Comparison

PhaseRings vs Rithmatic

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

Head to head
About

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.

Highlights
  • Expressive touch gesture music creation
  • Seven unique sound schemes
  • Generative composition engine
  • Customizable pitch compositions
  • Core MIDI support
  • AudioBus and Inter-App Audio support
Features
Read full description

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

About

Rithmatic

This app is an FM synthesizer featuring a vast library of classic voices. It allows users to explore, learn, build, and blend sounds using an intuitive interface and an AUv3 plugin for DAWs. It offers a comprehensive synthesis engine and various playback options.

Highlights
  • 36,118 classic DX7 voices included
  • AUv3 plugin for DAWs
  • Patch Builder to learn FM synthesis
  • Sound blending feature
  • On-screen and MIDI keyboard support
  • Arpeggiator and latch function
  • WAV export
Features
Read full description

Rithmatic is an FM synthesizer with 36,118 classic DX7 voices built in, and an AUv3 plugin for GarageBand on iPad and your DAW on the Mac. Browse them by family and by character, learn how FM works by watching it shape each one, build and blend your own, and play them from the on-screen keys or a MIDI keyboard. No account, no ads, nothing locked. IN YOUR DAW • Put it on a track in GarageBand on iPad, or in an Audio Unit host on the Mac such as Ableton Live. • Its window is the app's own Patches screen and Patch Builder, with your library. • Your bank appears as the plugin's presets, and Brightness, Attack, Decay, Release and Feedback can be automated. The patch is saved with your project. A LIBRARY THAT SHIPS FULL • 36,118 unique DX7 voices come with the app: no download, no account, no network. • Start with Essentials: the famous sounds and the songs they're on. • Browse by family, or by character: percussive, plucked, metallic, bright, sustained, swell, evolving, mellow. Or search by name. • Patch of the day: one classic voice each day, in the app and in a widget for iPhone, iPad and Mac. • Every voice is credited to the archive it came from, and to its designer where a bank names one. PLAY IT • A DX7-compatible synthesis engine runs inside the app, so every patch plays with nothing plugged in. • Play from the on-screen keys, your Mac's keyboard, or any MIDI keyboard you connect. • Pitch bend, mod wheel, breath, sustain and aftertouch, with aftertouch set to vibrato, tremolo or swell. • Velocity from a MIDI keyboard, or turn it off and choose how hard every note plays. • An arpeggiator (up, down, up and down, random or as played, over up to three octaves) and a latch that holds each key. • Record what you play and share it as a WAV. • Five tunings: equal, just, and Wendy Carlos's Alpha, Beta and Gamma scales. • Light or dark, as your device is set or as you choose. Drag the keys taller or shorter. • Keys, shortcuts and every synth term, explained under Help. SEE THE SOUND The waveform follows what you play: each operator's envelope, how hard you hit, the pitch, the LFO's wobble, and a chord as one layer per note. Resize it, go full screen, or watch the output itself in the Scope look. PATCH BUILDER: LEARN HOW FM WORKS FM is famous for being hard to program. The Patch Builder shows you why a sound sounds the way it does. • All six operators on a graph, each cable carrying its wave: see a modulator reshape its carrier as you drag. • Draw a cable and the builder snaps to the nearest of the 32 algorithms, so you learn routing by doing it. • Plain words beside the jargon. Edit each operator's ratio, level, envelope and tuning, the LFO and pitch envelope, or use FEEL: thickness, touch and brightness. BLEND Pick two patches and Rithmatic blends them into eight new ones. Play each, and keep the ones you like. YOUR BANK AND FILES • Gather patches from anywhere into your bank, then drag pads to swap or reorder them. • Export the bank as standard DX7 .syx files. Open .syx banks, or a .zip of them, from Files, Mail, AirDrop or the Finder. • Share a sound as a short clip of it playing, with a card and a code that brings the patch into anyone's Rithmatic. WITH A SYNTH, IF YOU HAVE ONE Hardware is optional. Choose your synth in Settings: • Korg Volca FM2 (firmware 1.10 or later, over MIDI): read its current patch, write to any of its 64 memory slots, back up and restore all 16 sequencer patterns, and capture the whole instrument to a snapshot. • DX7 family: send patches and 32-voice banks to a DX7 (mkI/II), TX7, TX802 or the original Volca FM over standard Yamaha voice dumps. FREE AND PRIVATE Every feature is free; tips are optional and unlock nothing. Rithmatic works offline and collects no personal data: no account, no analytics, no ads. KORG and volca are trademarks of Korg Inc. DX7 and TX are trademarks of Yamaha Corporation. Rithmatic is an independent app and is not affiliated with or endorsed by either.

Screenshots

PhaseRings3 screens
Rithmatic4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: PhaseRings at 4.4 against Rithmatic's 4.0. PhaseRings also leads on review sentiment (80% vs 50%) and ratings volume (16 vs 4). Rithmatic's advantage is update cadence (every 2 days vs every 5 months). On price, 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

PhaseRings holds the better App Store score, 4.4 against 4.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 16 and 4 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 80% of PhaseRings's written reviews are positive against 50% of Rithmatic's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

PhaseRings ships an update every 5 months, Rithmatic every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on October 15, 2026 and October 13, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
PhaseRings versus Rithmatic: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPhaseRingsRithmatic
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.4 (16 ratings) — better4.0 (4 ratings)
Positive reviews80.0% of reviews — better50.0% of reviews
Number of ratings16 — better4
Update frequencyEvery 5 monthsEvery 2 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — better
Requires iOS16.015.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size6 MB64 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperCharles MartinMADE WITH BEST PRACTICE LLC

Customer experience

PhaseRings

All ratings12 ratings
Positive75.0%
Neutral8.3%
Negative16.7%
Written reviews20 reviews
Positive80.0%
Neutral5.0%
Negative15.0%

Rithmatic

All ratings4 ratings
Positive75.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative25.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive50.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative50.0%

In-app purchases

None

PhaseRings

No in-app purchases

None

Rithmatic

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is PhaseRings free?
PhaseRings is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Rithmatic free?
Rithmatic is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, PhaseRings or Rithmatic?
PhaseRings is rated higher. PhaseRings averages 4.4 out of 5 from 16 ratings, while Rithmatic averages 4.0 from 4 ratings.
Do PhaseRings or Rithmatic have ads?
Neither PhaseRings nor Rithmatic shows ads.
Which is updated more often, PhaseRings or Rithmatic?
PhaseRings ships an update every 5 months, and Rithmatic every 2 days. Most recently, PhaseRings was updated on October 15, 2026 and Rithmatic on October 13, 2026.

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