Comparison

BandFrame vs Sound/Waves

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

Head to head
About

BandFrame

Create music on the go with a portable studio for songwriters. Easily write guitar tabs, record vocals and instruments, and arrange your ideas into a demo. Collaborate with bandmates by sharing projects and listening to each other's recordings.

Highlights
  • Tap-to-edit tab editor
  • Interactive fretboard with chord library
  • Multi-track recording and arrangement
  • Band collaboration via project links
  • Vocal and instrument recording
  • Metronome and backing track import
Features
Read full description

BandFrame is a pocket studio for songwriters. Write guitar tabs in seconds, record vocals and instruments over your ideas, and arrange everything into a demo — solo or with your band. WRITE • Tap-to-edit tab editor for guitar, bass, and ukulele • Interactive fretboard with chord detection and a full chord library • Full Score view of your entire song RECORD • Record vocals or any instrument straight into a song section • Organize takes with favorites and notes • Import backing tracks and play along • Built-in metronome ARRANGE • Multi-track Studio timeline — drag, trim, and layer your takes • Per-track volume, mute, and solo • Save your mix and play it from the project page LISTEN • Every mix you save becomes a demo in your own music library • Organize demos into playlists and albums • Slow down, speed up, or change the key of any demo • Trim demos and share them as MP3s • Import audio to turn any recording into a demo • Keep listening with your phone locked — lock screen and CarPlay controls included COLLABORATE • Invite your band into a project with a link • Everyone hears everyone's takes BANDFRAME PRO No ads, unlimited recordings, unlimited audio imports, cloud backup of your recordings, and PDF export of your tabs. $3.99/month with a 7-day free trial, or $29.99/year. Payment is charged to your Apple ID at confirmation of purchase. Subscriptions automatically renew unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Manage or cancel anytime in your App Store account settings. Terms of Use: https://bandframe.app/terms Privacy Policy: https://bandframe.app/privacy

About

Sound/Waves

This app generates real-time ambient music and visuals based on live ocean data from NOAA buoys. It offers two distinct musical models, Spectral and Chromatic, to interpret wave frequencies and surf report data into unique soundscapes. Users can also explore hourly buoy photos, creating an immersive sensory experience.

Highlights
  • Real-time ambient music synthesis
  • Live ocean data integration (NOAA buoys)
  • Spectral and Chromatic music models
  • Hourly buoy photo visuals
  • Customizable scan mode for visuals
  • Interactive soundscape creation
Read full description

Sound/Waves creates ambient music from live ocean data pulled from NOAA buoys around North America. The music is synthesized in real time within the app based on data that is updated every 10 minutes; nothing is pre-recorded. I built Sound/Waves as a composer and surfer. I want the music to create an immediate sonic image — clear enough to give a surfer some idea of current ocean conditions — while also engaging the listener with subtle, constantly changing variations in harmony, timbre, dynamics, and melody. There are two models, Spectral and Chromatic. SPECTRAL The Spectral model transposes ocean wave frequencies into the range of human hearing. These are extremely low: a 15-second wave is just 0.067 Hertz (Hz). Multiply by 1000 and you get 67 Hz, about two octaves below Middle C on a piano. Using this method for the 46 discrete wave bands reported by NOAA buoys every hour allows you to "hear" which waves have the most energy at that particular point in the ocean, at that particular time. CHROMATIC The Chromatic model maps the same data surf reports use — wave height, wave period, wind speed, tide, and others — to musical parameters such as harmony, rhythm, and timbre. wave height → polyphony wave period → amplitude wave quality → harmony swell direction → tuning wind → timbre tide → reverb A large groundswell with ideal wind conditions, for example, will create stacked, widely spaced, consonant chords with a smooth timbre, breathing in and out with the slow wave period. Choppy, short period wind waves will have a quicker rhythm and sound harmonically dissonant, with a distorted texture. VISUALS Sound/Waves also has a visual component. The tiled photos are taken automatically every hour by the buoys themselves, looking out in six directions. If a buoy snaps its photo while on the crest of a wave, the normally flat horizon tilts to a jagged angle. Scan mode crossfades the images between locations, creating an abstract, painterly drift that shifts with the time of day. Sunrise and sunset are bright pastel. Occasionally a boat or ship appears like a ghost, then fades away. Night images can show the moon and other strange colors amidst the black. A migrating bird may get caught in the frame. The scan rate — how fast the images crossfade — can be set from fast to slow, or turned off altogether. These buoy images convey a sense of isolation and non-intention that I want the music to amplify. — Sound/Waves requires an internet connection to fetch current observations. Ocean and weather data courtesy of NOAA's National Data Buoy Center and NOAA Tides & Currents. Sound/Waves is not affiliated with or endorsed by NOAA. Data is provided as is and is not for navigation.

Screenshots

BandFrame4 screens
Sound/Waves4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Sound/Waves at none against BandFrame's 2. Sound/Waves also leads on ads (none vs shown). BandFrame's advantage is iOS requirement (15.1 vs 18.6). On price, rating, review sentiment and ratings volume 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. BandFrame sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month. Sound/Waves asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for BandFrame against 5.0 for Sound/Waves. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 3 and 4 respectively. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 100% and 100% positive.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 16, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
BandFrame versus Sound/Waves: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBandFrameSound/Waves
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (3 ratings)5.0 (4 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings34 — better
Update frequencyEvery 4 daysEvery 4 days
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFreemiumFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.1 — better18.6
Further details — not scored
Size70 MB1 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperJasha PhillipsNathan Michel

Customer experience

BandFrame

All ratings3 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Sound/Waves

All ratings4 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

2 purchases

BandFrame

Subscriptions2
  • BandFrame Pro7 Days trial$3.991 Month
  • BandFrame Pro7 Days trial$29.991 Year
None

Sound/Waves

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is BandFrame free?
BandFrame is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Sound/Waves free?
Sound/Waves is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, BandFrame or Sound/Waves?
BandFrame and Sound/Waves are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 3 and 4 ratings respectively.
Do BandFrame or Sound/Waves have ads?
BandFrame shows ads; Sound/Waves does not.
Which is updated more often, BandFrame or Sound/Waves?
BandFrame ships an update every 4 days, and Sound/Waves every 4 days. Most recently, BandFrame was updated on October 24, 2026 and Sound/Waves on October 16, 2026.

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