Comparison

Beatbook vs Pulse16

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

Head to head
About

Beatbook

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A drum machine with nothing in it until you beatbox into it. Beatbook is a pocket loop station with one twist: every pad starts completely empty. There's no stock drum kit hiding underneath. Hold a pad, make a sound with your mouth (or your desk, or your dog), and that's your kick. Hold another β€” that's your snare. In under two minutes you've built a kit out of nothing but your own voice. Record your own sounds. Sixteen pads, all empty on first launch. Press and hold to record, release to stop β€” no menus, no settings, just hold and make noise. Re-record any pad any time. One row can even hold a longer take, for anyone who wants to hum a hook instead of tapping a beat. Loop it, layer it. Hit record for a one-bar count-in, then tap out a 4-bar beat that loops right back on itself β€” tight and quantized by default, or turn snap off and keep your own exact timing. Keep hitting record to stack layer on layer: kick pass, then hats, then a vocal stab on top. Perform it live. Four row-mute checkboxes sit right next to the grid β€” one touch kills a whole row mid-loop, instantly, with zero glitch. Cut the bass, build the tension, slam it back in on the downbeat. It's built for that tension-and-release move live loopers love, not just for programming a beat and walking away. Keep it or share it. Every beat autosaves β€” there's no save button, because you can't lose your work. Park a few different beats in the tape deck's save slots, come back to any of them, or export a loop straight to Messages or Mail so a friend can hear it. Made a beat you love? It's one tap away from someone else's ears. Sketched, not skinned. Every line on screen looks hand-drawn in pencil on ruled notebook paper β€” because beatboxing into your phone in a quiet corner of a study hall is exactly the vibe this app is for. No ads. No stock sounds. No account. Just you, a mic, and an empty grid waiting to be filled.

About

Pulse16

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Pulse16 is a beat maker and step sequencer for making beats anywhere: a drum machine with 16 pads, a deep 808 bass, a punchy synth and acid lines with 303-style slides. READY TO PLAY β€’ Six built-in grooves – Acid Drive, Peak Time, Neon Nights, Midnight Run, Kit Jam, French Filter: drums, bass line and tempo in one tap β€’ Built-in techno and synthwave drum sounds (kick, clap, gated snare, hats, rim, tom) BUILD A BEAT IN SECONDS β€’ Tap the 4x4 drum pads to switch steps on and off β€” the playing step lights up as the beat runs β€’ Three drum tracks for samples, a kit, the 808 or a mono synth, plus one synth track β€’ Velocity per step from 5 to 100 % for groove and dynamics β€’ Set each track's length from 1 to 16 steps for polyrhythms β€’ Tempo from 20 to 300 BPM, with tap tempo β€’ Eight patterns A–H: switch live, right on the next bar; copy, paste and clear patterns, copy and shift single tracks β€’ Duplicate a track: its steps repeat and the length doubles – build one beat, then vary it KIT MODE: 16 SOUNDS ON THE PADS β€’ Turn any drum track into a kit: 16 sounds on the pads, like a groovebox β€’ Play the pads live and record them into the pattern with Rec – in time, with erase and undo β€’ Volume, pan, tune, distortion and choke groups per pad β€’ The pads of your MIDI controller play and record the kit too, with their velocity 808 KICK AND BASS β€’ Turn any drum track into an 808: a booming kick or a tuned bass line with a note per step β€’ Shape it with decay, punch, click and drive β€’ Slide per step: the 808 glides into the next note, like a classic acid bass line; the glide knob sets the slide time β€’ Four 808 presets, from Classic Kick and Long 808 to Trap Slide and Distorted MONO SYNTH ON ANY TRACK β€’ Turn any drum track into a second synth: the full synth with all its sounds, one note at a time β€’ Slide per step: notes glide into each other like a TB-303; the glide knob sets the time AUTOMATION β€’ Draw curves right over the pads of the synth track: cutoff, resonance, drive, distortion and reverb change from step to step β€’ Every pattern keeps its own curves YOUR OWN SOUNDS β€’ Load WAV, AIFF, MP3 or FLAC files β€’ Record your own samples with the microphone β€’ Trim each sample right on its waveform and preview it instantly β€’ Tune every sample up or down by two octaves, with fine tuning β€’ Distortion (soft, hard, fuzz, overdrive) and a low-pass or high-pass filter on every sample track and kit pad A BASS SYNTH WITH CHARACTER β€’ Sine, square, saw and triangle waveforms β€’ Low-pass and high-pass filter with resonance and envelope β€’ Attack, decay, sustain and release β€’ Distortion, drive, sub oscillator, unison and reverb β€’ Four LFOs, free or synced to the tempo, one of them can sweep the filter β€’ Nine factory sounds, from Berlin Minimal and Acid 303 to the synthwave Outrun Bass β€’ Arpeggiator: every note becomes an arpeggio – major, minor, sus4, 7th, power or octave chord, up, down, up-down or random, 1/8 to 1/32 triplets, over 1–3 octaves PLAY IT WITH HARDWARE β€’ Connect a USB MIDI controller and assign its knobs, faders and pads with MIDI learn: synth, mixer, tempo, play/stop, tracks, patterns and steps β€’ MIDI clock over USB: follow a drum machine or DAW, or send the clock and start your gear in time SAVE YOUR WORK (ONE-TIME PURCHASE) β€’ Save and load whole projects: patterns, samples, sounds and mixer β€’ Save your own synth and 808 presets β€’ One purchase, no subscription; everything else is free MIX LIKE A PRODUCER β€’ Volume and pan for every track, plus master volume β€’ Sidechain pump on every track: the beat breathes with the kick, like French house β€’ Boost: multiband compression on the master for a louder, denser mix, with low, mid and high β€’ Reverb send for drums, samples and vocals; the synth has its own stereo reverb MADE FOR PHONE AND TABLET β€’ On tablets, sound, mixer and presets stay open next to the pads β€’ Low-latency audio engine No account, no ads, no tracking. Works offline.

Screenshots

Beatbook4 screens
Pulse164 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Beatbook at none against Pulse16's 1. Pulse16's advantage is device support (3 vs 1) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.0). On price and ads there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price Β· Rating Β· Positive reviews Β· Number of ratings Β· Update frequency Β· Ads Β· In-app purchases Β· Monetization Β· Best chart rank Β· Devices Β· Requires iOS

CostPrice Β· In-app purchases Β· Ads Β· Monetization

Both are free to download. Pulse16 sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Beatbook asks for nothing beyond the download.

Scorecard3 real differences Β· 3 level
Beatbook versus Pulse16: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBeatbookPulse16
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyβ€”Every 3 days
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo β€” betterYes
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad, iPod β€” better
Requires iOS17.015.0 β€” better
Further details β€” not scored
Size3 MB23 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSamuel LoganNavid Anzalichi

In-app purchases

None

Beatbook

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

Pulse16

One-time1
  • Unlock saving$0.29

Questions

Is Beatbook free?
Beatbook is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Pulse16 free?
Pulse16 is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Beatbook or Pulse16 have ads?
Neither Beatbook nor Pulse16 shows ads.

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