Comparison

PocketTone vs Beat

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

Head to head
About

PocketTone

This app recreates the experience of a hand-drawn, retro pocket synthesizer. It features a vintage LCD display, slide switches, and chunky buttons, allowing users to play various retro voices, program custom sounds, and jam along to built-in rhythms. Users can also record and share their musical creations.

Highlights
  • Five retro voices (Piano, Flute, Violin, Fantasy, Guitar)
  • Program custom synth voices
  • Ten built-in rhythms
  • Sound shaping controls (octave, volume, balance)
  • Tape-style Delay and lo-fi Crush effects
  • Record and share audio
  • Melody memory (Auto-Play, One-Key play)
Features
Read full description

PocketTone is a hand-drawn, retro pocket synthesizer you can play anywhere. Tap the keys and a tiny lo-fi synth comes to life — complete with a green LCD, slide switches and chunky buttons, all lovingly hand-drawn. WHAT YOU CAN DO • Play five retro voices — Piano, Flute, Violin, Fantasy and Guitar. • Program your own voice the way the original did it — an eight-digit code typed on the calculator keys: waveform, envelope, vibrato, tremolo. • Jam over ten built-in rhythms — March, Rock, Bossa, Samba and more. • Shape the sound with octave, volume and a melody/rhythm balance. • Add tape-style Delay and lo-fi Crush effects. • Record what you play and share the audio with anyone. • Use the melody memory — Auto-Play, One-Key play and a built-in demo tune. • Flip to calculator mode… then play the keypad as a melody. The classic pocket-toy party trick, faithfully recreated. POCKETTONE PRO A single one-time purchase unlocks everything: all voices, all rhythms, recording & sharing, the melody memory, and the effects. No subscription — yours forever. Made as a love letter to the pocket musical toys of the 80s.

About

Beat

Features
Read full description

Make a beat with Loops or with your mouth. Watch it paint. Beat-Splash turns your voice into art. Beatbox, hum, clap, or drop in loops from the built-in library — then watch every kick, snare and melody explode across the canvas as paint. No instruments. No music theory. If you can go "doof doof," you can make something amazing. THREE WAYS TO PAINT • Eruption — every beat detonates a fountain of paint that splashes, splatters and piles into a glorious mess • Pendulum — swinging paint funnels trace hypnotic spin-art loops, steered by your beat • Photo Reveal — pick a photo and your track splatters it into view, color by color. Sky-blue paint only sticks to sky. BUILD YOUR BEAT • 7 layers: drums, bass, beat, synth, melody, FX and vocals • Record with the mic or drop in loops — everything auto-syncs to your tempo • Big hits paint big. Quiet parts paint soft. The music is the brush. MAKE IT YOURS • Curated color palettes, or build and save your own • Record a video of your session — art and music together • Save still artworks and editable tracks to your gallery Free forever: create without limits and share your videos. One single purchase unlocks everything — every loop, saving to your gallery, and watermark-free exports. No subscriptions, ever. Your track is the artist. Press record and let it paint.

Screenshots

PocketTone4 screens
Beat4 screens

Verdict

The call

PocketTone and Beat are too close to call on the numbers: across 5 compared parameters — price, ads, in-app purchases and device support 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. PocketTone sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Beat sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ScorecardNo meaningful differences
PocketTone versus Beat: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPocketToneBeat
PriceFreeFree
Rating2.0 (1 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews0.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings1 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 2 months—
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.017.0
Further details — not scored
Size2 MB160 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperChih Han Linadam rogan

In-app purchases

1 purchases

PocketTone

One-time1
  • PocketTone Pro$3.99
1 purchases

Beat

One-time1
  • Full Unlock$1.99

Questions

Is PocketTone free?
PocketTone is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Beat free?
Beat is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do PocketTone or Beat have ads?
Neither PocketTone nor Beat shows ads.

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