Break Beats vs PO
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Break Beats
This app is a portable loop player designed for DJs and turntablists. It offers 32 loop slots across eight banks, precise boundary-locked switching, and pitch control for practice and performance. Import your own breaks and record your sessions.
- 32 loop slots across 8 banks
- Boundary-locked loop switching
- Adjustable pitch control (±15% / ±50%)
- Resonant low-pass and high-pass filters
- Reverse playback
- Built-in session recorder
- Import custom WAV files
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Break Beats is a boundary-locked loop player built for portablists and turntablists. Connect your iPhone to a portable deck and you have a practice rig anywhere. Plug into a Numark PT01 Scratch, Reloop Spin or any portable turntable or mixer with an Aux input / Bluetooth and start working your scratch routines over your favourite breaks. THIRTY-TWO LOOP SLOTS Eight banks of four pads give you thirty-two assignable loop slots. Each bank is independent - load different breaks, different styles, different tempos. Swipe between banks and switch instantly without interrupting playback. Clear any pad back to empty whenever you want. BOUNDARY-LOCKED SWITCHING Tap a new pad while a loop is playing and the switch happens at the exact end of the current loop - never mid-bar. The incoming pad blinks while it waits. Keep scratching, the app handles the switch. PITCH CONTROL The pitch fader adjusts playback speed and pitch together, just like a turntable. The standard range is ±15%, and long-pressing PITCH unlocks ULTRA mode for ±50%. The BPM counter updates in real time so you can match any record on your deck. Tap to reset to centre. Long-press the BPM to enable Global BPM to lock every loop to one tempo automatically. RESONANT FILTERS Independent low-pass and high-pass filters let you sweep frequencies out and back in for dramatic transitions between combos. Long-press to switch between LPF and HPF; tap to reset. REVERSE & RECORD Flip any loop into boundary-locked reverse playback and capture your sessions with the built-in recorder straight to a WAV in your Files app. IMPORT YOUR OWN BREAKS Import any WAV file from your iPhone, iCloud Drive or Dropbox. Prepare your loops in your favourite DAW, note the BPM and append it to the file name when you export - preferably at 48000Hz 24-bit for the cleanest audio. The app reads the BPM from the filename automatically.
PO
Design and edit drum sounds, kits, and patterns for Teenage Engineering's PO-32 Tonic. Transfer your creations to the device via audio. Back up and edit existing sounds, and import/export patches from Microtonic.
- Shape 16 sounds with 21 synth parameters
- Program 16-step patterns with accents
- Send kits, sounds, or patterns via audio
- Back up and decode PO-32 data dumps
- Import/export Microtonic patches
- Local library with tags and favorites
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PO-PatchStudio designs drum sounds, kits and patterns for Teenage Engineering's PO-32 Tonic, then sends them to your Pocket Operator over sound. Free, with no ads and no account. The PO-32 has no USB data connection. It loads new sounds the way an old modem does, by listening through its microphone. So this app does the fiddly part on a proper screen: build a kit, hold your phone next to the PO-32 and press play. WHAT YOU CAN DO - Shape all 16 sounds with the full set of 21 synth parameters, plus both ends of the morph - Program 16-step patterns on the pads, with accents, and hear them before you send - Send a whole kit, a single sound or a pattern to the PO-32 over audio - Back up your PO-32: record its data dump through the microphone and the app decodes it into a kit you can edit - Import Microtonic .mtdrum and .mtpreset patches, including files from older versions of Microtonic, and export your sounds back out - Keep kits, sounds and patterns in a local library with tags and favourites WORKS WITH - PO-32 Tonic - Also sends drum sounds to the PO-35 Speak's built-in Tonic channel HOW TRANSFER WORKS Put the PO-32 in receive mode (press acc + sound), turn your phone's volume up and play the transfer into the PO-32's mic. To back up, start recording in the app, then hold write and press sound on the PO-32. Previews come from an open-source recreation of the PO-32's synth, so they sound close to the hardware but not identical. Once a sound is on the PO-32, it plays through the device's own engine. A NOTE FROM ME I'm a solo developer and a PO-32 owner. PO-PatchStudio stands on the open-source libpo32 library by Eric Lewis and years of reverse-engineering by the Pocket Operator community, which is why it's free. If something is missing or broken, tell me. Not affiliated with or endorsed by Teenage Engineering AB or NuEdge Development AB. Pocket Operator, PO-32 and Tonic are trademarks of Teenage Engineering AB. Microtonic is a trademark of NuEdge Development AB.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: PO at 100% against Break Beats's 0%. PO also leads on price (Free vs $2.99) and update cadence (every 2 days vs every 2 weeks). Break Beats's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 3). On ads 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
PO is free to download; Break Beats costs $2.99 up front. PO sells 3 one-off in-app purchases. Break Beats asks for nothing beyond the download.
Break Beats ships an update every 2 weeks, PO every 2 days. Both last shipped on October 31, 2026.
| Parameter | Break Beats | PO |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $2.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | — | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 0.0% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | — | 1 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 2 weeks | Every 2 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Paid | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 17.6 | 15.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 17 MB | 14 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | CHRISTOPHER PHILIP SMITH | Photon Consulting Limited |
Customer experience
Break Beats
PO
In-app purchases
Break Beats
No in-app purchases
PO
- Tip: Thanks$5.00
- Tip: Big Thanks$10.00
- Tip: Huge Thanks$20.00









