Monovista vs Polywave
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Monovista
Create music and captivating visuals simultaneously. Explore four unique instruments, loop and layer sounds, and interact with dynamic animations in real-time. This app offers a unique sensory experience for both auditory and visual creativity.
- Four instruments: 3 synths, 1 drum machine
- Looping and layering functionality
- Real-time interactive animations
- Control visual elements with music
- Unique instrument characteristics
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Monovista is a creative experience for your eyes and ears. Part music-making, part visual reverie. For your ears: Play four different instruments: 3 synthesizers and 1 drum machine. Loop each of them, add to the loops over time, and erase a loop when it's time for a change. Each instrument has its own idiosyncrasies, which you'll discover as you play with them. For your eyes: Monovista produces a wide variety of colorful, entrancing, and surprising animations, which you control and interact with at the same time as you're making music. I highly recommend hooking it up to some headphones, or loud speakers! -- Chadwick Wood
Polywave
Create unique, evolving sonic experiences with a novel wavetable sequencer inspired by vintage synths. Draw your own waveforms, explore a vast library, and connect to external keyboards or DAWs. Record your creations directly within the app.
- Wavetable sequencer
- Custom waveform drawing
- Expansive waveform library
- 100+ factory presets
- MIDI and Audio Unit support
- Live recording module
- 8-voice polyphony
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From Fingerlab (multiple-time winner of Music App of the Week, 2012 Apple Design Award) and Jordan Rudess (keyboardist of Dream Theater), comes Polywave — a revolutionary wavetable sequencer synthesizer for iPhone, iPad & Mac. Inspired by the legendary Korg Wavestation, Polywave lets you draw your own waveforms with your finger and create unique, ever-evolving sounds that are truly yours. Draw your own waveforms directly on screen 100+ factory presets: leads, pads, loops & FX Connect any MIDI keyboard or load as AUv3 in your DAW Live recording built-in Free version includes 12 factory presets and a selection of core features. Get the Full Version IAP to unlock everything. Features: • 8-voice polyphony & 6 octaves • Wavetable & waveform sequencer • VCO & FM Oscillators • FM Modulation & Detune • ADSR Envelope editor • Moog Ladder filter with ADSR • 2 LFOs with custom modulation waveform • LFO Sync & Loop mode • Waveform drawing editor & library (100 waveforms) • Preset Randomizer & export/import • 5 FX: Tube Amp, Vibrato, Chorus, Delay & Reverb • Live recording & export • Full MIDI & MIDI Mapping support • AudioBus & Inter-App Audio (iOS) • Full AudioUnit AUv3 support • iCloud Family Sharing Questions or feedback? We'd love to hear from you: contact@fingerlab.net Stay tuned! The Fingerlab Team
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Monovista at none against Polywave's 1. Monovista also leads on review sentiment (95% vs 80%) and iOS requirement (8.0 vs 15.0). Polywave's advantage is update cadence (every 3 months vs every 14 months). On price, rating, ratings volume and ads 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
Both are free to download. Polywave sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Monovista asks for nothing beyond the download.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for Monovista against 4.7 for Polywave. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 71 and 34 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 95% of Monovista's written reviews are positive against 80% of Polywave's.
Monovista ships an update every 14 months, Polywave every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on October 20, 2026 and October 23, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Monovista | Polywave |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (71 ratings) — better | 4.7 (34 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 94.6% of reviews — better | 80.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 71 — better | 34 |
| Update frequency | Every 14 months | Every 3 months — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — better |
| Requires iOS | 8.0 — better | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 6 MB | 44 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Coffeeshopped LLC | Fingerlab |
Customer experience
Monovista
Polywave
In-app purchases
Monovista
No in-app purchases
Polywave
- Full Version$11.99
