XPad vs TriplePlay Connect
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
XPad
This app provides professional pad sounds for keyboardists, aiming to replicate warm analog synth tones with advanced digital features. It offers intuitive glissando control, real-time sound morphing, and extensive MIDI compatibility for a dynamic playing experience.
- Modern pad sounds
- Realistic glissando control
- Tone Width morphing
- Sensible sound controls
- MIDI remote control
- Extensive sound library search
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XPad is a professional sound module app and Audio Unit v3 plugin with focus on modern pad sounds for iPad. Goal was to get the warm and vibrant sound of analogue synths onto the convenient platform of an iPad and combining those sounds with the benefits of state of the art digital features while still preserving that analogue tone and feeling. Glissando XPad introduces a new way that we were developing for our apps to achieve realistic large interval Glissando. You can glide a tone continuously e.g. from the lowest octave up to the highest octave and vice versa, in any desirable speed and without causing an artificial impression to the listener. We were also thinking about how to improve the usability aspects for playing Glissando in a much more intuitive & convenient way for a keyboard player, while still preserving the player's full control. Foremost this app allows you to mix Glissando with regular polyphonic notes (e.g. chords) simultaneously or switch between these playing styles quickly at any time without leaving your hands off the keyboard. For instance you might be playing and holding a chord with your right hand while playing a Glissando slide with your left hand and punching through the right hand's chord from an octave lower than the chord, up to some octave higher than the chord. Tone Width Replicating some analogue boutique pad synthesizers is nice, but what about having a huge stack of them? That's where "Tone Width" control comes into play. Especially the important pad sounds of this app allow you to morph the sound with the "Tone Width" knob in real-time steplessly between a very thin and clean sound up to a huge and fat tonal sound as if an army of pad synths was working under your finger tips. Sensible Control Controls for the individual sound aspects is good. But it should be in a sensible way. Nothing is hard wired here. Every sound of this app presents controls that make sense for the individual sound. All controls presented are always fine tuned to the individual elements of that sound. You can alter all controls remotely by MIDI e.g. with sliders at your keyboard. The most important controls for each sound are mapped to things that you are most likely using anyway at your keyboard. For instance all sounds use the Aftertouch information of your keyboard to bring more dynamic behaviour into the sound even while just holding some notes. And just grab your modulation wheel at your keyboard to bring in some more variance. Never Lost XPad offers up to 462 sounds, but don't worry, it never lets you down and always assists you finding just the sound you need in a glimpse. You can quickly search for sounds with any combination of several criteria like sound characteristics, articulations, controls and more. Connectivity Like all our apps, XPad is very easy to use and start with. Just connect your keyboard with your iPad and you are ready to go. And of course if needed, you can simply tweak the setup, e.g. use a Bluetooth MIDI wireless connection to your keyboard instead of a cabled one, restrict MIDI input to certain devices or apps, connect to other apps with Inter-App Audio or use the sounds of this app as Audio Unit v3 plugin directly in the DAW app of your choice. Recorder The app comes with a built-in MIDI recorder that allows you to quickly record your musical ideas. You can share them as audio files with other people or transfer them as MIDI files for further work e.g. on your Mac. Sound Sets XPad is divided into 14 optional sound sets of different sound categories and provide up to 462 sounds in total. Even though the app is focused on pad sounds, this is not all this app has to offer sound-wise. The "Atmo" pack for instance contains atmospheric sounds for generating very emotional sound bases and backgrounds e.g. for film and entertainment. The "Perc" sound set contains drums and percussive sounds. The "Silicon" sound set covers synthesizers also offside the pad field, and much more.
TriplePlay Connect
Transform your guitar into a versatile instrument with this music creation and performance app. Play a wide range of virtual instruments, create loops, and generate chords or arpeggios directly from your guitar. It bridges your instrument to your device for endless musical possibilities.
