Audio Forge is a soundboard for your own audio files, with smart-home hooks; Summoning Stone is a scene-based app with built-in music, a TV display and Siri or Stream Deck control. Both run on iPhone, iPad and Mac. If your priority is playing your own recordings or syncing lights through Home Assistant, Audio Forge is the better fit. If you want ready-to-use stream-safe audio, scenes and a TV display, Summoning Stone is.
We make Summoning Stone. Audio Forge facts below come from its App Store listing as of October 2026.
At a glance
| Summoning Stone | Audio Forge | |
|---|---|---|
| Platforms | iPhone, iPad, Mac | iPhone, iPad, Mac |
| Your own audio files | No. Apple Music playlists instead | Yes: MP3, WAV and OGG |
| Built-in audio | Millions of songs, plus stream-safe music, ambience and effects | Optional sound packs; Freesound browsing inside the app |
| Scenes and campaigns | Fully customizable scenes grouped by campaign, plus community-made campaigns | Scenes organized by campaign |
| Involvement | One tap starts a scene, and it plays exactly as you saved it: music, ambience levels, effects and reverb | Scenes organized by campaign; how much live adjustment they need is not stated |
| Room acoustics | Reverb on a scene’s ambience and effects, saved with the scene, so a cave can sound like a cave and a church like a church | Not stated on its App Store page |
| Layering | Layered ambience, music and effects in scenes | One music track, several ambience beds and one-shot effects |
| Smart lighting | Via Siri Shortcuts and Stream Deck | MQTT and Home Assistant integration listed |
| TV display | Artwork and maps with weather effects | Not stated |
| Offline | Not stated | Works offline |
| Hands-free control | Siri, Shortcuts, Stream Deck | Not stated |
Where Audio Forge is stronger
- Your own audio. Import MP3, WAV and OGG files and build a library that’s yours. Summoning Stone can’t import audio files.
- Offline use. Audio Forge states that it works offline.
- Smart-home integration. It lists MQTT and Home Assistant support for syncing with room lighting and a fog machine. See lights and D&D apps.
Where Summoning Stone is stronger
- Built for professionals. A pro-level app with tons of features. It’s built for live streaming (built-in audio cleared for commercial use, hands-free control with Siri and Stream Deck, scenes that play the same way every time) and for professional game masters running lots of different games, with custom campaigns that fit each group rather than starting from someone else’s ready-made scenes.
- One tap, played as saved. Each scene remembers its music, ambience levels, effects and reverb, so switching scenes is one tap and nothing needs adjusting mid-game. Do a little prep up front, then just play.
- Room acoustics. Add reverb to a scene’s ambience and effects, and save it with the scene. A tight cavern, a vast hall or a church can sound like one, every time you start the scene.
- Millions of songs. Access to the largest library of music for tabletop games, with nothing to import.
- Ready-to-use, stream-safe audio. Built-in music, ambience and effects cleared for commercial use with attribution. See stream-safe music.
- A TV display. Show scene artwork and maps with rain, snow, fog, smoke or magic effects. See how.
- Siri and Stream Deck control. Start scenes and fire effects hands-free. See how.
- Community campaigns. Skip the setup with community-made campaigns and scenes, including scenes for adventures like Death House in Curse of Strahd, and share your own.
Who should choose which
- Choose Audio Forge if you mainly want to play your own audio files.
- Choose Summoning Stone if you want fully customizable scenes, millions of songs, a TV display and hands-free control, with stream-safe audio built in.
- Not sure? Summoning Stone is free to download, so try it first. Or read our guide to the best tabletop audio apps.
Frequently asked questions
Is Summoning Stone better than Audio Forge?
In our view, for most game masters on Apple devices, yes. Audio Forge is great if you mainly want to play your own audio files, but Summoning Stone offers fully customizable scenes, millions of songs, a TV display, hands-free control and stream-safe audio built in.
Can I import my own MP3s into Summoning Stone?
No. It can play Apple Music playlists, but doesn’t import audio files.
Which one can control my lights?
Audio Forge lists MQTT and Home Assistant integration. Summoning Stone can be combined with your lights through Siri Shortcuts or Stream Deck.
Do both work on Mac?
Yes, both run on iPhone, iPad and Mac.