Arc & Decay vs Fingerophone
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side โ with what reviewers say about each.
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. ยฉ 2026 Synthetic Pulse Industries.
Fingerophone
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Fingerophone brings the feel of a classic pocket electronic instrument to your iPhone and iPad: slide a finger to play, with no extra hardware to buy. Slide across the compact hex keyboard to play an electronic tone instantly. It is a real monophonic touch synthesizer that makes its own warm, analog-style sound: two slightly detuned oscillators give it a vintage warmth, a resonant low-pass filter rounds off the digital edge, and vibrato adds the familiar wobble. Every control stays within reach while the note is still playing: - Four waveforms (sine, triangle, saw, square), crossfaded as you switch - Vibrato for the classic pocket-synth wobble - Tone to darken or brighten the sound - Drive to push it from clean into gritty - Volume A live oscilloscope draws the actual signal coming out of the synth, so the screen moves with the sound instead of running a canned animation. Scroll the keyboard across several octaves and play quick melodies, sustained drones, and noisy little riffs. Plug in a MIDI keyboard to play the synth, then map its knobs to the controls with MIDI Learn. The sound is generated on your device. You can play without an account or an internet connection. Whether you want to experiment with a pocket synth, explore warm analog-style sounds, or try a finger-played instrument without buying hardware, Fingerophone keeps everything on one focused screen.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: Arc & Decay at daily against Fingerophone's every 2 weeks. On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price ยท Rating ยท Positive reviews ยท Number of ratings ยท Update frequency ยท Ads ยท In-app purchases ยท Monetization ยท Best chart rank ยท Devices ยท Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Arc & Decay ships an update daily, Fingerophone every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 25, 2026 and October 22, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Arc & Decay | Fingerophone |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Update frequency | Daily โ better | Every 2 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 17.6 | 17.6 |
| Further details โ not scored | ||
| Size | 11 MB | 11 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Tash Baycroft | Maxim Oransky |
In-app purchases
Arc & Decay
No in-app purchases
Fingerophone
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Arc & Decay free?
Is Fingerophone free?
Do Arc & Decay or Fingerophone have ads?
Which is updated more often, Arc & Decay or Fingerophone?
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