Somaphi vs Viastaro Soundbath

Somaphi is a generative audio app for meditation, sleep, calm, focus, and flow. Its native C++ engine creates sound on the device in real time rather than playing recordings or loops. Five modes—Sleep, Drift, Calm, Focus, and Flow—use their own frequency ranges, scales, reverb spaces, and ambient textures. Sessions include a breath guide with inhale settings of 3, 4, 5, 6, or 8 seconds. Users can improvise with a chromatic keyboard tuned to the active scale, choose among three sequencer patterns, or use Symphony mode for continuous phrase and chord decisions. The free plan includes five modes with no account or subscription. Studio Pro adds keys, scales, chord voicings, 432 Hz tuning, breathing patterns, recording, and audio export. It is listed at $12.99 a month, billed as a one-time purchase. Exports can be lossless WAV, AIFF, or M4A, and the maker says they require no license, royalties, or attribution for listed uses. The maker says the app works offline, does not track users, and renders audio locally. It is available on iOS; Mac compatibility requires macOS 12.0 or later and Apple M1 or later.

Viastaro Soundbath is an iPhone and iPad app that generates layered soundscapes for meditation, focus, or sleep. It combines recordings from 31 real instruments into a different soundbath each time, using binaural layers positioned across the stereo field and slowly moved around the listener. Two controls set how many instruments can play and how spacious or slow the result feels. Playback continues with the phone locked, and lock-screen and Control Centre controls remain available. The free plan includes ads. Premium adds a radial editor and timeline for changing and pairing instruments during playback, saving arrangements, and exporting audio as MP3, M4A, WAV, or AIFF. Premium Monthly costs £0.99 per month; Premium Yearly costs £7.99 per year. Premium is also included with a Viastaro subscription after signing in. The app requires iOS 16 or later, supports 15 languages, and follows or lets users change the device language.