- Play virtual instruments from guitar
- Create loops and audio files
- Generate chords from single notes
- Arpeggiate instruments
- Works with TriplePlay MIDI controller
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TriplePlay Connect iOS app is a music creation and performance app that was created to work with the TriplePlay Connect MIDI controller for guitar that installs easily and non-invasively on most electric and acoustic guitars. TriplePlay Connect is the bridge between your guitar and your iPad. Turn your guitar into a whole band. Create and play instruments like a violin or synthesizers from your guitar. Play loops and audio files easily by playing notes on your guitar. Arpeggiate instruments or create chords from single notes on the guitar. Connect to the possibilities.
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: TriplePlay Connect at 4.2 against XPad's 3.8. TriplePlay Connect also leads on ratings volume (239 vs 24). XPad's advantage is monetization model (free vs free with in-app purchases) and update cadence (every 4 weeks vs every 4 months). On price, ads, in-app purchases 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
Both are free to download. XPad sells 14 one-off in-app purchases and TriplePlay Connect sells 5 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
TriplePlay Connect holds the better App Store score, 4.2 against 3.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: TriplePlay Connect has 239 ratings behind it against 24, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 50% of XPad's written reviews are positive against 30% of TriplePlay Connect's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
XPad ships an update every 4 weeks, TriplePlay Connect every 4 months. The most recent releases landed on October 14, 2026 and October 23, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | XPad | TriplePlay Connect |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.8 (24 ratings) | 4.2 (239 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 50.0% of reviews — better | 30.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 24 | 239 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 4 weeks — better | Every 4 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPad | iPad |
| Requires iOS | 12.0 | 12.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 1.2 GB | 3.7 GB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Christian Schoenebeck d/b/a Crudebyte | Fishman Transducers, Inc. |
Customer experience
XPad
TriplePlay Connect
Bugs and requests
XPad
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
TriplePlay Connect
Reported bugs
27 issues- App crashes randomly
- App crashes when editing/saving Combis
- App crashes when clicking iTunes button
- App crashes when changing sounds
- App crashes constantly
Show 22 moreShow fewer
- App crashes when making adjustments
- App crashes repeatedly
- Cannot reconnect to app after pairing lost
- No sound from guitar through app
- In-app purchases don't work
- Tones hang or don't sound
- Slow performance
- Cannot switch modes
- No connection to iPad
- False tones/noise with some instruments
- App stopped working after update
- Arpeggiator only goes up
- Drains iPad battery
- Severe latency issues
- Cannot access EastWest sounds
- Hoaky clips blast from monitors
- App poops out and says not compatible
- Problem downloading purchased sounds
- Firmware update issues
- Cannot find purchased sound pack
- Hung and crashed when pulling tracks from iTunes
- TPConnect keeps working in the background
Requested features
14 requests- Add more features to iOS app
- Ability to organize Combi folders
- Ability to back up Combis
- Create set lists
- Support for other MIDI controllers
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- Add more instrument sounds (harmonica, accordion)
- Add more stringed instruments (banjo, uke, sitar, mandolin)
- Add more patches/sounds
- Ability to add instruments directly to the app
- More neck splits
- Advanced app version
- Simplified, less cluttered interface
- Better integration with other synth apps
- App should act as a MIDI controller on other apps
In-app purchases
XPad
- Weirdo Sound Set$2.99
- Pluck Sound Set$2.99
- Metal Sound Set$3.99
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- Bass Sound Set$3.99
- Choir Sound Set$3.99
- Altro Sound Set$3.99
- Organ Sound Set$3.99
- Percussive Sound Set$3.99
- Silicon Sound Set$4.99
- Vintage Sound Set$4.99
- Atmo Sound Set$5.99
- Space Sound Set$5.99
- Nature Sound Set$5.99
- Sequence Sound Set$5.99
TriplePlay Connect
- TriplePlay Wireless MIDIFree
- Da'Bounce$5.99
- Analog End$9.99
Show 2 moreShow fewer
- Electric Spirals$9.99
- Electric Rock$9.99
Questions
Is XPad free?
Is TriplePlay Connect free?
Which has better reviews, XPad or TriplePlay Connect?
Do XPad or TriplePlay Connect have ads?
Which is updated more often, XPad or TriplePlay Connect?
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