Comparison

Strange Loop vs RollTab

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

Head to head
About

Strange Loop

This app generates unique melodies using chaos theory and music theory principles. Save your creations as MIDI files or use them as an AUV3 plugin. You can influence the sound by interacting directly with the visual representation of the attractors.

Highlights
  • Melody generation using Lorenz attractors
  • Markov policy for taste customization
  • Save melodies as MIDI
  • AUV3 plugin for instruments/MIDI processing
  • Interactive attractor influence via painting
Features
Read full description

Strange Loop writes its own music. Three coupled Lorenz attractors drive the piece — one proposes pitch, one shapes rhythm, one wanders the emotional plane. A Markov policy then decides what actually plays, learning from its own output and rewarding intervals that sound consonant. Chaos proposes, the policy disposes. Slide BLEND to choose who wins. Nothing is pre-recorded and nothing loops. Every run is new. PAINT ON THE MATHS Both scopes are paintable. Draw on the attractor and the trajectory bends toward what you drew and lingers there, pulling the melody into those pitches. Draw on the mood pad and the feeling follows your strokes — brightening the harmony, lifting the register, pushing the tempo. Set how hard the ink leans, how big the brush is, and how long it lasts before it fades. WHAT YOU GET • 26 scales — major and minor modes, pentatonics, blues, whole tone, harmonic and melodic minor, altered, both octatonics, and folk scales from Japan, China, Egypt, Spain, Arabia and Hungary • 7 accompaniment styles — chaos grooves, jazz comping with walking bass, stride piano, Alberti bass, classical, arpeggios, ambient rolls • A sampled grand piano plus synthesised voices: soft piano, glass, strings, FM bell, AM organ, pluck, fat saw and more • 6 moods on a valence/arousal plane, from serene to tense, driving chord quality, register, tempo and note length • Live scopes — the attractors, the note-probability distribution the engine is sampling from, and the mood point, all drawn in real time • Deep control: key, scale, tempo, chaos rho, rhythm spread, grace notes, chord-tone pull, softmax temperature, per-track mixer • Record a take and export it as a standard MIDI file to the Files app — melody, chords and bass on separate tracks TWO AUDIO UNITS Strange Loop ships as an instrument AUv3 and as a MIDI processor AUv3, so it can either play its own sounds or sequence any other instrument in your host. Melody, chords and bass each send on their own MIDI channel, so one instance can drive three different instruments. Both Audio Units follow your host's transport and tempo — hit play in AUM, GarageBand, Logic, Cubasis or Zenbeats and it locks to the grid. One install registers both. CREDITS Sampled piano: Salamander Grand Piano by Alexander Holm (CC BY 3.0).

About

RollTab

This app transforms your device into an AI-powered piano partner. It listens to your musical phrases and generates real-time continuations using an advanced on-device AI model. You can control various aspects of the AI's output and export your creations as MIDI files.

Highlights
  • AI piano accompaniment
  • Real-time music generation
  • MIDI keyboard integration
  • Adjustable AI parameters
  • Live piano-roll view
  • MIDI file export
Features
Read full description

RollTab turns your iPhone or iPad into an AI piano partner. Connect a USB or Bluetooth MIDI keyboard, play a phrase, and pause. RollTab continues your performance in real time with a 125M-parameter music model running entirely on your device. • Automatic mode answers after you pause • Explicit mode lets you decide when to generate • Live piano-roll view separates your notes from the AI’s continuation • Adjust temperature, continuation length, timing, and pitch range • Pause, continue, start a new session, and export the result as a MIDI file • No account, cloud processing, or internet connection required A MIDI keyboard is required for live input. You can also generate from silence in Explicit mode. Created by Simon Edwardsson — simedw.com

Screenshots

Strange Loop3 screens
RollTab1 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Strange Loop at 100% against RollTab's 0%. Strange Loop also leads on device support (4 vs 2) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 18.0). RollTab's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1). On price, update cadence and ads 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

Both are free to download. Strange Loop sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. RollTab asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on October 9, 2026 and October 7, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Strange Loop versus RollTab: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterStrange LoopRollTab
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (9 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews — better0.0% of reviews
Number of ratings9 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 4 daysEvery 4 days
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.0 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size23 MB185 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSoft Brew MobileSimon Edwardsson

Customer experience

Strange Loop

All ratings9 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews3 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

RollTab

Written reviews1 reviews
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Strange Loop

One-time1
  • Unlock AUV3 Plugin$1.99
None

RollTab

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Strange Loop free?
Strange Loop is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is RollTab free?
RollTab is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Strange Loop or RollTab have ads?
Neither Strange Loop nor RollTab shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Strange Loop or RollTab?
Strange Loop ships an update every 4 days, and RollTab every 4 days. Most recently, Strange Loop was updated on October 9, 2026 and RollTab on October 7, 2026.

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