Pixelboop vs Patchsynth
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Pixelboop
Create music visually by drawing on a colorful grid. This app transforms your device into a visual sequencer where notes become pixels, making music production accessible without prior theory knowledge. Explore melodies, basslines, chords, and rhythms with intuitive gestures and automatic key correction.
- Visual music creation by drawing on a grid
- Four independent tracks for melody, bass, chords, and rhythm
- Automatic key correction with interval modes
- Intuitive gesture controls for note placement and editing
- MIDI I/O for connecting external hardware
- Designed for accessibility with a visual-first approach
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Make music as visual as it is audible. Pixelboop turns your iPhone or iPad into a visual sequencer where every note becomes a colored pixel on screen. No music theory required: tap, draw, and see the sounds. DRAW YOUR MUSIC Create beats by painting on a colorful grid. Each row is a note, each column is a moment in time. Tap to place notes, drag to draw melodies or chords, and watch your music come alive as patterns scroll across the screen. Music production that feels like a game. 4 TRACKS, INFINITE POSSIBILITIES Layer across four independent tracks: • Melody, expressive lead lines and hooks • Chords, rich harmonic backing • Bass, deep and driving low end • Rhythm, punchy drums and percussion Each track has its own color palette, so you can read a whole arrangement at a glance. 48 INSTRUMENT SOUNDS Sixteen sounds each for melody, chords and bass, from electric piano and glass pads to growling bass and bell leads. Hold a track's control column to audition and switch sounds while the loop keeps playing. EFFECTS YOU PLAY ON THE GRID Every track has its own effects column. Tap to switch between reverb and delay, compression and distortion, or a filter sweep, then slide to set the amount. No menus to dig through, and the column animates with what you hear. ALWAYS SOUNDS GOOD Pixelboop keeps you in key automatically. Choose major or minor and every note you place sounds musical. Note colors follow the circle of fifths, so harmonious notes look alike and clashing ones stand out. Interval modes let you explore different note relationships: • Pentatonic, classic 5-note scales that always work • Thirds, fourths and fifths, stack notes in musical intervals GESTURES THAT FEEL NATURAL • Tap an empty cell to place a note, tap the note again to erase it • Double-tap a note for an accent • Drag right to draw long, sustained notes • Move up and down as you drag across to build arpeggios • Hold a chord to cycle through the diatonic options ON IPAD The grid has no labels by design. On iPad, tap ? and it names itself: every control, every lane, and the note each row plays. Change key or scale and the names follow. It fades while you play and returns when you stop. EXPORT YOUR MUSIC (PIXELBOOP PRO) Bounce a finished jam to audio, export per-track stems to mix elsewhere, or send MIDI straight to your DAW. One purchase, no subscription, yours forever. SAVE, REPLAY AND SHARE JAMS Every session is saved as you play. Browse and reload any jam, set one as your starting template, or send it to a friend. Open a shared jam link and it loads straight into the grid. TEMPO AND TIMING Adjust BPM from ambient textures to driving dance beats. A visual playhead shows exactly where you are in the loop. Variable grid lengths plus 8 banks of 8 sections cover everything from a 4-bar loop to an extended arrangement. Loop one bank while you build it, or run the whole song. AUv3 PLUGIN Load Pixelboop inside AUM, Logic Pro or any Audio Unit host as a MIDI plugin. The same scale-locked grid becomes the brain of your studio, following your host's transport and tempo. MIDI AND HARDWARE Connect hardware synths and drum machines over USB or Bluetooth MIDI, with per-track send channels. Pixelboop also plays from an Erae Touch controller, with the grid mapped across its surface. DESIGNED FOR ACCESSIBILITY Pixelboop was created by a deaf musician who believes music should be visual first. The interface relies on color, position and visual feedback rather than requiring you to hear every nuance. Whether you are deaf, hard of hearing, or simply prefer a visual approach, Pixelboop meets you where you are. PERFECT FOR • Beginners who want to make music without learning theory • Producers looking for a fresh creative tool • Anyone who thinks visually and wants music to match • Educators teaching music through visual patterns • Deaf and hard of hearing musicians seeking accessible tools Music creation reimagined for the visual mind. Paint your first beat in seconds.
Patchsynth
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Patchsynth is a Eurorack-style modular synthesizer for iPhone and iPad — and a place to actually learn how modular synthesis works, one patch cable at a time. Instead of a fixed synth engine with knobs, you build your own instrument by dragging cables between modules: oscillators into filters, envelopes into amplifiers, LFOs wobbling anything you point them at. If you've ever wanted to understand what a Eurorack rig actually does, this is the fastest way in. LEARN BY PATCHING, NOT BY READING 28 hands-on Lessons cover every module, from your first oscillator to full generative patches — some just explain, others build a real patch step-by-step in front of you as you tap "Next." No prior synthesis knowledge required. TRAIN YOUR EAR 15 Challenges hide a patch and play it for you — your job is to rebuild it by ear, with hints if you get stuck. A genuinely fun way to internalize how filters, envelopes, and modulation actually sound. 21 REAL MODULES Oscillator · Filter · VCA · ADSR Envelope · LFO · Noise · Delay · Reverb · Mixer · Sequencer · Arpeggiator · Clock · Attenuverter · Quantizer · Slew Limiter · Sample & Hold · Logic · Ring Modulator · Sampler · Keyboard · Output (with a live oscilloscope) Record your own sounds with the Sampler, or use the built-in factory drum kit. Quantize any CV to a musical scale. Chain multiple clocks for polyrhythms. It's a real modular rig, just without the cables costing $30 each. 70+ FACTORY PATCHES From simple bass and pad sounds to sprawling, 20+ module "flagship" patches — browse them, load them, take them apart to see how they're wired, then make them your own. PLAY IT WITH REAL GEAR Full MIDI support over Bluetooth or USB — plug in any MIDI keyboard or controller and play your patch's Keyboard module directly, no setup beyond pairing. BUILT FOR TOUCH, NOT PORTED FROM DESKTOP Every interaction — dragging cables, turning knobs, panning and zooming a big patch — is designed for a phone screen from the ground up. A dedicated Patch Bay view even gives you a spreadsheet-style matrix of every connection when patches get complex. Undo and redo everything. Save as many patches as you like. No ads, no in-app purchases, no internet connection required — just synthesis.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is iOS requirement: Pixelboop at 15.0 against Patchsynth's 17.0. 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
Pixelboop costs $7.99 and Patchsynth $7.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
| Parameter | Pixelboop | Patchsynth |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $7.99 | $7.99 |
| Rating | 5.0 (2 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 2 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly | — |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 — better | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 12 MB | 2 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | de Bastion, Inc | Martin Adler |
In-app purchases
Pixelboop
No in-app purchases
Patchsynth
No in-app purchases









