Year
  • NeonWave Pro - Yearly3 Days trial$19.991 Year
  • Pro (Yearly)$49.991 Year
One-time1
  • NeonWave - Lifetime$19.99
2 purchases

Refract

Subscriptions2
  • Refract Pro — Monthly$3.991 Month
  • Refract Pro — Yearly7 Days trial$29.991 Year

Questions

Is NeonWave free?
NeonWave is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Refract free?
Refract is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do NeonWave or Refract have ads?
Neither NeonWave nor Refract shows ads.
Which is updated more often, NeonWave or Refract?
NeonWave ships an update every 5 weeks, and Refract every 5 days. Most recently, NeonWave was updated on October 30, 2026 and Refract on October 31, 2026.

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