Protoplasm

Mineral oil, dyed water and the hot lamp of an overhead projector. A liquid light show you can play with. Protoplasm brings the spirit of a 1960s light table to iPhone and iPad. Add color, turn the plate, and watch shapes stretch, mingle and drift. MAKE YOUR MARK Drop oil and ink. Sprinkle tiny drops between larger shapes. Draw with the Pen, place a spiral or rose stamp, or pull threads of color with a comb. Your marks become part of the moving liquid. A DROP OF SOAP Send a burst through the plate. Lace curls through the color, Round opens a broad front, Bloom unfolds like petals, and Spritz makes small openings that develop and refill. Try a small accent, then go bigger. CREATE, THEN PLAY Create keeps the floating controls close at hand. Tap the eye to switch to Play, leaving more room for the picture. Tap the active tool to reveal its choices, then keep drawing. Each tool family remembers your selection. Pinch to zoom in or see the whole plate. Use Press and Turn to move the glass, or enable Motion to respond to the tilt of your device. Layer up to three projectors and work on each plate separately. LET THE ARTIST TAKE A TURN Leave it alone and the Artist draws, stamps, sprinkles and reshapes the composition. It changes pace, colors and motion, then leaves quiet intervals for the shapes to settle. Reach in whenever you like. LET SOUND IN Basic Listen is included free. Turn on the microphone to let bass add movement and higher sounds affect brightness, or keep playing in silence. Sound is processed on your device; Protoplasm does not save or upload microphone recordings. TAKE IT FURTHER WITH OPERATOR The optional Operator in-app purchase adds advanced audio controls, your own graphic on the glass, and video capture and export. Record the top layer and prepare a looping bounce video. On iPhone, you can also prepare a Live Photo for wallpaper and save it to Photos. LIGHT THROUGH LIQUID Oil bends the projected light. Dyes filter it, bright nets gather where it converges, and dark rims trace each blob. Every frame comes from the moving liquid simulation. Free to play, with an optional Operator purchase. No account and no analytics. Microphone, Motion and Photos access are optional. Requires iOS 26 or iPadOS 26 or later. Made by Mind Bending Pixels, an independent studio.