Comparison

Cymatics Lab vs Tone Chroma

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

Head to head
About

Cymatics Lab

Visualize sound as intricate, shifting geometric patterns created by sand particles. Explore different modes, use your microphone or music library as a sound source, and customize the visual effects. Share your creations with a community or use it for live performances.

Highlights
  • Real-time sand particle simulation driven by sound
  • Multiple visualization modes (Square, Circle, Cavity, Lissajous, Quasicrystal)
  • Sound input via microphone, music library, or frequency engine
  • Extensive customization of physics, visuals, and art effects
  • Beat-reactive effects synced to music
  • Community feed for sharing and remixing creations
  • Record videos and take photos for sharing
Features
Read full description

Watch thousands of sand particles arrange themselves into geometric patterns in real time, driven entirely by the physics of sound. Cymatics Lab simulates a vibrating plate with accurate physics. Drop particles, play music or speak into your mic, and watch the sand migrate to the stillest points on the surface, forming intricate, shifting geometric shapes. The same science that fascinated Chladni in the 1700s, now running on your phone. 5 WAYS TO SEE SOUND Square — The classic Chladni plate. Rectangular nodal patterns shift and evolve with your sound. Circle — Circular plate with Bessel function eigenmodes. Concentric rings bloom outward like a cymbal frozen in slow motion. Cavity — A 3D resonant chamber. Sand moves through depth, not just across a flat surface. Lissajous — Orbital particle paths inspired by Lissajous figures. Hypnotic, looping geometry. Quasicrystal — Patterns that repeat forever but never tile. Five-fold and higher symmetries in motion. ANYTHING CAN BE A SOUND SOURCE Mic Input — Speak, sing, clap, play an instrument. The sand responds instantly. Apple Music & Spotify — Connect your streaming library and visualize your favorite tracks. Music Library — Play songs stored on your device. Frequency Engine — Dial in exact Hz values and watch the sand snap into resonance. Stack harmonics. Sweep through ranges. MAKE IT YOURS Main Panel — Control sand count, particle size, force sensitivity, and bloom. Physics Panel — Adjust vibration modes, resonance sharpness, frequency multiplier, sand collisions, and experimental effects. View Panel — Orbit the camera freely. Choose skybox environments, room lighting, and plate appearance. Art Panel — Layer on symmetry reflections, energy glow, particle trails, bloom, and color palettes. Studio Panel — Save and load presets. Enable beat-reactive effects that sync to the music: bloom pulses, gravity shifts, burst explosions, sweep waves, color cycling, depth warping, shimmer, ripple, and dissolve. CREATE AND SHARE Publish to the Waves community feed. Browse what others have made and remix their settings as a starting point. Take photos and record videos directly in the app. Use Presentation Mode to cast to a TV or projector for live performances and installations. FREE VS PRO Free includes Square mode, mic input, and basic controls — enough to experience real cymatics. Cymatics Lab Pro unlocks everything for a one-time purchase of $9.99. No subscription. No ads. Yours forever. — All 5 visualization modes — Apple Music, Spotify, and Music Library input — Frequency Engine tone generator — Full Physics, View, Art, and Studio panels — Beat-reactive effects — Community publishing to Waves — All current features Try Pro free for 24 hours before you decide. WHO IS THIS FOR? — Everyone. Browse the Waves community and get lost in patterns others have created, Just scroll and enjoy with your own sounds or music. — Musicians and visual artists who've always felt their sound was something to be seen. Connect your music and watch it take shape. — The curious who want to watch physics happen in real time. Change one setting and see how sound behaves differently. — Educators teaching acoustics, resonance, and wave phenomena. A living, interactive demonstration. — DJs and performers who want a live visual companion on stage or on screen. Cymatics Lab is built by a single developer who cares about the science as much as the art. No ads. No subscriptions. Just sound made visible. See what your music has always looked like.

About

Tone Chroma

Features
Read full description

Tone Chroma is an interactive microtonal matrix for iOS, crafted for 21st century musicians. Both musical instrument and visualizer, Tone Chroma's interface breaks through the black-and-white mould of equal temperament and expands harmonic potential into a new universe of color. Features: - Play in real time on the color-coded microtonal tuning matrix with pure harmonic ratios - Seven visualizers — Lissajous curves, concurrent and countercurrent harmonograph, harmonic series, chromatic ring, tonal lattice, cymatics — each rendering sound as living color and form - Explore microtonal scales, ragas, and modal systems beyond 12-tone equal temperament with presets - MIDI input/output for use with external controllers and DAWs - Real-time microtonal note, frequency and interval information - Customizable tuning and chord banks Enter new harmonic horizons with Tone Chroma by exploring pure frequency relationships and synesthetic displays which allow you to hear and see universal vibrational patterns.

Screenshots

Cymatics Lab4 screens
Tone Chroma3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Cymatics Lab at Free against Tone Chroma's $14.99. Tone Chroma's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1) and device support (3 vs 1). On ads 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

Cymatics Lab is free to download; Tone Chroma costs $14.99 up front. Cymatics Lab sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Tone Chroma asks for nothing beyond the download.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Cymatics Lab versus Tone Chroma: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCymatics LabTone Chroma
PriceFree — better$14.99
Rating3.7 (3 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings3 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 5 days—
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFreemium—
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS17.014.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size152 MB4 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperKiefer Studio LLCWilliam Franke

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Cymatics Lab

One-time1
  • Cymatics Lab Pro$9.99
None

Tone Chroma

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Cymatics Lab free?
Cymatics Lab is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Tone Chroma free?
Tone Chroma costs $14.99, with no in-app purchases.
Do Cymatics Lab or Tone Chroma have ads?
Neither Cymatics Lab nor Tone Chroma shows ads.

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