Patterning vs Sightlines
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Patterning
This music creation app offers a circular drum machine with a powerful sequencer. It's free to download and includes a vast library of drum kits and effects. Unlock advanced production and sync tools through an in-app purchase or a monthly subscription.
- Circular drum machine interface
- Powerful sequencer engine
- Extensive drum kit library
- Built-in effects and mixing
- Song mode for arrangement
- Audio and MIDI export options
- Ableton Link and MIDI sync
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Patterning is a circular drum machine that is both intuitive and deep. Built on the powerful sequencer engine of "Patterning 3: Drum Machine," this new iPhone version bottles the energy and excitement of our flagship instrument for the small screen. Free to download and make music with. The full sequencer, drum kits and sampler, effects and mixing, project saving, and access to nearly 800 drum kits are all included. "Patterning Studio" is an in-app purchase that unlocks production and sync tools for life : - AUv3 : Run Patterning as an instrument plugin. - Song Mode : chain patterns into full songs - Unlimited access to over 800 free drumkits. - Audio export as stereo or multitrack stems (WAV or AIFF) - Ableton Live Set export, with a free Ableton Live 12 Lite license - MIDI file export - MIDI output to hardware and your DAW - Ableton Link - Link Audio : send stereo or multitrack audio wirelessly to Ableton Live. - MIDI clock send/receive Patterning Studio is offered at a discounted price for existing owners of "Patterning for iPhone." Alternately, you can subscribe to Patterning+ and unlock all current and any future features on a monthly basis.
Sightlines
Shape sounds with a playable harmonic filter. Add motion, stereo spread, and unique textures to noise, samples, or synths. Tune it like a resonator or control it with MIDI for endless sonic possibilities.
- Harmonic filter bank
- MIDI control
- Sample loading
- Noise and synth sound sources
- Modulation capabilities
- Built-in chorus, delay, and reverb
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Make noise, texture, and percussion sing. Add motion and stereo spread to basic sounds. Load samples and sculpt them endlessly. Leave your mark on any sound with harmonic filtering. Sightlines is a playable harmonic filter. Built from a collection of resonant bandpass filters tuned to the harmonic series, designed to bring out a customizable set of musical frequencies in any sound. Tune it to a fixed frequency like a resonator, or send it MIDI to make it come alive as an instrument. Sightlines can be loaded as an instrument or an audio effect. As an instrument, use it with samples, noise, or oscillators to construct sounds never heard before. As an effect, add movement and interest to any sound, and even impart tonality onto unpitched input. SOUND SOURCES • Noise – filter variable color noise and random noise bursts for Sightlines’ simplest and quickest output. • Samples – send samples through resonant filters as one-shots or infinite looping versions of themselves, great for found sound and tonal samples alike. • Synth – skip the filters entirely and use Sightlines as a harmonic synth, where you can customize and modulate the proportion of each harmonic in the signal. • Audio effect – use Sightlines as an audio effect on any track. MOVEMENT AND EFFECTS • Manipulate overtones – stretch, bend, and reimagine the harmonic series to retune Sightlines’ output into realistic or indescribable sonic spaces. • Quantize frequencies – snap all of Sightlines’ filters to a scale, to impart that key quality onto any sound. • Balance bands – maneuver through the harmonic space by scanning, tilting, or spreading Sightlines’ bands. • End of chain – make your output shine with a built-in chorus, BBD-style delay, and reverb. FEATURES • Modulation – modify any control in Sightlines with multiple LFOs, sequencers, smooth random sources, and performance effects. • Presets – full preset control over every parameter in Sightlines. Cross-platform preset format for sharing with friends. • Waymaker – connect to Sightlines’ sibling application, Waymaker, for direct sequencing of Sightlines’ without MIDI routing. Also available for macOS and Windows in VST3 / AU / AAX formats from Aqeel Aadam Sound.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Patterning at Free against Sightlines's $7.99. Patterning also leads on update cadence (every 3 days vs weekly). Sightlines's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 3) and review sentiment (100% vs 67%). On rating, ratings volume 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
Patterning is free to download; Sightlines costs $7.99 up front. Patterning sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Sightlines asks for nothing beyond the download.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Patterning against 5.0 for Sightlines. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 10 and 6 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 67% of Patterning's written reviews are positive against 100% of Sightlines's.
Patterning ships an update every 3 days, Sightlines weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 13, 2026 and October 17, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Patterning | Sightlines |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — better | $7.99 |
| Rating | 5.0 (10 ratings) | 5.0 (6 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 66.7% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 10 — better | 6 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 days — better | Weekly |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases — better | Paid |
| Best chart rank | — | #178 — better |
| Devices | iPhone | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 17.6 | 13.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 94 MB | 19 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Olympia Noise Co. | Aqeel Aadam |
Customer experience
Patterning
Sightlines
In-app purchases
Patterning
- Patterning+$1.991 Month
- Patterning Studio Upgrade$7.99
- Studio Pack (Lifetime)$12.99
Sightlines
No in-app purchases









