Comparison

GLYPHTONE vs iSimpleLoop

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

Head to head
About

GLYPHTONE

Features
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GLYPHTONE is a pocket-sized step sequencer built around one simple idea: tap a grid, hear a pattern. — 16×16 GRID — Sixteen steps across, sixteen pitches down. Tap a cell to place a note, tap again to remove it. Watch the playhead sweep across as your pattern plays back. — 9 TIMBRES — Bell, Piano, Organ, Strings, Brass, Lead, Pad, Bass, and a dedicated Drum voice with nine distinct percussion sounds built in — all synthesized live, no samples to download. — SOLO OR ENSEMBLE — Solo mode keeps one timbre per cell, so switching instruments recolors your whole pattern instead of stacking new sounds on top. Ensemble mode lets you layer multiple timbres in the same cell. — GENERATE — Stuck for ideas? Generate builds a fresh phrase in one of ten shapes — Up, Down, Wave, Zigzag, Random, Drum, and more. Keep pressing Generate to reroll variations, or Undo up to five steps back. — SCALES & OCTAVES — Ten scales (Major, Minor, Dorian, Blues, In Sen, Ryukyu, and more) and a ±2 octave range, so the same grid pattern can sound completely different. — FOUR BARS — Work across four separate bars, each auto-saving as you go. Chain any combination of them together for longer arrangements that loop in order. — EXPORT — Render your pattern to a WAV audio file, or save it as a Standard MIDI File to bring into your DAW. No account. No ads. No internet connection required. Everything happens on your device.

About

iSimpleLoop

Record and layer multiple audio tracks to create songs. Features built-in instruments like guitar, keys, and pads, along with editing tools and effects. Export your creations as audio or MIDI files.

Highlights
  • Multi-track recording
  • Built-in guitar, keys, and pads
  • Audio and MIDI export
  • Song arrangement and editing
  • Effects and EQ
  • Lyrics and note editor
Features
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iSimpleLoop is a pocket sketchpad for songs. Record a loop, stack takes over it, play the guitar, the keys and the pads on top, keep the lyrics in front of you — and take the result out as audio or MIDI. Everything runs on the device. No account, no subscription, no cloud, no internet connection. LOOPER • Up to 8 tracks. Looped tracks follow the master loop, linear ones run the whole length of the song. • The first take sets the loop length; an overdub stops itself after one lap. • Count-in, metronome, and a per-track input: microphone, the app's instruments, or both. • Latency compensation, so a take lands where you played it. INSTRUMENTS • Guitar: strum and pluck six strings with your fingers, chords of the chosen key, power chords, capo, four tones from nylon to overdrive. • Keys: a polyphonic synth with piano, e-piano, pad, bass and lead, sustain and an octave shift. • Pads: 16 pads, 62 built-in sounds, pitch, filter and decay knobs, reverse. • Sampling from the microphone straight onto a pad, plus import of WAV, MP3, M4A, AIFF and FLAC with a trim screen. ARRANGEMENT AND EDITING • The whole song on one timeline: bar ruler, waveforms, playhead, scrubbing. • Select a fragment and trim, cut, silence, fade, normalise, reverse or nudge it by a beat — or drag it onto another track. • Three-band EQ and pan on every track. EFFECTS • Inserts on each track: compressor, overdrive, chorus and flanger. • Two project-wide send buses: a tempo-synced delay and a reverb. • Live instruments sound with the effect but are recorded dry, so the decision stays reversible. LYRICS • The lyrics live in the project, split into sections, and can sit next to the guitar while you play. NOTE EDITOR • Piano roll for the keys, a drum grid for the pads and six-line tabs for the guitar. • Move, stretch, copy, quantize, change pitch, fret, string and velocity — the track rebuilds from the notes right away, so you hear the change in the mix. • Undo and redo; cancel brings the track back exactly as it was. SLICE • Chop a sample by hits, into equal parts or on the tempo grid, drag the markers, tap a slice to hear it. • Slices land on consecutive pads — optionally together with a notes track that plays them in the original order. CHORDS • Any chord on any of the eight buttons: major, minor, 7, maj7, m7, sus2, sus4, add9, 6, m6, dim, aug. • Playable shapes are found automatically; pick a variant or place your own fingers on the fretboard. HARDWARE • USB audio interfaces: choose the input and the channel to record; other sample rates are converted on the fly. • MIDI keyboards over USB and Bluetooth play the synth and record like the on-screen keys; channel 10 plays the pads. • Foot controllers: MIDI Learn for play, record and stop; keyboard-style page-turner pedals work out of the box. EXPORT • WAV 24-bit, M4A (AAC) and MIDI — a track per instrument, pads on channel 10. • A home screen widget records a sample straight into the library. Landscape on iPhone and iPad. Interface in English, Russian, German and Italian.

Screenshots

GLYPHTONE4 screens
iSimpleLoop4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is iOS requirement: GLYPHTONE at 15.6 against iSimpleLoop's 17.0. On price, update cadence, 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

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

GLYPHTONE ships an update every 2 days, iSimpleLoop every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on September 30, 2026 and October 13, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard1 real difference · 9 level
GLYPHTONE versus iSimpleLoop: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterGLYPHTONEiSimpleLoop
PriceFreeFree
Rating—5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews—100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings—1 — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 days — betterEvery 3 days
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
Monetization—Free
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.6 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size3 MB6 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperTakayoshi OgiharaArtem Kolchin

In-app purchases

None

GLYPHTONE

No in-app purchases

None

iSimpleLoop

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is GLYPHTONE free?
GLYPHTONE is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is iSimpleLoop free?
iSimpleLoop is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do GLYPHTONE or iSimpleLoop have ads?
Neither GLYPHTONE nor iSimpleLoop shows ads.
Which is updated more often, GLYPHTONE or iSimpleLoop?
GLYPHTONE ships an update every 2 days, and iSimpleLoop every 3 days. Most recently, GLYPHTONE was updated on September 30, 2026 and iSimpleLoop on October 13, 2026.

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