Comparison

StepLoom vs Disto Disco

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

Head to head
About

StepLoom

Create electronic music with a touch-friendly groovebox. Quickly sketch beats, basslines, and melodies using a step sequencer, piano-roll editing, and arrangement views. Supports AUv3 plugins for expanded sound design.

Highlights
  • Touch-friendly beat and melody workflow
  • Step sequencer and piano-roll editing
  • Timeline, Session, and Flow arrangement views
  • AUv3 instrument and effect plugin support
  • Mixer controls for sound shaping
  • MIDI input and external clock sync
  • Export audio, stems, or MIDI
Features
Read full description

StepLoom is a fast, touch-first electronic music sketchpad for making beats, loops, basslines, and melody ideas on iPhone and iPad. It gives you the focus of a compact groovebox without the weight of a full DAW, so you can start a rhythm, shape a synth line, try an AUv3 instrument, arrange patterns, and keep moving while the idea is fresh. Create drum patterns with a step sequencer, write melodic parts with piano-roll style editing, stack chords, add legato, adjust BPM, mix tracks, and switch sounds. Add Sample tracks by importing audio or recording directly in the Tracks view, then use the waveform editor to trim, reverse, normalize, tune, and shape One-shot or Loop playback. The project Media Library keeps custom audio available for reuse and arrangement. Turn loops into songs with three complementary arrangement views: shape Patterns and audio clips on the Timeline, launch quantized Patterns and Scenes in Session, or build visual paths and probability rules in Flow. Draw or record automation for mixer controls and supported AUv3 parameters. When you want to go beyond the built-in sounds, add AUv3 instrument or effect plugins, choose exposed plugin presets, open compatible plugin interfaces, and activate Plugin Sound directly from the sound picker. Optional iCloud sync keeps compatible projects and project media available across your Apple devices. StepLoom continues to work locally when sync is disabled. StepLoom is built for quick electronic music drafts: open the app, tap a grid, hear the result, and turn a loop into a structured idea. Main features: - Touch-friendly beat and melody workflow - Drum, melody, and custom Sample tracks - Step sequencer with playback highlight and loop control - Piano-roll style melody editing with chords and legato - Audio import and microphone sample recording - Waveform sample editor with trim, reverse, normalize, gain, tuning, One-shot, and Loop controls - Project Media Library for reusable custom audio - Timeline editing with drag, resize, layers, sections, loop ranges, and multi-selection - Quantized Pattern and Scene launching with Session performance recording - Blueprint-style Flow rules with Next, Jump, Random, Stop, and probability - AUv3 instrument and effect plugin slots - Plugin preset reading for AUv3s that expose factory presets - Plugin Sound option for playing tracks through AUv3 instruments - Mixer and AUv3 parameter automation - Mixer controls for volume, pan, EQ, filter, drive, meters, master gain, and limiter - MIDI input and external clock sync options - Optional iCloud project and media synchronization - Export full songs or the current pattern as audio, stems, or MIDI - Adaptive iPhone and iPad layouts StepLoom is for producers, beatmakers, songwriters, and electronic music learners who want a focused place to capture musical ideas before moving into a larger DAW.

About

Disto Disco

This app transforms sound with a wide range of distortion and sound-shaping effects. Explore unique sonic territories, from gentle warmth to brutal textures, with beat-synced modulation and randomizers for creative sonic exploration.

Highlights
  • 28 sound-shaping modes
  • Beat-synced modulation
  • Random and Spice controls
  • AUv3 and standalone operation
  • Granular and spectral effects
  • Drive, Math, Time, and Spectral territories
Read full description

WHAT IT IS Disto Disco turns distortion into movement. It starts with gentle drive and classic distortion, then ventures into stranger territory: degrading echoes, vocoders, morphing vowels, spectral effects, ring modulation, granular clouds, and more. Every dial can move with the beat, while Random and Spice can send the whole patch somewhere new. Shape something smooth, tuned, and shimmering; push it toward harsh, brutal, and broken; or take it somewhere weird and otherworldly. WHAT IT DOES * 28 sound-shaping modes: explore five distinct sonic territories, each with its own controls and character. * Drive: move from gentle warmth through folding, fuzz, bit crushing, and high gain. * Spectral: filter, morph, vocode, swap, or silence different parts of the sound. * Math: combine versions of the input with simple mathematical operations for raw, harsh, and unusual textures. * Time: turn recent sound into echoes, loops, and resonances, then bend, shift, or scrub it into motion. * Granular: cut sound into tiny pieces and scatter, repeat, or layer them into sparse grains and dense clouds. * A modulator on every dial: draw a 16-step pattern, choose a shape, or generate one, all synced to the beat. * Random and Spice: generate a new direction for the whole patch, from subtle changes to complete chaos. Keep what works and refine the rest by hand. * Tone and dynamics: shape the effected signal with Low Cut, Tube, and High Cut, then use the envelope follower to make distortion react to the input. * AUv3 and standalone: use Disto Disco as an effect inside your favorite host, or process live input directly in the app. REQUIREMENTS * An AUv3 host such as AUM, Cubasis, Drambo, GarageBand, Loopy Pro, or Logic Pro.

Screenshots

StepLoom4 screens
Disto Disco4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: StepLoom at $3.99 against Disto Disco's $5.99. Disto Disco's advantage is iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.0). On rating, review sentiment, ratings volume and update cadence 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

StepLoom costs $3.99 and Disto Disco $5.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for StepLoom against 5.0 for Disto Disco. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 2 and 4 respectively. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 100% and 100% positive.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on October 17, 2026 and October 6, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
StepLoom versus Disto Disco: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterStepLoomDisto Disco
Price$3.99 — better$5.99
Rating5.0 (2 ratings)5.0 (4 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings24 — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 daysEvery 2 days
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPad, MaciPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS17.015.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size11 MB68 MB
Age rating4+4+
Developer宁 徐Snorkel Audio, Inh. Michael Kaisser

Customer experience

StepLoom

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

Disto Disco

All ratings4 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

StepLoom

No in-app purchases

None

Disto Disco

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is StepLoom free?
StepLoom costs $3.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Disto Disco free?
Disto Disco costs $5.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, StepLoom or Disto Disco?
StepLoom and Disto Disco are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 2 and 4 ratings respectively.
Do StepLoom or Disto Disco have ads?
Neither StepLoom nor Disto Disco shows ads.
Which is updated more often, StepLoom or Disto Disco?
StepLoom ships an update every 2 days, and Disto Disco every 2 days. Most recently, StepLoom was updated on October 17, 2026 and Disto Disco on October 6, 2026.

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