Comparison

Touch Notation vs URL Beamer

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

Head to head
About

Touch Notation

Create musical scores with intuitive touch gestures. Draw notes, add expressions, and play back your compositions with 30 instrument voices. Export your work in various formats.

Highlights
  • Handwritten notation input
  • 30 built-in instrument voices
  • Tempo and dynamics control
  • Page layout functions
  • Transpose feature
  • Multiple export formats (PDF, SMF, MusicXML)
Read full description

Touch Notation is a powerful musical score creation app that allows anyone to enjoy writing music using touch gestures. In Japan, Touch Notation was selected as one of the ‘App Store Best of 2014’ apps, and held the No.1 spot in the iPad Paid App index for music apps for over two weeks. Up until now, musical score creation software has relied upon dragging individual notes from a palette onto staves. By contrast, Touch Notation allows musicians to draw directly onto the score using a finger or touch pen, and have their work immediately appear as beautifully written notation, then played back using the app’s 30 built-in instrument voices. - A wide-range of functions accessible from a cleanly designed, intuitive user interface. - Ability to enter musical expressions for adjusting tempo and dynamics. - Layout functions such as page breaks. - Convenient transpose feature for raising/lowering the pitch of the entire score. - Output scores using Air Print, or save to Dropbox in PDF, SMF, MusicXML, and ScoreMaker formats. Touch Notation allows the following musical symbols to be entered by hand: - Note, Rest (including dotted and double-dotted), Long Rest, Beam, Tuplet (Triplet) - Grace Note - Accidental, Tie, Slur - Accent, Staccato, Tenuto, Fermata - Trill, sfz, Arpeggio, Pedal, Senza - Metronome symbol - Crescendo, Decrescendo - Dynamics symbols (ppp~fff) - Octave symbol - Repeat brackets - Repeat marks (D.C./Fine/D.S./Segno/Coda/to Coda) - Clefs (Treble Clef/Bass Clef/C Clef/Percussion Clef) - Key signature - Time signature - Bar lines (repeat marks) - Abbreviation Lyrics and other musical expressions (‘Dolce’, ‘Tranquillo’, etc.) can be added using text input, while comments and memos can also be written freehand directly onto the score. * Drum notation is supported, but other types such as rhythm notation and tab notation are not supported. * Older devices may experience stuttering when playing complicated scores with many simultaneous notes.

About

URL Beamer

This utility plugin allows you to launch other applications from within your audio host using tappable buttons. It's ideal for quick app switching during live performances or studio workflows, with optional MIDI note output for controlling other plugins or host functions.

Highlights
  • AUv3 plugin formats (Effect/Instrument)
  • Customizable buttons for app launching
  • Optional MIDI note output
  • MIDI note input for button triggering
  • File Manager for settings
  • AUv3 Plugin State Saving
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URL Beamer is an AUv3 plugin for iOS that launches other apps from within your audio host. It provides tappable buttons that trigger custom URL schemes – ideal for quick app switching during live performance or studio workflow. You can insert it as either an Audio Effect or an Instrument in hosts like AUM, then launch external apps with a single tap. 
Optionally, each button can also send a MIDI note (on a chosen channel), letting you control other plugins or trigger global functions inside the host. Features • AUv3 plugin formats: Music Effect (aumf), Instrument (aumu) • 4 or 8 customizable buttons per instance • Buttons launch apps via custom URLs or universal links • Optional MIDI Note output (Note + Channel) • Basic MIDI Note input for button triggering • Minimal layout – fits tightly into your setup • File Manager for saving and loading settings • AUv3 Plugin State Saving + AU Presets • Parameter Mapping for remote MIDI control • Designed for AUM – works in other AUv3 hosts too Use it to switch apps, load presets, or control devices – all from a tiny plugin window. Note: URL Beamer does not play sound or process audio. It is a utility plugin intended for workflow enhancements in iOS audio environments. → For a complete description, see the documentation: https://novotny.klingt.org/Apps/URLBeamer/UserGuide

Screenshots

Touch Notation4 screens
URL Beamer4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: URL Beamer at Free against Touch Notation's $9.99. URL Beamer also leads on rating (4.4 vs 2.9) and in-app purchases (none vs 10). Touch Notation's advantage is ratings volume (21 vs 7) and iOS requirement (11.0 vs 15). On update cadence, ads and device support 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

URL Beamer is free to download; Touch Notation costs $9.99 up front. Touch Notation sells 10 one-off in-app purchases. URL Beamer asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

URL Beamer holds the better App Store score, 4.4 against 2.9. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 21 and 7 respectively.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on October 2, 2026 and September 22, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Touch Notation versus URL Beamer: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterTouch NotationURL Beamer
Price$9.99Free — better
Rating2.9 (21 ratings)4.4 (7 ratings) — better
Positive reviews44.6% of reviews—
Number of ratings21 — better7
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsEvery 3 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationPaidFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS11.0 — better15
Further details — not scored
Size112 MB13 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperKawai Musical Instruments Manufacturing Co., Ltd.Josef Novotny

Customer experience

Touch Notation

All ratings21 ratings
Positive38.1%
Neutral19.0%
Negative42.9%
Written reviews83 reviews
Positive44.6%
Neutral26.5%
Negative28.9%

URL Beamer

All ratings7 ratings
Positive85.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative14.3%

In-app purchases

10 purchases

Touch Notation

One-time10
  • Sound Set: Piano$0.49
  • Sound Set: Guitar/Bass 1$0.49
  • Sound Set: Strings$0.49
Show 7 more
  • Sound Set: Brass/Woodwind$0.49
  • Sound Set: Bell/Mallet$0.49
  • Sound Set: Vocal/Others$0.49
  • Core MIDI Output$1.99
  • Handwritten Font$1.99
  • Sound Set: Full$2.99
  • Chord Name & Automatic Accompaniment$3.99
None

URL Beamer

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Touch Notation free?
Touch Notation costs $9.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Is URL Beamer free?
URL Beamer is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Touch Notation or URL Beamer?
URL Beamer is rated higher. Touch Notation averages 2.9 out of 5 from 21 ratings, while URL Beamer averages 4.4 from 7 ratings.
Do Touch Notation or URL Beamer have ads?
Neither Touch Notation nor URL Beamer shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Touch Notation or URL Beamer?
Touch Notation ships an update every 3 months, and URL Beamer every 3 months. Most recently, Touch Notation was updated on October 2, 2026 and URL Beamer on September 22, 2026.

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