PhaseRings vs Fishtail
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
PhaseRings
Create expressive music with intuitive touch gestures. Explore various sound schemes and generative composition tools to craft unique musical pieces. Supports MIDI and Audiobus for advanced integration.
- Expressive touch gesture music creation
- Seven unique sound schemes
- Generative composition engine
- Customizable pitch compositions
- Core MIDI support
- AudioBus and Inter-App Audio support
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PhaseRings is a musical instrument for performing expressive music with touch gestures. Anyone can create a beautiful piece of music with our sound schemes and generative composition engine! Each ring on the screen represents a different pitch, and you can tap and swirl on each ring to create combinations of long and short notes. The angle and size of your tap will change the timbre of the notes you create! New in version 3.0, PhaseRings is also an AUv3 Audio Unit plugin. Load it as an instrument in hosts like AUM, GarageBand, Logic Pro for iPad, and Cubasis — play the rings inside your host, run several instances at once, drive it from MIDI tracks, and record it through your host's effects. PhaseRings includes seven expressive "sound schemes" featuring percussive sounds like marimba and singing bowls as well as pure synth sounds like phase and string synthesis. Four "compositions" of pitches are included in the app, but you can also create your own custom composition by choosing three base notes and scales. PhaseRings will do the rest, generating a series of great setups from the harmony you choose! Features: - AUv3 Audio Unit instrument for AUM, GarageBand, Logic Pro, Cubasis, and other hosts - 7 sound schemes - 4 built-in compositions - Custom generative composition - 11 scales and modes - Core MIDI in and out for iOS MIDI accessories and MIDI-enabled apps - VoiceOver support and light/dark appearance
Fishtail
This app generates complete musical forms using algorithmic composition based on music theory. Users can shape, perform, and rearrange these compositions, routing seven musical channels to their chosen instruments via MIDI. It offers extensive control over keys, modes, and expressive elements.
- Algorithmic music generation
- Multi-section compositions
- Seven-channel MIDI output
- Retain, reorder, and perform Takes
- Multiple intonation systems
- AUv3 MIDI plug-in support
- Ableton Link integration
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Fishtail is a generative MIDI instrument for iPhone and iPad. It composes complete musical forms, then lets you shape, perform, retain and rearrange them! Fishtail does not use AI to generate music. Its musical output is created through algorhythmic generation grounded in musical theory. Build pieces from sections with independent keys, modes, meters, cadences and expressive treatments. Generate distinct Takes, compare them, reorder them and hand the next Take over at a natural whole-piece boundary. Fishtail produces MIDI rather than sound. Use it standalone or as an AUv3 MIDI plug-in, and route its seven musical channels to the instruments you choose. Ableton Link supports shared tempo and transport. Features: • Complete multi-section generative compositions • Seven-channel MIDI output • Retain, reorder and perform Takes • Seven intonation systems • Normal MIDI, pitch-bend and MPE output • MTS output • Ableton Link • .fishtail project save and recall • Standard MIDI and per-channel export • Experimental analogue CV file packages • Accessible light and dark interfaces No account, advertising, analytics or tracking. Tested in AUM
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: PhaseRings at Free against Fishtail's $14.99. PhaseRings also leads on ratings volume (16 vs 3). Fishtail's advantage is rating (5.0 vs 4.4) and update cadence (every 2 days vs every 5 months). On ads, in-app purchases, device support and iOS requirement 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
PhaseRings is free to download; Fishtail costs $14.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Fishtail holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: PhaseRings has 16 ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 80% of PhaseRings's written reviews are positive against 100% of Fishtail's.
PhaseRings ships an update every 5 months, Fishtail every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on September 30, 2026 and October 1, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | PhaseRings | Fishtail |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — better | $14.99 |
| Rating | 4.4 (16 ratings) | 5.0 (3 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 80.0% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 16 — better | 3 |
| Update frequency | Every 5 months | Every 2 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free — better | Paid |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 — better | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 6 MB | 26 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Charles Martin | AMY NICOLA MCBRIDE |
Customer experience
PhaseRings
Fishtail
In-app purchases
PhaseRings
No in-app purchases
Fishtail
No in-app purchases








