Comparison

What About Phase? vs 4Comp

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

Head to head
About

What About Phase?

Record short audio clips and transform them into evolving, hypnotic soundscapes. This pocket instrument uses phasing and other processes to create unique, unfolding audio patterns from simple sounds.

Highlights
  • Audio recording and looping
  • Ten distinct audio processes
  • Radial display of sound patterns
  • On-device pitch detection
  • Save, share, and revert recordings
  • Live control over audio parameters
Features
Read full description

Record a few seconds of anything — your voice, a clap, a passing train — and let the app pull it apart in time. What about phase? is a pocket instrument for process music: it loops your recording in two channels and lets them drift out of sync, so simple sounds grow into shifting, hypnotic patterns. Inspired by the tape-phasing experiments of 1960s minimalism, it makes the process itself audible — you set it in motion, then listen as it unfolds. TEN PROCESSES • Phasing — two copies of your loop, one drifting a few cents faster; hear them separate into echo, then canon • Gradual process — a ramp that grows louder and sweeps across the stereo field • Tape loop multiplication — your loop fanned into a detuned chorus • Rhythmic construction — a rhythm assembled hit by hit • Pattern substitution — beats replaced one at a time: silence, octaves, fifths • Resultant patterns — two interlocking rhythms revealing a third • Clapping Music — a pattern rotating against its fixed copy • Pulse / drone — a pulse grid over a deep foundation • Canon — staggered voices entering one after another • Speech melody — a syllable pulsed in speech rhythm and dynamics THE WHEEL A radial display shows what the process is doing: your loop's waveform — or the process's own pattern — wrapped around a circle, left channel in coral, right in cyan, a comet sweeping the playhead. In Phasing you can watch the two rings physically drift apart. Volume and pitch views included, with on-device pitch detection. AUDIO UNIT (AUv3) Every process also comes as an AUv3 plugin for AUM, GarageBand and other hosts: an instrument that plays the process's own demo, and an effect that does the process to whatever you send it. The wheel is the plugin's screen. Each voice has an output of its own, a MIDI note starts the loop over, and Sync can follow the host's transport. A Level control sets how loud every output is, and on the effects BAR sets the loop to one bar of your host's tempo and keeps it there. Look for the maker "Scriptum" in your host. The plugin is part of Pro, a one-time in-app purchase that also includes everything in the full version. Until Pro is unlocked the plugin loads and shows its wheel, but stays silent. MADE FOR EXPLORING • Ten built-in demo takes, one per process, playable from the very first launch • Every take saves with its process and settings; rename, share as WAV, revert • Takes named after where you record them (optional, location used only while in the app) • Live controls: drift in cents, process amount, tempo, sample offset • No account, no ads, no analytics — recordings never leave your device unless you share them Record something small. Let it become something long.

About

4Comp

This audio plugin offers four distinct analog-style compressor models (FET, VCA, Optical, Vari-Mu), each with its own sound and interface. It provides advanced features like stereo linking, sidechain filtering, and real-time transfer curve visualization.

Highlights
  • Four analog compressor models (FET, VCA, Optical, Vari-Mu)
  • Unique DSP engine and interface for each model
  • Live transfer curve visualization
  • Stereo link and sidechain high-pass filter
  • Dry/wet mix and auto make-up gain
  • 17 presets included
  • 0-sample latency
Features
Read full description

Four analog-style compressors in one AUv3 plugin: FET, VCA, Optical and Vari-Mu. Each is its own DSP engine with its own sound, and the whole interface — face, knobs, meters — changes to match the one you pick. New in 1.1: tap ? for a quick start and a guide to each model, and watch the live transfer curve on VCA. FET Fast gain reduction from a feedback detector, with an all-buttons mode. Hi-hats, drum buses, spiky guitars. Ice-blue face. VCA Bus glue with program-dependent AUTO release. Tames transients and spikes without grabbing. Crimson face. Optical Smooth, level-dependent release from a modelled photocell — the cell's light memory. Vocals, brass, strings. Brushed-steel face, ivory meter. Vari-Mu A ratio that rises with level, plus harmonic colour that thickens thin tracks. Mix bus and mastering. Brass face. Four separate DSP paths Each model is its own compressor engine rather than a preset over one circuit: feedback FET, two-stage VCA, photocell release, rising-ratio tube. Switch faceplates mid-session and the plugin animates to the new model's look. Complement it Stereo link (Linked or Dual Mono), sidechain high-pass, dry/wet mix, input/output and auto make-up gain, a gain-reduction meter styled for each model and 17 presets. Real-time-safe DSP, 0-sample latency by default. Works in GarageBand, AUM, Cubasis, Loopy Pro and other AUv3 hosts on iPhone and iPad.

Screenshots

What About Phase?4 screens
4Comp4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: What About Phase? at Free against 4Comp's $4.99. What About Phase? also leads on update cadence (daily vs weekly). 4Comp's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 2). On rating, ratings volume, 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

What About Phase? is free to download; 4Comp costs $4.99 up front. What About Phase? sells 2 one-off in-app purchases. 4Comp 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 What About Phase? against 5.0 for 4Comp. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 2 and 2 respectively.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

What About Phase? ships an update daily, 4Comp weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 31, 2026 and November 6, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
What About Phase? versus 4Comp: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterWhat About Phase?4Comp
PriceFree — better$4.99
Rating5.0 (2 ratings)5.0 (2 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings22
Update frequencyDaily — betterWeekly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree — betterPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.0 — better16.0
Further details — not scored
Size21 MB8 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperVladimir GusevNATHAN THOMAS MATHIS

Customer experience

What About Phase?

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

4Comp

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

2 purchases

What About Phase?

One-time2
  • Full Version$0.99
  • Pro$3.99
None

4Comp

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is What About Phase? free?
What About Phase? is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is 4Comp free?
4Comp costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, What About Phase? or 4Comp?
What About Phase? and 4Comp are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 2 and 2 ratings respectively.
Do What About Phase? or 4Comp have ads?
Neither What About Phase? nor 4Comp shows ads.
Which is updated more often, What About Phase? or 4Comp?
What About Phase? ships an update daily, and 4Comp weekly. Most recently, What About Phase? was updated on October 31, 2026 and 4Comp on November 6, 2026.

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