Comparison

BorrowAR vs Magic Sound Box

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

Head to head
About

BorrowAR

Features
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Discover BorrowAR , the ultimate tool for digital magicians and content creators. Don't just give a card, give a memory. Leave your spectators with a physical object (playing card, flyer, photo) they can scan at home to relive the magic. Turn a simple piece of paper into an interactive video screen or a magical revelation. It's the perfect way to make a lasting impression long after you're gone.

About

Magic Sound Box

Features
Read full description

Magic Sound Box is a full soundboard and show control system, built specifically for performers and can be operated entirely by gesture, from your iPhone and from your Apple Watch. Load your own music, ambience and sound effects, organise it exactly how your show runs, and trigger every cue with a swish of your hand. No fumbling for cues, no assistant needed, no phone screen to fumble at mid routine. A soundboard and a live Sound FX system. This is the tool a working performer actually needs. Build up to three complete set lists, each holding ten cues in exactly the order your show runs. Mix your own music, ambience and sound effects freely within a set. Delay a cue by up to ten seconds and feel a countdown on your wrist, so it lands exactly on your line. Fade one track into the next rather than cutting hard. Set your own volume per cue. Open a set on your phone and your Apple Watch becomes that show and nothing else, ready to run from your wrist. Your own music and ambience Five music slots let you load your own tracks. Walk on music, ambience under a routine, a stinger for a big reveal, whatever your show needs. Name each one, trigger it with a gesture, and control play, pause and stop with precision. A full sound effects library included On top of everything you bring yourself, Magic Sound Box comes with a built in library of over 20 professional sound effects, ready from the moment you open the app. Magic stings like Zap, Vanish and Reveal. Performer staples like Drum Roll, Fanfare and Applause. A few just for fun. No extra download, no separate pack to buy, it's simply part of the soundboard. Add your own sound effects too Not every sound you need lives in a built in library. My Sounds lets you import any audio file of your own and add it as a sound effect, with a name and an emoji you choose, right alongside the built in ones. Add as many as you like, and remove them just as easily. They sync to your Apple Watch automatically, so a sound you've just added is ready to trigger from your wrist within moments. Sounds that know what comes next Some routines need one sound to lead straight into another. A coin drop followed by a rattle. A reveal followed by applause. Links chain two or three sounds together so the same gesture or tap always fires the next one in the sequence. Set each step to fire on a gesture, a tap, automatically, or after a countdown you feel through a haptic tap on your wrist, never a sound. Once the sequence finishes, it resets itself, ready to go again. Runs exactly how your show needs it to Use your iPhone alone, your Apple Watch alone, or both together. Route audio through your Watch for the intimacy of close up, or through your iPhone and a Bluetooth speaker for parlour and stage. Five sensitivity levels, set independently for cues and music, mean the app only fires on the gesture you actually intend. Hold the screen to disarm gestures completely whenever you need to move freely. No subscriptions. No ads. No account needed. Just a real soundboard, built for a real show.

Screenshots

BorrowAR4 screens
Magic Sound Box3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Magic Sound Box at $4.99 against BorrowAR's $34.99. On update cadence, ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.

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

CostPrice ยท In-app purchases ยท Ads ยท Monetization

BorrowAR costs $34.99 and Magic Sound Box $4.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

BorrowAR ships an update weekly, Magic Sound Box every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on October 12, 2026 and October 13, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard1 real difference ยท 5 level
BorrowAR versus Magic Sound Box: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBorrowARMagic Sound Box
Price$34.99$4.99 โ€” better
Update frequencyWeeklyEvery 4 days โ€” better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, Apple Watch โ€” better
Requires iOS18.1 โ€” better18.6
Further details โ€” not scored
Size6 MB41 MB
Age rating4++17
Developersebastien macakJAMES BUCHANAN COWAN

In-app purchases

None

BorrowAR

No in-app purchases

None

Magic Sound Box

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is BorrowAR free?
BorrowAR costs $34.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Magic Sound Box free?
Magic Sound Box costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.
Do BorrowAR or Magic Sound Box have ads?
Neither BorrowAR nor Magic Sound Box shows ads.
Which is updated more often, BorrowAR or Magic Sound Box?
BorrowAR ships an update weekly, and Magic Sound Box every 4 days. Most recently, BorrowAR was updated on October 12, 2026 and Magic Sound Box on October 13, 2026.

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