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Cellular Automata: Life Sim
Conway Game & Generative Art
Free · In‑App Purchases · Designed for iPad. Not verified for macOS.
Simple rules create beautiful complexity. Enjoy an optimized Conway game with audio-reactive color, rewind, GIF generation, edge detection enabled photo uploads and more!
Description:
Watch simple rules create extraordinary complexity.
Cellular Automata is the ultimate implementation of Conway's Game of Life. Built completely natively from the ground up, it transforms your device into a high-performance engine of infinite digital evolution and ambient audiovisual meditation. If you are a generative art enthusiast, a mathematics student, or just looking for a mesmerizing visualization to help you relax, we built this for you.
EVOLVE YOUR WORLD
Turn memories and text into living math. Import any photo from your camera roll, type a custom message, or load one of 21 included NASA space images (including Hubble captures). Watch as they transform into a living cellular grid, perfectly preserving the original pixel colors as the simulation evolves.
AUDIO-REACTIVE GENERATIVE ART
Turn math into a sensory experience. Cellular Automata features 10 built-in ambient and upbeat music tracks. Turn on audio-reactive colors and watch your grids and uploaded photos pulse, shimmer, and shift hues in real-time to the bass, mids, and beats of the music. Deep Customization of up to 6 stunning color presets with a full 0-100% hue shift slider.
PHOTO UPLOAD WITH EDGE DETECTION
Upload your photos into the Game of Life engine with the easy to use edge, brightness, dither or random selection to set initial patterns for the simulation and watch your photos come to life!
SHARE YOUR UNIVERSE
Created a mesmerizing loop or a stunning chaotic pattern? Instantly export high-resolution snapshots or generate animated GIFs of your simulation. The app seamlessly captures your last 3 seconds of history, including your audio-reactive colors, so you can share your discoveries directly with friends or on social media with a single tap.
POWERED BY METAL GPU
Experience uncompromised performance. Our custom-built Metal compute engine allows you to run massive 256x256 grids effortlessly with reactive audio coloring. Watch thousands of cells evolve at up to 30 generations per second without dropping a single frame, or switch to a crisp, 1-pixel-per-cell retro mode.
TOTAL CONTROL & CUSTOM STAMPS
Paint your universe with adjustable brush sizes from 1x1 up to 10x10. Made a mistake? The engine records your last 1,000 generations, allowing you to instantly scrub backward and forward through time. If you create or find a shape you love, extract it as a Custom Stamp to drop into any future simulation.
CURATED PATTERN LIBRARY
Instantly load 19 iconic, historically significant patterns. Discover classic Still Lifes, Oscillators, and Spaceships. Spawn the Gosper Glider Gun, test the Simkin Glider Gun, or watch the legendary "Acorn" Methuselah evolve for over 5,200 generations.
CELLULAR AUTOMATA PRO In-App Purchase
Unlock everything with Cellular Automata Pro:
Massive Scale: Unlock the massive 256x256 grid size for simulations and photo imports.
Audio-Reactive Engine: Unlock all 10 music tracks and the real-time audio-reactive color modulation.
Full Time Travel: Unlock the full 1000-step rewind history buffer.
Advanced Tools: Unlock large paint brush sizes (5x5 to 10x10) and unlimited grid saves.
Custom Stamps: Extract any pattern from the grid and save it as a reusable stamp.
Premium Aesthetics: Unlock the beautiful Ocean and Pastel color themes.
One-time purchase. No subscription.
Built with 100% native Apple frameworks, Cellular Automata respects your device's battery and your privacy, with zero third-party ad tracking.
Download Cellular Automata and hold infinity in the palm of your hand!
Ratings & Reviews
We have completely transformed Cellular Automata from a simulation engine into a powerful, audiovisual generative art studio.
What's New in This Update:
Photo & Text Modes: You can now import photos from your camera roll or type custom text to see them instantly converted into living cellular grids.
Space Image Gallery: We have bundled 21 breathtaking NASA space images. Load them up and watch the cosmos evolve according to Conway's rules.
Animated GIF Export: Seamlessly share your universes! The app now records your last 3 seconds of history. Tap the share button to generate a high-quality, easily shared, animated GIF of your simulation, complete with your custom colors.
Adjustable Paint Brushes allow you to adjust your brush size from 1x1 up to a massive 10x10, complete with a precise ghost-preview overlay.
Custom Stamps (Pro): Found a pattern you love? Extract it directly from the grid and save it to your new "My Stamps" library to drop into any future simulation.
Unified Menu Design: We have streamlined the interface with a gorgeous new tabbed menu layout for Settings, Patterns, Stamps, and your Saved Creations.
The developer, Socially Conscious Software LLC, indicated that the app’s privacy practices may include handling of data as described below. For more information, see the developer’s privacy policy .
Data Not Collected
The developer does not collect any data from this app.
The developer indicated that this app supports the following accessibility features. Learn More
Information
- Seller
- Socially Conscious Software, LLC
- Size
- 57 MB
- Category
- Entertainment
- Compatibility
Requires iOS 18.0 or later.
- iPhone
Requires iOS 18.0 or later. - iPad
Requires iPadOS 18.0 or later. - Mac
Requires macOS 15.0 or later and a Mac with Apple M1 chip or later. - Apple Vision
Requires visionOS 2.0 or later.
- iPhone
- Languages
- English
- Age Rating
4+
- 4+
- In-App Purchases
Yes
- Cellular Automata Pro $1.99
- Copyright
- © 2009 Socially Conscious Software LLC