Comparison

Bytebeat vs Gamepad MIDI AUv3

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

Gamepad MIDI AUv3

Features
Read full description

Gamepad MIDI turns your game controller into a MIDI controller for iOS. The sticks, triggers, D-pad and buttons all send MIDI. Map any control to a note or a CC. Then play your synths, drum machines and effects with the controller in your hands. BUTTONS Play notes or send CCs. Hold for momentary, tap to latch, or fire a one-shot trigger. TRIGGERS AND STICKS Sweep a CC smoothly as you press or push. Great for filters, sends and swells. DIALS Turn the D-pad or a stick into a dial that stays where you leave it. Circle a stick to turn it like a knob. Set how fast it turns, and how long it keeps spinning after you let go. EASY TO MAP Press a control on the gamepad to select it. Set its channel, number and mode on screen. A SEND button makes MIDI learn easy. Your mapping is saved with your project. Works with the game controllers iOS supports. Runs as an AUv3 MIDI plugin. No accounts, no tracking, no data collected.

Screenshots

Bytebeat4 screens
Gamepad MIDI AUv34 screens

Verdict

The call

Bytebeat and Gamepad MIDI AUv3 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 Gamepad MIDI AUv3: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBytebeatGamepad MIDI AUv3
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.3 (3 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews66.7% of reviews—
Number of ratings3 — better—
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.0 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size3 MB1 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperRyo TsudukihashiJoshua Wexler

In-app purchases

None

Bytebeat

No in-app purchases

None

Gamepad MIDI AUv3

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Bytebeat free?
Bytebeat is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Gamepad MIDI AUv3 free?
Gamepad MIDI AUv3 is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Bytebeat or Gamepad MIDI AUv3 have ads?
Neither Bytebeat nor Gamepad MIDI AUv3 shows ads.

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