Comparison

MOUND vs Hoverophone

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

Head to head
About

MOUND

Create unique music by layering sounds and applying effects with intuitive touch controls. Explore chord progressions, sonic combinations, and evolving soundscapes.

Highlights
  • Collage soundscape sequencer
  • Four mix channels
  • 100+ soundfont instruments
  • Paint to drive effects
  • Euclidean sequencing
  • Choose key, scale, BPM, and sequence length
Features
Read full description

A collage soundscape sequencer. MOUND is a unique touch instrument (standalone and AUv3 instrument and MIDI included) that uses collage and paint to generate music. You get four layers of stamps to populate chord progressions automatically using euclidean sequencing, and up to 6 paintbrush effects to use your gestures for uninhibited sonic combinations. FEATURES - Four mix channels — chord channel, and three other voices to layer. - 100+ soundfont instruments - Paint to drive effects — use X/Y and hold to control effects - Evolve — mutate your canvas and hear new possibilities - Choose key and scale - Choose BPM and sequence length - FREE Cassette Effect and Granular Delay Free to play. Unlock the full SoundFont library, advanced EVOLVE theory settings, and the rest of the spray effects. Built by fourtrack.fm.

About

Hoverophone

This app reimagines the theremin for your iPhone, allowing you to play music by waving your hands in the air without touching the screen. It offers a polyphonic synthesizer with various sound options and microtonal capabilities for unique musical exploration.

Highlights
  • Air-based theremin playing with front camera hand tracking
  • Polyphonic synthesizer with multiple voice options
  • Microtonal keyboard with 12-TET or 24-TET quarter tones
  • Stack up to twelve notes by pinning voices
  • Continuous pitch glide and volume control
  • Fully offline functionality
Features
Read full description

The theremin, reinvented on your iPhone. Play it in the air with your hands, no touch. Hoverophone is a theremin you actually play by waving your hands in the air. Point the front camera at your hand and move; there is no touch, no controller, no tapping glass. Raise and lower your hand to glide the pitch, spread your thumb and finger apart to swell the volume, slide left to right to pan. It is the eerie, sci-fi theremin sound, played with a wave of the hand. Wondering how to play the theremin, or whether the theremin is hard to play? This is the easiest way to start: raise a hand and you are already playing. A REAL SYNTH, AND POLYPHONIC Continuous synth voices, sine, triangle, saw and square, with drive and ring modulation in stereo, from a soft ambient pad to a metallic, otherworldly drone. It tracks up to four hands at once, so a theremin can finally play chords, and you can pin voices in place to hold up to twelve notes ringing together. Tune the sound with one hand while you play with the other. MICROTONAL, PLAYED IN THE AIR Turn on the note grid and your in-air pitch snaps to a scale: 12-TET, or 24-TET quarter tones for real microtonal play. It is an isomorphic, honeycomb hex keyboard you play in the air, not by tapping glass, so every note lands in tune while your hands stay above the camera. Explore microtonal music, quarter tones and xenharmonic scales the moment you raise a hand, or leave the grid off and glide freely for the pure continuous theremin. WHAT YOU CAN DO - Play a real theremin in the air, front-camera hand tracking, no touch - The classic continuous theremin glide, the sci-fi movie sound - An in-air microtonal keyboard: 12-TET or 24-TET quarter tones on an isomorphic hex grid, or fully continuous - Polyphonic: up to four hands live, and pin voices to stack up to twelve - Synth voices with drive and ring modulation, stereo panning as you move - Plays through the speaker or headphones, even on silent - Fully offline: no account, no network, no data collected, the camera is processed on device and never leaves it No presets, no wall of knobs, just your hand and the air. Fill a room with an ambient drone, improvise a generative soundscape, or conjure the spooky whine of a sci-fi movie. Works best in a bright room where the camera can see your hands.

Screenshots

MOUND3 screens
Hoverophone4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: MOUND at 4.8 against Hoverophone's 4.3. MOUND also leads on review sentiment (67% vs 50%). Hoverophone's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1). On price, ratings volume, update cadence and 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

Both are free to download. MOUND sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Hoverophone asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

MOUND holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.3. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 8 and 3 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 67% of MOUND's written reviews are positive against 50% of Hoverophone's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

MOUND ships an update every 5 days, Hoverophone weekly. The most recent releases landed on September 15, 2026 and September 8, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
MOUND versus Hoverophone: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMOUNDHoverophone
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (8 ratings) — better4.3 (3 ratings)
Positive reviews66.7% of reviews — better50.0% of reviews
Number of ratings8 — better3
Update frequencyEvery 5 days — betterWeekly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.0 — better17.6
Further details — not scored
Size176 MB4 MB
Age rating4+4+
Developerfourtrack.fm LLCMaxim Oransky

Customer experience

MOUND

All ratings8 ratings
Positive87.5%
Neutral12.5%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews3 reviews
Positive66.7%
Neutral33.3%
Negative0.0%

Hoverophone

All ratings3 ratings
Positive66.7%
Neutral33.3%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive50.0%
Neutral50.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

1 purchases

MOUND

One-time1
  • MOUND Lifetime Unlock$4.99
None

Hoverophone

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is MOUND free?
MOUND is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Hoverophone free?
Hoverophone is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, MOUND or Hoverophone?
MOUND is rated higher. MOUND averages 4.8 out of 5 from 8 ratings, while Hoverophone averages 4.3 from 3 ratings.
Do MOUND or Hoverophone have ads?
Neither MOUND nor Hoverophone shows ads.
Which is updated more often, MOUND or Hoverophone?
MOUND ships an update every 5 days, and Hoverophone weekly. Most recently, MOUND was updated on September 15, 2026 and Hoverophone on September 8, 2026.

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