Nature vs Note to Be
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Nature
This app translates visual information from your camera into sound using spectral synthesis. Control the sound's amplitude, type, and speed by interacting with the screen and camera feed. Record any generated sound with a simple button press.
- Camera-to-sound translation
- Spectral synthesis
- Adjustable scanning curve
- Amplitude control
- Speed control
- Sound recording
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The world around us is an endless source of visual information, the flow of the fractal code of life. "Nature - Oscillator" is one of the attempts to translate this code to sound, using spectral synthesis algorithm of the Virtual ANS engine (software simulator of the unique Russian synthesizer ANS). The program continuously reads the image from the camera and interprets it as the spectrum of the sound. And you can easily control the scanning curve: its amplitude, type and speed. [ How to use ] Start the app and you will hear the sound immediately. Try to move the camera and you will hear the sound change. If there is no sound for some reason - try to reduce the Quality parameter in the app menu. How to change the scanning curve: * amplitude: touch the screen and slide up or down; * speed: touch the screen and slide left or right; * type: use the slider at the top of the screen. Any sound can be recorded by pressing the REC button on the right side of the screen.
Note to Be
This app offers advanced MIDI quantization for iOS musicians. It allows precise control over note selection, octave flexibility, and MIDI CC integration for crafting harmonious compositions and dynamic live performances. Supports microtonal scales and multi-synth setups.
- Customizable note and octave selection
- MIDI CC to note conversion
- Multi-synth channel assignment
- Live performance toggles
- Microtonal scale support (Scala Library)
- MPE polyphonic playback
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Take full control of your MIDI experience with Note to Be—the powerful iOS app designed to transform how you interact with your music. Whether you're working with a MIDI keyboard, sequencer, or MIDI CC input, Note to Be ensures your notes are perfectly quantized to the nearest selected note, allowing you to craft precise, harmonious compositions with ease. Key Features: - Customizable Note Selection: Choose individual notes from any octave, or apply your selection across the full -1 to +8 octave range. - Octave Flexibility: Work within the entire octave spectrum, selecting and unselecting notes with a simple tap. - MIDI CC Integration: Use MIDI CC from hardware controllers or apps like ShiftBud to convert control changes into quantized notes. Easily create chord voicings and dynamic live performances. - Multi-Synth Support: Assign different MIDI channels to multiple synths, allowing each to respond to the quantized MIDI output independently. - Live Performance Enhancement: Engage the 'all notes' toggle to instantly apply note selections across all octaves or quickly select notes in a specific key and scale. - Microtonality: Select a microtonal scale from the Scala Library with +5000 microtonal scales, or import your own to the iCloud folder. Play the MPE supported synths polyphonically. With Note to Be, your music becomes a canvas, and every note is a brushstroke. Unlock new creative possibilities and refine your sound with the precision of MIDI quantization, right from your iOS device. Note to Be is a MIDI app and does not produce any sound on its own. You need a MIDI input source and an audio output destination in order to work with Note to Be. The AUv3 plugin requires an AUv3 host app such as AUM, Logic Pro for iPad, Loopy Pro, Cubasis, Nanostudio, apeMatrix, Audiobus etc.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Nature at 94% against Note to Be's 50%. Nature also leads on price ($1.99 vs $4.99). Note to Be's advantage is update cadence (weekly vs every 36 months) and rating (4.9 vs 4.5). On ratings volume, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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
Nature costs $1.99 and Note to Be $4.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Note to Be holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.5. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 19 and 7 respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 94% of Nature's written reviews are positive against 50% of Note to Be's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Nature ships an update every 36 months, Note to Be weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 7, 2026 and October 18, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Nature | Note to Be |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $1.99 — better | $4.99 |
| Rating | 4.5 (19 ratings) | 4.9 (7 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 93.8% of reviews — better | 50.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 19 — better | 7 |
| Update frequency | Every 36 months | Weekly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Paid |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 12.0 — better | 13.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 3 MB | 71 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Alexander Zolotov | Cem Olcay |
Customer experience
Nature
Note to Be
In-app purchases
Nature
No in-app purchases
Note to Be
No in-app purchases









