Playtonik
Built for We All Play Synth by 5of12
A musical fidget toy with MIDI FX
Playtonik is an app for iOS I designed and developed at 5of12. It uses physics based interactions, immersive spatial audio and dynamic haptic feedback for a fun, relaxing experience.
For the fidgeters, Playtonik comes with a selection of built in sounds and an on screen keyboard. Scale filters help keep you in tune, so you can focus on having fun!
For the musicians, MIDI support lets you connect your favourite instrument. Playtonik can work as a note source or as a chaotic MIDI delay, great for adding texture to your sound.
Playtonik
5of12
We All Play Synth
Made with Unity
Build for iOS
Musical Physics
Each note is a floating bouncy ball, contained within a shape. Touch and motion input let you spin and move the shape.
Spatial Sounds
As the balls bounce around the inside of the shape, sounds are created at the point of collision. These are placed around you for an immersive sound.
Dynamic Haptics
Using Apple Core Haptics for Unity we create unique haptic feedback for each sound. The collision properties match to the intensity of the haptics for a dynamic feel.
MIDI Support
We like synths, so MIDI was an essential feature. Trigger notes from a keyboard, send notes to another instrument, or do both! It's velocity sensitive, so you can get everything from subtle texture to an intense cacophony.
FAQ
Why use Unity?
Unity is great for building immersive apps. It's range of rendering tools, physics simulations and spatial audio processing make a it a great place to built this kind of thing.
Why iOS only?
5of12 is a small team and we all happen to be Apple users. We decided to focus on building the best experience we could for one platform, rather than dilute our time with other platforms
What did you learn building it?
Fidgetty users are great stress testors! People who just like to play with the physics and feel the haptics tend to push things to the extreme, so they are great for finding new bugs for you to fix!
© Peter Nancollis 2025