shift vs ShowPlay
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
shift
This tool helps lighting designers and electricians monitor show progress on an Eos family console. It allows observation of pending and active cues, annotation of any cue, and live streaming of channel levels. Users can manage notes, track progress, and even edit console labels directly from their device.
- Connect to Eos consoles
- Monitor cue details
- Annotate cues with custom tags
- View live channel levels
- Manage and filter notes
- Edit console labels and notes
- Apple Watch app for cue monitoring
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An essential new tool for Lighting Designers and Electricians Shift-Label allows you to monitor the progress of your show on an eos family console - observe the pending and active cue and annotate any cue you wish. Key features include (note that some features require an in app purchase): - Connect to any Eos family console with minimal setup - Monitor details of all cues in any cue list, viewing labels, times and other attributes - divided by scene if required - Follow along with the current cue - Add multiple notes to cues, tagging notes with categories such as "Plotting", "Cueing" or "Focus" - all tags are user definable - View live streaming channel levels directly on your device (uses sACN) - Review all notes, or filter them down by taf - Mark notes as completed, or 'sleep' notes for a set time period to revisit later - Maintain separate sets of notes for different shows (great for when working in rep, or revisiting an old production) - Keeps cue details cached on device, allowing you to review details of the show and your notes when not at the console - On iPad run app in "split view" so you can monitor your show while using another app (such as safari or reading a pdf) - Jump directly to a cue on the console from a note - Edit the console label and notes fields directly from your iPad - Keypad control for basic channel manipulation from within app - Apple Watch app - monitor your console's current cue on your wrist! Note that for the watch app to function it must be paired with an iPhone with Shift-Label active and open, I suggest enabling "stop device from sleeping" in shift-label's settings Note that Shift-Label is not an official ETC product and is not authorised or endorsed by ETC in any way. ETC technical support will have no knowledge of the app
ShowPlay
This app allows users to remotely control various media and communication elements for theatrical and event productions. It supports video, audio, images, colors, and simulated calls/messages via OSC. Media can be imported locally or synced from cloud storage.
- Remote media playback (video, audio, images)
- Color control via RGB values
- Simulate incoming calls and messages
- OSC integration for control
- Dropbox cloud synchronization
- Connection re-establishment on weak networks
- Access to message logs for troubleshooting
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Connect. Play. ShowPlay connects to entertainment networks to remotely trigger video, audio, images and colours, and simulate incoming calls and messages using OSC (Open Sound Control). It is the ideal solution for theatre, movie, TV and event production. Import media from the local device, or synchronise with Dropbox cloud storage. ShowPlay actively re-establishes connections on weaker networks, and provides easy to access logs of incoming messages for troubleshooting. Video Play video files, and control audio levels and looping behaviour. Audio Play audio files, and control audio levels, speakers and looping behaviour. Images Display images, and control stretching behaviour. Colours Display colours by providing RGB values. Call Simulate incoming calls, and control ring/vibrate behaviour and caller identification text. Message Simulate incoming messages, and control ring/vibrate behaviour and messenger identification text.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: ShowPlay at 50% against shift's 0%. ShowPlay also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.3) and in-app purchases (none vs 1). shift's advantage is price (Free vs $9.99) and update cadence (every 2 months vs every 4 months). On ads and device support there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
shift is free to download; ShowPlay costs $9.99 up front. shift sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. ShowPlay asks for nothing beyond the download.
ShowPlay holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.3. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 3 and 1 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 0% of shift's written reviews are positive against 50% of ShowPlay's.
shift ships an update every 2 months, ShowPlay every 4 months. The most recent releases landed on June 3, 2026 and September 14, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | shift | ShowPlay |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — better | $9.99 |
| Rating | 4.3 (3 ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 0.0% of reviews | 50.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 3 — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months — better | Every 4 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases — better | Paid |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac |
| Requires iOS | 10.2 — better | 14.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 19 MB | 23 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Richard Williamson | Daniel Murfin |
Customer experience
shift
ShowPlay
In-app purchases
shift
- Full Access$10.99
ShowPlay
No in-app purchases









