HEXBEAT vs Saws All
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side β with what reviewers say about each.
HEXBEAT
Read full descriptionHide full description
Make music like a pro β right from your iPhone or iPad. HEXBEAT is a fully-featured iOS synthesizer and beat machine for musicians, producers, and beatmakers who want studio-quality sound in their pocket. No samples, no imports β every sound is generated in real time using advanced audio synthesis. STEP SEQUENCER Build rhythmic patterns with a 16-step grid sequencer and 8 programmable drum tracks including kick, snare, hi-hat, clap, 808 bass, tom, and cymbal. Fine-tune your groove with BPM control from 60β200 and swing up to 100%. Save up to 64 patterns across 8 banks and 8 slots each. SYNTH PAD Play melodies with a responsive XY touch pad. Choose from 8 musical scales including Major, Minor, Dorian, Pentatonic, and more. Slide your finger to control filter brightness and pitch simultaneously β up to 5 simultaneous notes for expressive, real-time performance. POWERFUL SOUND SYNTHESIS Shape your sound with 6 oscillator types (Sine, Square, Sawtooth, Triangle, Noise, Super Saw), full ADSR envelopes for amplitude and filter, a resonant low-pass biquad filter, and a 4-waveform LFO with destinations including pitch, cutoff, volume, pan, and PWM. 8-CHANNEL MIXER Mix your tracks withper-channel volume faders, pan control, mute/solo buttons, reverb and delay sends, and real-time peak meters. A master channel with limiter keeps your mix clean and loud. BUILT-IN FX RACK Add depth and character with Reverb (5 room presets from Small Room to Cathedral), Delay with tempo sync, multi-preset Distortion, and a 10-band parametric EQ. BUILT FOR LOW LATENCY HEXBEAT runs at 44.1kHz with 32-bit internal processing and configurable buffer sizes down to 128 samples β delivering under 10ms latency for live performance feel. Whether you're sketching beats on the subway, performing live on stage, or producing tracks at home, HEXBEAT gives you the tools to create. Compatible with iPhone and iPad.
Saws All
Read full descriptionHide full description
It started as an amusing idea: an 8-channel drone engine that only uses sawtooth waves called the Saws All. With trigger lengths, timing controls, and extended LFOs, the drone engine quickly became a canvas for ambient soundscapes, arps, and chords. That inspired a new challenge: create an 8-channel drum synth that uses sawtooths instead of sine waves, powered by beat probability for manageable randomness instead of a standard step sequencer. Finally, a fuzzy mono-synth was born and split into two facesβbass and leadβto fill in the gaps. The project officially evolved into something beyond expectation. Saws All is a beautiful-sounding sawtooth groovebox with a quirky workflow and a massive amount of character. Spend hours playing with drones and exploring melodic polyrhythms and percussive chaos. -The Engine & Features- β’ Sawtooth Drone Engine: 8 independent channels that can drone endlessly or trigger for set lengths and rests. Set different waiting periods across channels to generate lush, complex polyrhythms. Shape your sound with bitcrushing, delay, and 6 LFOs per channel (pitch, panning, filter, plus 2 customizable slots) to craft gliding drones, arps, chords, and wild effect rhythms. β’ Probability Drum Synth: 8 channels of physical drum modeling driven by beat probability for the perfect blend of groove and evolving randomness, replacing the rigid loops of a standard step sequencer. β’ Dual Fuzz Synths: Dedicated Bass and Lead mono-synths with virtual keybeds and dynamic pitch ribbons to fill out your low-end and melodies. β’ Performance Mode: Customize macro pads on the fly to trigger live FX, tape stops, stutters, and more using the universal recorder. β’ Song Mode: Save scenes, arrange full songs, and bounce your tracks directly to high-quality audio files. β’ Share Your Sounds: Export and share individual scenes, drum models, or entire projects with friends using lightweight JSON files. β’ Pro Mode: Turn off the guardrails. Take parameters deeper and bypass factory limits with manual value inputs. -Interactive Audio-Worlds- Kick back, close your eyes, and listen to your creationβor dive into our unique, interactive visualizers designed specifically for this app. Play games, watch dance-offs and slug-hunting ant colonies, or launch fireworks. Every world reacts and syncs perfectly to your music's tempo, frequencies, and individual channels. No ads. No subscriptions. All local. All private. Get lost in saws.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: HEXBEAT at Free against Saws All's $9.99. Saws All's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1) and device support.
Scored on Price Β· Rating Β· Positive reviews Β· Number of ratings Β· Update frequency Β· Ads Β· In-app purchases Β· Monetization Β· Best chart rank Β· Devices Β· Requires iOS
HEXBEAT is free to download; Saws All costs $9.99 up front. HEXBEAT sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Saws All asks for nothing beyond the download.
| Parameter | HEXBEAT | Saws All |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free β better | $9.99 |
| Ads | β | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No β better |
| Devices | β | iPhone, iPad, iPod β better |
| Requires iOS | 18.6 | 13.0 β better |
| Further details β not scored | ||
| Size | 19 MB | 40 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Gregory Hogan | ANCIENT APPARATUS LLC |
In-app purchases
HEXBEAT
- HEXBEATOTP$7.99
Saws All
No in-app purchases








