Comparison

Pruina vs VU202 FX

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

Head to head
About

Pruina

This app captures and sustains audio, transforming it into evolving drones and textures. Explore modes like Freeze, Smear, and Shimmer to sculpt unique soundscapes with effects like reverb and modulation. It functions as both a standalone application and an AUv3 audio effect.

Highlights
  • Spectral audio capture and sustain
  • Freeze, Smear, and Shimmer modes
  • Sound sculpting with Blur, Sparkle, Warp
  • Modulated reverb and spatial effects
  • Layering for chord and pad creation
  • AUv3 plugin and standalone operation
Features
Read full description

Pruina freezes sound. Tap once and Pruina captures the spectrum of whatever is playing, a chord, a vocal, a whole mix, and holds it as an endless, gently evolving drone that never decays. Then shape it into rising shimmer clouds, breathy air, crystalline bells, or a huge reverberant wash. Under the hood it runs a real spectral analysis of your audio and, the instant you freeze, takes a snapshot and resynthesizes it with slowly drifting phase. Instead of fading away, the sound sustains forever and breathes, like a pad you never have to hold down. THREE MODES, ONE ENGINE Freeze: tap to capture and hold the spectrum indefinitely. Smear: continuously blur the spectrum into a soft, washing texture. Shimmer: pitched, regenerating layers that rise endlessly. SHIMMER THAT RISES Choose an interval (octave, fifth, octave plus fifth, or two octaves) and turn up Regen to feed the shimmer back on itself, building infinite cascading clouds. BUILD CHORDS BY EAR Turn on Layer and every freeze adds to what is already held. Stack captures into evolving chords and pads, live, one tap at a time. SCULPT THE SOUND Blur: smear the spectrum across frequency to morph a pitched freeze into breath and air. Sparkle: gate down to the spectral peaks for glassy, bell-like tones. Warp: stretch the timbre. Motion: slow drift and breathing that keep a frozen pad alive. Tone: low cut, high cut, and tilt. SPACE A lush, modulated reverb (Reverb, Size, Damp) wraps everything in a wide, dimensional tail, from an intimate room to a cathedral that rings for minutes. Stereo Spread and Width open it up. 16 READY-TO-PLAY PRESETS Infinite Cathedral, Rising Aurora, Supermassive, Glass Bells, Crystalline, Frozen Choir, Ghost Vox, Vapor Trails, Nebula, Granular Dust, Shimmer Wash, Dark Matter, Sub Bloom, Slow Tide, Chord Builder, and Default. Browse them with the header arrows, tweak anything, and save your own. PLUGIN AND STANDALONE Full AUv3 audio effect for GarageBand, AUM, Logic, and any AUv3 host, with host presets, parameter automation, and reported latency so your project stays in sync. Runs on iPhone, iPad, and Mac. Standalone mode includes a built-in demo pad, live microphone input, and song import with export of the processed result.

About

VU202 FX

This audio effect plugin brings the character of a sampler engine to your iOS music production workflow. Apply gritty resampling, lo-fi textures, and unique tone shaping to drums, loops, vocals, and more within your AUv3 host.

Highlights
  • AUv3 audio effect integration
  • Sampler engine character
  • Four tone shaping modes (HIFI, STANDARD, LOFI, LOFI2)
  • Flexible input routing (LEFT, RIGHT, MONO, STEREO)
  • Six-slot effects chain
  • Extensive list of available effects
Features
Read full description

VU202 FX brings the sound and behavior of the free VU202 app into your AUv3 workflow. It uses the same VU202 engine, rebuilt as a compact audio effect for producers who want that crunchy sampler character directly inside their favorite iOS host. Run drums, loops, synths, vocals, or whole buses through the VU202 signal path. Shape the tone with four character modes: HIFI, STANDARD, LOFI, and LOFI2. Choose LEFT, RIGHT, MONO, or STEREO input routing, set pad-style volume, then build your own six-slot effects chain. Available effects include Pitch, Pitch Free, Filter LP, Filter HP, Filter BP, EQ Low, EQ Mid, EQ High, Comp, Drum Comp, Limit, Delay, Tape Delay, Flanger, Phaser, Reverb, Ring Mod, and Vinyl Sim. Use it for gritty resampling color, lo-fi drums, filtered breaks, unstable tape-style echoes, pitch-shifted textures, crushed mono grooves, animated modulation, vinyl wear, and simple SP-style tone shaping without leaving your AUv3 session. VU202 FX is not a generic clean effect. It is made to give your audio the attitude of the VU202 engine: direct, rough, musical, and fast to control.

Screenshots

Pruina2 screens
VU202 FX3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: VU202 FX at $0.99 against Pruina's $2.99. VU202 FX also leads on iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.0). On rating, ratings volume, ads and in-app purchases 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

Pruina costs $2.99 and VU202 FX $0.99 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 Pruina against 5.0 for VU202 FX. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 2 and 2 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 7 level
Pruina versus VU202 FX: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPruinaVU202 FX
Price$2.99$0.99 — better
Rating5.0 (2 ratings)5.0 (2 ratings)
Positive reviews—50.0% of reviews
Number of ratings22
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS17.015.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size3 MB10 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperKonstantin Torsten SchutzDariusz Chynek

Customer experience

Pruina

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

VU202 FX

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive50.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative50.0%

In-app purchases

None

Pruina

No in-app purchases

None

VU202 FX

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Pruina free?
Pruina costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is VU202 FX free?
VU202 FX costs $0.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Pruina or VU202 FX?
Pruina and VU202 FX are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 2 and 2 ratings respectively.
Do Pruina or VU202 FX have ads?
Neither Pruina nor VU202 FX shows ads.

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