HEXBEAT vs PatchLens
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side β with what reviewers say about each.
HEXBEAT
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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.
PatchLens
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Save synth and pedal settings from a photo, then add editable hotspots and recall notes. The demo and 3 patch records stay free; Pro Lifetime is a one-time unlock. PatchLens helps musicians capture hardware synth, pedal, and semi-modular settings as private local patch records. Take or import a photo, mark the knobs and jacks that matter, add values and notes, then search your local patch library later. Optional on-device text recognition can suggest visible panel labels, but you stay in control of every saved value. PatchLens does not require an account, does not upload your photos, and does not promise automatic universal knob or cable detection. Pro Lifetime is a one-time in-app purchase that unlocks the full local patch library, on-device OCR label assist, and recall-sheet sharing. The bundled demo and 3 patch records stay free. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://bonega.ai/patchlens/privacy
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is device support: PatchLens at 2 against HEXBEAT's β. On price, in-app purchases and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.
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
Both are free to download. HEXBEAT sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and PatchLens sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
| Parameter | HEXBEAT | PatchLens |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Update frequency | β | Weekly |
| Ads | β | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Devices | β | iPhone, iPad β better |
| Requires iOS | 18.6 | 17.0 β better |
| Further details β not scored | ||
| Size | 19 MB | 7 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Gregory Hogan | Clashware Sarl |
In-app purchases
HEXBEAT
- HEXBEATOTP$7.99
PatchLens
- Pro Lifetime$4.99





