StreetSampler vs Contour
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
StreetSampler
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THE WORLD IS YOUR SAMPLE LIBRARY StreetSampler is a sampler that turns everyday sounds into music. Record a train, a door, a voice, or the sound of the street wherever you find it. Trim and shape the sound, play it on 16 pads, and build a sequence while the inspiration is still fresh. CAPTURE FAST • Start recording instantly from the REC widget • Import audio from video • Automatically add clear, location-based titles • Create offline SHAPE YOUR SOUND • Trim intuitively with a clear waveform • Adjust pitch, speed, volume, pan, and looping • Play sounds on 16 responsive pads • Copy and rearrange pads without interrupting your flow BUILD THE BEAT • Create patterns with the built-in step sequencer • Set the BPM and save your work as a project • Automatically share recordings and projects with StreetSampler on Mac, with easy DAW import FROM STREET TO STUDIO Pair with StreetSampler on Mac to automatically sync recordings and projects over your local Wi‑Fi network. Some sync features require Pro. STREETSAMPLER PRO UPGRADE • Unlimited saved projects • Unlimited automatic sync with Mac • StreetSampler for Mac: export, drag to DAW and more with the same purchase • One-time purchase with no subscription The Free version includes recording, editing, 16 pads, sequencing, sharing, three saved projects, and 15 Wi‑Fi transfers. One purchase unlocks Pro on iPhone, iPad and Mac signed in with the same Apple Account.
Contour
This app is a unique musical instrument played by touch. It uses a visual interface where your finger's position determines the sound, offering a novel way to create drones, textures, and pads. It also functions as an AUv3 plugin for use in other music production apps.
- Touch-based sound generation
- Perceptual distance mapping
- Eleven distinct sound sheets
- MIDI input and ribbon controller
- AUv3 plugin support
- Recording functionality (Pro)
- Customizable sound sheets (Pro)
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Contour is an instrument you play by walking. Four neural decoders sit at the corners of a square. Your finger somewhere in the middle is a blend of all four, and the square is drawn as a survey sheet. The contour lines are not decoration. They come from what those four decoders actually produce, laid out so that equal distances on screen are equal perceptual distances in sound. Cross a line and the sound has changed by a measured amount. THE SHEETS Eleven of them, each a different set of four corners, each chosen by measuring the whole library rather than by ear. They are grouped by what the measurement found: BRIGHT — HEHUAN, the brightest, where all four corners hold their own. CONTRAST — BEIYIDUAN, the widest corner spread at 8.2 times. BREATH — NENGGAO, the breathiest. DEPTH — MABO, the deepest at 53 dB. RANGE — YUSHAN, the widest at 66 semitones; JIAMING, the most focused at 17. They are named after Taiwan's high mountain traverses. PLAYING IT Touch the sheet to sound it. The ribbon underneath sets pitch, or send MIDI and play it from a keyboard. Press harder and the note opens up — the contact patch of your finger is the dynamic. Hold on empty ground to drop a mark you can come back to. The readout above the ribbon tells you where you are while you are there: brightness, noise, the grid reference, the frequency. IN A HOST Contour is also an AUv3 plug-in. It runs in AUM, GarageBand, Cubasis, Logic for iPad and anything else that hosts Audio Units, with the position automatable as two parameters and the sheet recallable with your session. The plug-in draws the same map the app does, laid out for the window a host gives it. WHAT IS FREE Three sheets — BEIYIDUAN, NENGGAO and YUSHAN — with the whole instrument: the map, the ribbon, MIDI, reverb, marks, and the plug-in. No time limit and no account. CONTOUR PRO A single purchase, once, unlocks: • All eleven sheets • Recording, straight to a file • The envelope panel — attack, decay, sustain, release • Composing sheets of your own from the library, 4,845 combinations of four corners, with the map baked for the pitches they share Requires iOS 16 or later. iPhone and iPad.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: Contour at weekly against StreetSampler's every 2 months. On price, ads, in-app purchases 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
Both are free to download. StreetSampler sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Contour sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
StreetSampler ships an update every 2 months, Contour weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 2, 2026 and October 14, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | StreetSampler | Contour |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | — | 4.0 (2 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | — | 0.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | — | 2 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Weekly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | — | Freemium |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 16.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 3 MB | 108 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Tomocreate, Inc. | Chih Han Lin |
In-app purchases
StreetSampler
- StreetSampler Pro$4.99
Contour
- Contour Pro$6.99









