Comparison

ThereMin Plus vs Hoverophone

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

Head to head
About

ThereMin Plus

Create music using your device's motion as a controller. Features include note snapping and waveform selection for live performance or practice.

Highlights
  • Motion-controlled music creation
  • Frequency-to-note snapping
  • Choice of three waveforms
  • Stage performance ready
  • Skill practice tool
Features
Read full description

Use your iPhone or iPad to intuitively make music using the rotation and position of your device like a theremin. With some handy features like frequency-to-note-snapping and a choice of three waveforms it can really be used on stage or to practice your skills with!

About

Hoverophone

This app reimagines the theremin for your iPhone, allowing you to play music by waving your hands in the air without touching the screen. It offers a polyphonic synthesizer with various sound options and microtonal capabilities for unique musical exploration.

Highlights
  • Air-based theremin playing with front camera hand tracking
  • Polyphonic synthesizer with multiple voice options
  • Microtonal keyboard with 12-TET or 24-TET quarter tones
  • Stack up to twelve notes by pinning voices
  • Continuous pitch glide and volume control
  • Fully offline functionality
Features
Read full description

Play a theremin in the air with your hands—no screen taps, controller, or antenna required. Hoverophone uses the front camera to follow your hands. Raise or lower a hand to glide the pitch, change the distance between your thumb and any finger to control volume, and move from side to side to pan the sound. Raise a hand and you are already playing that unmistakable, otherworldly theremin voice. A POLYPHONIC SYNTH Choose a sine, triangle, saw, or square wave, then add drive and ring modulation. Movement across the camera controls the stereo field. Hoverophone tracks up to four hands at once, so you can play chords instead of a single melody. Bring two sounding hands together to pin a note in place. Pinned notes continue to ring while you play, giving you as many as twelve simultaneous voices: four live and eight sustained. MICROTONAL NOTES IN THE AIR Leave the note grid off for the classic continuous theremin glide. Turn it on to snap the pitch to 12-TET notes or 24-TET quarter tones on an isomorphic hexagonal grid. Move your hand into a cell and the note lands in tune without touching the screen. The 24-TET mode opens the door to microtonal and xenharmonic music while preserving the instrument's in-air control. FEATURES - Front-camera hand tracking with no screen contact - Continuous theremin pitch or an isomorphic note grid - 12-TET and 24-TET tuning with quarter tones - Up to four tracked hands and twelve simultaneous voices - Four waveforms, drive, ring modulation, and stereo panning - Sound through the speaker or headphones, even in silent mode - No account required; plays without a network connection HOW TO PLAY THE THEREMIN A theremin is an electronic musical instrument played without physical contact. In Hoverophone, simply raise a hand in front of the camera. Move up and down to change pitch, open and close the space between your fingers to shape volume, and move left or right to place the sound in the stereo field. If you are learning how to play the theremin, start in continuous mode and practice smooth pitch glides. Switch to 12-TET when you want help landing on familiar notes, or choose 24-TET to play quarter tones and explore microtonal music. Hoverophone is a touch-free theremin app and polyphonic synthesizer app for iPhone and iPad, built for musicians who want expressive camera control without extra hardware. Camera frames are processed entirely on your device and never leave it. Hoverophone does not use the microphone. Create a soft ambient pad, build a dense drone, or summon the eerie sweep of a science-fiction soundtrack. For the most reliable tracking, play in a well-lit room where the camera can see your hands clearly.

Screenshots

ThereMin Plus3 screens
Hoverophone4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Hoverophone at 50% against ThereMin Plus's 0%. Hoverophone also leads on rating (4.3 vs 1.0). ThereMin Plus's advantage is iOS requirement (7.0 vs 17.6). On price, ratings volume, ads and in-app purchases 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

Hoverophone holds the better App Store score, 4.3 against 1.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 3 and 3 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 0% of ThereMin Plus's written reviews are positive against 50% of Hoverophone's.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
ThereMin Plus versus Hoverophone: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterThereMin PlusHoverophone
PriceFreeFree
Rating1.0 (3 ratings)4.3 (3 ratings) — better
Positive reviews0.0% of reviews50.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings33
Update frequency—Every 9 days
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS7.0 — better17.6
Further details — not scored
Size4 MB13 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperLennart de MeijMaxim Oransky

Customer experience

ThereMin Plus

All ratings3 ratings
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%

Hoverophone

All ratings3 ratings
Positive66.7%
Neutral33.3%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive50.0%
Neutral50.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

ThereMin Plus

No in-app purchases

None

Hoverophone

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is ThereMin Plus free?
ThereMin Plus is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Hoverophone free?
Hoverophone is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, ThereMin Plus or Hoverophone?
Hoverophone is rated higher. ThereMin Plus averages 1.0 out of 5 from 3 ratings, while Hoverophone averages 4.3 from 3 ratings.
Do ThereMin Plus or Hoverophone have ads?
Neither ThereMin Plus nor Hoverophone shows ads.

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