Notation vs Arc & Decay
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Notation
Create, edit, and share professional sheet music on your mobile device. This app offers intuitive touch notation, multi-staff playback, and web score sharing for composers, arrangers, and students. Export to various formats and collaborate easily.
- Touch notation keyboard
- Multi-staff playback
- Web score sharing
- MusicXML, MIDI, PDF export
- Cloud sync
- Lyrics and chord support
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Notation is professional sheet music notation for composers, arrangers, and music students. Capture a motif at the piano, tweak harmony on your commute, or share a link before rehearsal—all on iPhone or iPad with lyrics and chords. If you read a staff, you can go from a piano sketch to multi-staff scores for class and rehearsal. TOUCH NOTATION A notation keyboard replaces deep menus: tap notes and markings, or select on the staff to edit. Undo/redo for commutes, rehearsal gaps, or at the piano. On the free tier, inserting or editing measures shifts later bars automatically so the rest of the score stays aligned. WRITE AND HEAR IT Multi-staff playback; on long scores, playback follows your edit position. Composer Pro: per-staff Mute and Solo for full scores. WEB SCORE SHARING Generate a web score link—text or email to teachers, singers, or collaborators. Any browser shows standard notation and multi-part playback without installing the app. Print-friendly pages for handouts. PDF for archives and fixed layout; web links when your choir or band needs to hear the piece before rehearsal. Many mobile apps stop at PDF or screenshots; Notation shares playable web scores with the same playback and layout as on your device. EXPORT AND INTERCHANGE MusicXML, MIDI, PDF (screen preview + A4 print PDF). Import MusicXML without length limits—continue in MuseScore, Sibelius, etc. Free tier: starter export allowance. Composer Pro: unlimited export, clean PDF (see app for web-link limits). IPAD PRO WORKSPACE On iPad, library and score sit side by side for desktop-like sessions. iPhone: full notation and sharing when you are catching ideas on the go. YOU CAN ALSO: - Piano keyboard chord stacks; multi-verse lyrics with melismas and paste lyrics line by line; measure insert/copy/paste/delete - Ties, slurs, manual beams—free - Cloud sync (web links need sign-in + sync); Composer Pro: 8 staves, 2 voices per staff, transpose, meter changes NOTATION COVERAGE: * Notes/rests, dots, ties, slurs, beams (manual break/join) * Triplets; quintuplets–septuplets (Composer Pro) * Ornaments, articulations, dynamics, hairpins * Lyrics (verses), chords; title/composer/lyricist header * Clefs, time, tempo; major/minor keys; accidentals * Repeats, voltas, D.S./D.C.; pickups; measure-level edits * Templates: piano grand, treble/bass single staff, custom; long-score paging SUBSCRIPTION & LEGAL (COMPOSER PRO — OPTIONAL) Notation offers an optional paid membership called Composer Pro. You can subscribe in the app under Me → Upgrade. No subscription is required to create, edit, save, or play scores on the free tier. AUTO-RENEWABLE SUBSCRIPTION • Name: Composer Pro — Weekly Plan • Length: 1 week (renews every week) • Price: Shown on the in-app purchase screen before you confirm (localized price; may vary by country or region). If a free trial is available in your region, it is displayed on the subscription screen before purchase. Payment is charged to your Apple Account at confirmation of purchase. The subscription automatically renews unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Your account will be charged for renewal within 24 hours prior to the end of the current period at the price of the selected plan. You can manage or cancel subscriptions in Settings → Apple ID → Subscriptions after purchase. Any unused portion of a free trial, if offered, is forfeited when you purchase a subscription. WHAT COMPOSER PRO INCLUDES • Advanced composing: full transposition and any key; up to 8 staves and 2 voices per staff; meter changes and special/additive meters; undo/redo; advanced repeat playback • Delivery & export: unlimited exports (MusicXML, and web score links); • Playback: full instrument library; per-staff mute and solo • Other: ad-free experience; community publishing; priority support Privacy Policy: https://solfegehub.com/UserManagerPrivacy_en.html Terms of Use (EULA): https://solfegehub.com/UserManagerTerms_en.html
Arc & Decay
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Arc & Decay is a plasma arc distortion instrument for iOS, built on the physics of real xenon gas tube breakdown. Feed it any sound through the built-in microphone and it fires an electrical arc when your signal crosses the ionization threshold. The arc saturates and distorts with odd harmonics, crackles through marginal-zone sputter, and holds a long ionization tail that decays into electrical noise long after your sound stops. Six precision encoders control every dimension of the arc character: Voltage drives the current into the gap. Ignition sets the threshold. Instability introduces chaos and arc wander. Fizzle and Spark shape the crackle density and tail length. Mix blends dry signal with pure arc output. Reverb and delay extend the electrical space without losing the character. Record up to one minute of output and share directly from the app. Arc & Decay is not a guitar pedal. It is not a synthesizer. It is a plasma arc instrument that runs on whatever sound you give it. © 2026 Synthetic Pulse Industries.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Arc & Decay at none against Notation's 2. Arc & Decay also leads on ads (none vs shown) and update cadence (daily vs every 10 days). Notation's advantage is iOS requirement (15.6 vs 17.6). On price and device support 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
Both are free to download. Notation sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per 7 days. Arc & Decay asks for nothing beyond the download.
Notation ships an update every 10 days, Arc & Decay daily. Both last shipped on November 5, 2026.
| Parameter | Notation | Arc & Decay |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 1 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 10 days | Daily — better |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 15.6 — better | 17.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 41 MB | 11 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | 凯 张 | Tash Baycroft |
In-app purchases
Notation
- Weekly Subscription · NotationAI3 Days trial$3.997 Days
- Lifetime Access · NotationAI$19.99
Arc & Decay
No in-app purchases









