Comparison

ARPJAM vs What About Phase?

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

Head to head
About

ARPJAM

This app generates evolving ambient music using two independent arpeggio engines. It features a generative drum machine, sound design tools, and external instrument synchronization. Save and recall your favorite musical setups.

Highlights
  • Dual arpeggio engines
  • Generative drum machine
  • Sound design controls
  • External instrument sync (Ableton Link, MIDI Clock)
  • Save and recall presets
  • Built-in timer
Features
Read full description

ARPJAM is an arpeggio synthesizer that generates ever-evolving ambient music. Layer two independent arpeggio engines, each with its own waveform, scale, and pattern, and let the app weave an endless soundscape that shifts and breathes on its own. ■ Two Arpeggio Engines ARP A and ARP B run simultaneously, each with its own mode, scale, range, waveform, filter, and envelope. Five pattern modes: Random & Chord, Repeat, Random Single, Skank, and Drone. ■ Generative Drums A probability-based drum machine. Tune the firing density, double-hit chance, and open/closed hi-hat ratio for kick, snare, and hihat to create rhythms that evolve naturally alongside the arpeggio. ■ Sound Design Four waveforms — sine, triangle, sawtooth, square. Adjust the low-pass filter, attack, and overdrive per engine. Add depth with ping-pong delay and reverb. ■ Sync with External Instruments [NEW in v1.4] Ableton Link support — wirelessly sync tempo and bar phase with Ableton Move, Live, Koala, and other Link-enabled instruments on the same Wi-Fi network. USB-C MIDI Clock reception is also supported. Sample-accurate timing alignment, with a fine-tune Offset slider for each setup. ■ Redesigned Settings Panel [v1.4] Settings are now organized into five colored sections — Oscillator, Filter, Envelope, Algorithm, and Effects. Each section collapses individually or in bulk, and the state persists between launches. Jump directly to any section via the side rail (iPad) or sticky bar (iPhone). Clear square ON/OFF switches and vivid theme colors — orange for ARP A, lime for ARP B, cyan for Drums — make the whole panel far easier to navigate. ■ Save & Recall Four start presets (Default + SAVE 1/2/3) let you recall your favorite setups with a single tap from the start screen. Presets can be exported and imported as .arpjam files to share with other ARPJAM users. ■ Built-in Timer Choose countdown or infinite mode. The timer fades out with a gentle resolving chord — perfect as a sleep timer or as a companion to meditation. • 8 scales including pentatonic modes • 12 keys (Just Intonation / Equal Temperament switchable) • Groove control for swing feel • BPM 30–200 • English / Japanese language support • Ableton Link / MIDI Clock sync

About

What About Phase?

Record short audio clips and transform them into evolving, hypnotic soundscapes. This pocket instrument uses phasing and other processes to create unique, unfolding audio patterns from simple sounds.

Highlights
  • Audio recording and looping
  • Ten distinct audio processes
  • Radial display of sound patterns
  • On-device pitch detection
  • Save, share, and revert recordings
  • Live control over audio parameters
Features
Read full description

Record a few seconds of anything — your voice, a clap, a passing train — and let the app pull it apart in time. What about phase? is a pocket instrument for process music: it loops your recording in two channels and lets them drift out of sync, so simple sounds grow into shifting, hypnotic patterns. Inspired by the tape-phasing experiments of 1960s minimalism, it makes the process itself audible — you set it in motion, then listen as it unfolds. TEN PROCESSES • Phasing — two copies of your loop, one drifting a few cents faster; hear them separate into echo, then canon • Gradual process — a ramp that grows louder and sweeps across the stereo field • Tape loop multiplication — your loop fanned into a detuned chorus • Rhythmic construction — a rhythm assembled hit by hit • Pattern substitution — beats replaced one at a time: silence, octaves, fifths • Resultant patterns — two interlocking rhythms revealing a third • Clapping Music — a pattern rotating against its fixed copy • Pulse / drone — a pulse grid over a deep foundation • Canon — staggered voices entering one after another • Speech melody — a syllable pulsed in speech rhythm and dynamics THE WHEEL A radial display shows what the process is doing: your loop's waveform — or the process's own pattern — wrapped around a circle, left channel in coral, right in cyan, a comet sweeping the playhead. In Phasing you can watch the two rings physically drift apart. Volume and pitch views included, with on-device pitch detection. MADE FOR EXPLORING • Ten built-in demo takes, one per process, playable from the very first launch • Every take saves with its process and settings; rename, share as WAV, revert • Takes named after where you record them (optional, location used only while in the app) • Live controls: drift in cents, process amount, tempo, sample offset • No account, no ads, no analytics — recordings never leave your device unless you share them Record something small. Let it become something long.

Screenshots

ARPJAM4 screens
What About Phase?4 screens

Verdict

The call

ARPJAM and What About Phase? are too close to call on the numbers: across 9 compared parameters — price, rating, ratings volume and update cadence among them — neither pulls far enough ahead to decide it. What separates them is feature set and interface, not measurable difference.

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

Both are free to download. ARPJAM sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and What About Phase? sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for ARPJAM against 5.0 for What About Phase?. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1 and 2 respectively.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly daily. The most recent releases landed on September 23, 2026 and September 18, 2026 respectively.

ScorecardNo meaningful differences
ARPJAM versus What About Phase?: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterARPJAMWhat About Phase?
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (1 ratings)5.0 (2 ratings)
Positive reviews33.3% of reviews—
Number of ratings12 — better
Update frequencyDailyDaily
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.015.0
Further details — not scored
Size7 MB19 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperTakashi TsunodaVladimir Gusev

Customer experience

ARPJAM

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews3 reviews
Positive33.3%
Neutral0.0%
Negative66.7%

What About Phase?

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

1 purchases

ARPJAM

One-time1
  • Remove Ads$0.99
1 purchases

What About Phase?

One-time1
  • Full Version$0.99

Questions

Is ARPJAM free?
ARPJAM is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is What About Phase? free?
What About Phase? is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, ARPJAM or What About Phase??
ARPJAM and What About Phase? are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 1 and 2 ratings respectively.
Do ARPJAM or What About Phase? have ads?
Neither ARPJAM nor What About Phase? shows ads.
Which is updated more often, ARPJAM or What About Phase??
ARPJAM ships an update daily, and What About Phase? daily. Most recently, ARPJAM was updated on September 23, 2026 and What About Phase? on September 18, 2026.

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