Comparison

Bytebeat vs SimpleSampler

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

Head to head
About

Bytebeat

Transform mathematical formulas into unique music by writing code. Edit your creations in real-time while they play, visualize the sound waves, and explore various modes for different audio outputs. Export your generated music to WAV format.

Highlights
  • Formula-based music generation
  • Real-time editing during playback
  • Waveform visualization
  • Multiple audio modes (Bytebeat, Signed, Floatbeat)
  • Export to WAV format
  • Includes 29 preset formulas
Features
Read full description

t*(42&t>>10) That one line is the whole song. Bytebeat turns a formula straight into sound. It evaluates your expression while t counts up from zero, one step at a time, and writes the result out as the waveform. No synthesizer, no audio files, no samples. The formula is the music. ■ Edit while it plays - Rewrite the formula without stopping playback. t keeps running - Change a single character and the song becomes something else - A keypad holding only the characters that appear in bytebeat formulas, so one tap is one character ■ See the waveform - An oscilloscope draws the samples that are actually playing - Traces are aligned to the rising edge, so the wave stays still instead of scrolling - Instruction count and stack depth are shown too ■ 29 famous formulas - Includes the one-liners from the experiments viznut published in 2011 - Save the ones you like to favorites with your own names ■ Three modes - Bytebeat: result & 255 mapped to 0...255, the way the original sounded - Signed: treated as signed 8-bit - Floatbeat: the result used directly as a -1...1 waveform, where sin and cos come alive ■ Change the speed of t - 500 to 48000 Hz. The original bytebeat ran at 8000 Hz - Slower runs lower, faster runs higher ■ Export to WAV - 8-bit, 8000 Hz, mono, which is exactly what bytebeat is - 10 seconds, 30 seconds, 1 minute or 3 minutes ■ What you can write - The variable t, and the constants PI and E - Arithmetic, bitwise operators, shifts, comparison, logic, the ternary operator - sin cos tan asin acos atan abs floor ceil round sqrt exp log sign int pow min max atan2 mod - Everything is computed in Double and rounded to 32-bit integers only for bitwise operations and shifts. This matches JavaScript's ToInt32, so formulas you find on the web play as they are ■ No connection - No account to create - No ads, no tracking - The app never connects to the internet. It works on a plane Many of the presets come from the experiments Ville-Matias Heikkila (viznut) published in 2011.

About

SimpleSampler

Features
Read full description

SimpleSampler turns any sound into an instrument. Record a piano note, a clap, your voice or a glass you tap with a spoon. The app detects the pitch and puts the sound on a keyboard, so you can play it across several octaves right away. RECORDING Press record and the app shows you what it hears before the take starts. The recording begins with your first sound, not with the button press, so there is no silence or click at the start. If you don't like the take, cancel it and nothing is saved. KEYBOARD AND DRUM PADS The keyboard shows two octaves at a time and scrolls. It is fully multitouch, so chords and glissandos work. Eight drum pads hold eight different samples for beats. Pitch and length are independent: higher notes last as long as lower ones. If you prefer the classic tape sound, where higher also means faster, switch it on with one tap. LOOP STATION Tap a loop slot, play something and tap again to close the loop. Every new layer stays in time with the first one. You can also record a loop straight from the microphone. Your loops are still there the next time you open the app. RECORD YOUR SONG One button records everything you play: keyboard, pads and loops. It records what the app outputs, not what the microphone picks up, so the result is clean. Share it via AirDrop, Messages or any other app. PORTRAIT AND LANDSCAPE On iPhone, hold it upright to record and edit samples and turn it sideways to play. On iPad you get pads and keyboard on one screen. No account, no subscription, no tracking. Your recordings stay on your device unless you share them.

Screenshots

Bytebeat4 screens
SimpleSampler4 screens

Verdict

The call

Bytebeat and SimpleSampler are too close to call on the numbers: across 5 compared parameters — price, ads, in-app purchases and device support among them — neither pulls far enough ahead to decide it. What separates them is feature set and interface, not measurable difference.

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.

ScorecardNo meaningful differences
Bytebeat versus SimpleSampler: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBytebeatSimpleSampler
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.0 (2 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews50.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings2 — better—
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.016.4 — better
Further details — not scored
Size3 MB49 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperRyo TsudukihashiMax Nowack

In-app purchases

None

Bytebeat

No in-app purchases

None

SimpleSampler

No in-app purchases

Questions

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

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