Jacquard vs ARPJAM Player
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Jacquard
This app offers a unique approach to music creation by using a tile-based grid system for sequencing. Build complex patterns by stacking and arranging various note and parameter tiles, allowing for evolving and dynamic musical sequences.
- Tile-based sequencing on a 2D grid
- Note, parameter lock, gate, and branch tiles
- Polyrythmic lanes with independent step lengths
- Two-operator FM synthesis voice
- Per-note effects sends
- Live FX buttons for real-time manipulation
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Jacquard is an experimental tile-based music sequencer. Instead of arranging notes on conventional tracks, you build sequences by placing and stacking tiles on a two-dimensional grid. Notes, parameter locks, gates, and branches can be combined to create patterns that evolve and change as they repeat. At its simplest it works like a step sequencer: place note tiles along a lane and they play in turn. Stack them vertically and they sound together as a chord. Then the other tiles go into the stack, and the pattern stops standing still. TILES ON A PLANE - Note - a letter, an octave, and a length in steps - Absolute and Relative Lock - set or shift sound parameters for one step only - Cycle Gate - let a note through only on the laps you name, a period from 2 to 32 - Chance Gate - let it through at a percentage - Jump and Jump Target - fly to another lane, for branches and alternative routes - Order matters: a stack is read top to bottom, so a gate placed partway down a chord divides it, and a lock colours everything read after it LANES THAT RUN THEIR OWN WAY Eight channels, each with a sound of its own, and as many lanes as you like in each. Every lane has its own step length, from 1/1 down to 1/64, and its own length in steps - so polyrhythms are just two lanes of different lengths running over one tempo. Dedicate a lane to accents or parameter changes and it colours the lanes below it. A TWO-OPERATOR FM VOICE Every channel is one FM patch: a carrier and a modulator, with envelopes on amplitude, on modulation depth, and on pitch. Fifteen parameters in all - and every one of them is exactly what a parameter lock can reach, so a single step can take hold of anything about a channel. Twenty-four voices are shared across the whole score, with unison thickening a part without spending a second voice. EFFECTS AND MIX - One reverb and one tempo-synced delay for the whole piece, with per-note send amounts that locks can reach - Solo and mute on all eight channels at once - A scale keyboard that snaps notes to the key you choose, without rewriting a single tile - A limiter on the output, threshold, attack and release PLAY IT WITH YOUR HANDS Twelve Live FX buttons act only while they are held, on whatever the sequence is about to play: both sends, stab and sustain, octave up and down, falls and rises, and four rolls that catch what just played and repeat it in place. Nothing is written to the score, so nothing is undone. On a touch screen you can hold one per finger. Loading a score while another is playing does not cut it off. The change waits for the master lane to come round, and from that instant the new score runs - no gap, no overlap, and the mix and the Live FX keep working the whole time.
ARPJAM Player
This app allows you to queue music tracks and set individual playback durations, with automatic fading and transitions. It features matched loudness for consistent volume and background playback, even with the screen off. Explore a library of published tracks or import your own.
- Timed track playback
- Automatic fading and transitions
- Matched loudness for consistent volume
- Background playback support
- JAM Library browsing
- Import .arpjam files
- Dynamic music generation
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ARPJAM Player is a device for leaving your JAMs running. Line up the JAMs you want to hear and give each one a play time. When the time is up it fades out on its own and hands over to the next one. Nothing else to do. ■ For as long as you like Play times run from one minute to twelve hours, set on a reel. Leave one JAM running all afternoon, or cut them short and keep moving. It is built for the kind of listening that lasts a whole opening shift. ■ Matched loudness JAMs vary in level. Each one is measured once when you add it, and matched on playback — the loud ones come down, the quiet ones come up. No sudden jump when the next one starts. Nothing chases the level while the music plays, so the volume never moves mid-performance. ■ With the screen off Background playback is supported. Lock the screen and it keeps going. Play, pause and skip from the Lock Screen or Control Center. ■ JAM Library Open the JAM Library from inside the app and add published JAMs directly. Browse by genre and see the artist, the notes, the BPM and the key. Official JAMs and submitted JAMs sit side by side. You can also import .arpjam files stored on your device, including files written by the earlier ARPJAM. ■ It never plays the same way twice The ARPJAM engine is not playing back a fixed score. It builds the performance as it goes, following rules. The same JAM sounds different every time you play it, so it does not become a loop you get tired of — even after hours. Same engine as ARPJAM Studio. ■ Made for · Saunas, spas, treatment rooms · Cafes, shops, galleries · Working, studying, winding down · Exhibitions and installations — — ARPJAM Player does not create JAMs. To make them, use ARPJAM Studio.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: ARPJAM Player at every 2 days against Jacquard's weekly. Jacquard's advantage is ratings volume (3 vs 1). On price, rating, 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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Jacquard against 5.0 for ARPJAM Player. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 3 and 1 respectively.
Jacquard ships an update weekly, ARPJAM Player every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on October 31, 2026 and November 10, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Jacquard | ARPJAM Player |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (3 ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 3 — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Weekly | Every 2 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 | 15.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 41 MB | 78 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Keijiro Takahashi | TWELVETONE INC. |
Customer experience
Jacquard
ARPJAM Player
In-app purchases
Jacquard
No in-app purchases
ARPJAM Player
No in-app purchases









