WiDI MIDI Studio vs ShowMIDI
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
WiDI MIDI Studio
Create custom MIDI control surfaces and sequences for your music production. Map buttons, pads, knobs, and faders to send MIDI events and control instruments or DAWs. Features an integrated step sequencer for composing musical ideas.
- Customizable MIDI control surface
- Integrated step sequencer
- MIDI CC and Note generation
- MIDI network session support
- Automate CC values
- Group sequences for synchronized playback
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WiDI is a control surface with an integrated step sequencer in which you create controls such as buttons, pads, knobs and faders to send MIDI events and play sequences. • CONTROL SURFACE AND SEQUENCER: A control is bound to a channel and a specific MIDI Control Change. You can either specify the CC number if you know it, or let the app learn it. Once placed on the surface, use this control to interact with your MIDI device. Alternatively, any CC event sent by your device will be shown live by the control(s) bound to this CC. Pads are special controls: they can either produce MIDI CC events, Notes or Program changes. If bound to a CC, the pad can act as an on/off switch (you specify the values for each state.) If bound to a note, each tap produces the specified MIDI note. This is especially useful to operate MIDI instruments without keyboards such as synthesizer modules or drum machines. A sequence can hold as many tracks as you wish, and send notes to different MIDI channels. Sequences can play in sync or running freely. You may also group sequences together to start or pause them at the same time. • MIDI: To interface WiDI with any MIDI instruments/devices connected to your Mac or PC, connect to a MIDI Network Session on your Mac or your PC. On a Mac, this is natively supported by macOS, and you do not need to install third party software (use Audio MIDI Setup.) On a PC running Windows, you might want to install rtpMIDI. As an alternative to MIDI Network Sessions, you may use the WiDI Desktop Application. It acts as a MIDI bridge between the network and your MIDI hardware. You can install the desktop application on as many computers as you want (it's free!). It's a very lightweight package that doesn't need to perform any installation procedure whatsoever. You may download the WiDI Desktop Application for macOS on the Mac App Store, or go to : https://www.hypertide.com/widi/ for both macOS and Windows archives. Additionally, any class-compliant MIDI interface natively supported by iOS can also be used directly by WiDI without the need of a network connection. • FEATURES: ○ Use any CoreMIDI-supported MIDI interface connected to your device ○ MIDI network session: use WiDI as an external control surface for any DAW such as Logic Pro, Ableton Live, Cubase, ... ○ Multiple iPhone and iPad can connect to your computer, allowing different control surfaces simultaneously ○ Integrated step sequencer: create sequences, each one holding as many tracks as needed ○ Sequences can run freely or in sync and start simultaneously if grouped together in fire groups ○ Auto discover MIDI CC : you don't need to know each one to add controls, WiDI learns CC numbers sent by your devices ○ Automate CC : sweep ranges or use the step modulator to design patterns to modulate controls values, supporting various advanced options like step-by-step or smooth variations, bouncing, repeating, changing speed ○ Add as many pads as you want to generate MIDI Notes, Control Changes or Program Changes ○ Flexible control surface : set layout and grid size for both portrait and landscape orientations ○ Re-arranging controls is as simple as drag & drop ○ Fully customizable user interface : themes, colors, display of values and labels, aspect ratios, grid spacing, grid coloring, background, ... ○ Integrated File Manager to load and save your surfaces, which are also accessible in the iOS Files app and your computer's iTunes connection ○ Exchange surfaces between devices with the integrated QR code generator and scanner ○ Or use the share feature, so you may import them on any device. We'd love to hear from you! Should you be in need of support or eager to request a new feature, please contact us at support+widi@hypertide.com
ShowMIDI
This application provides a real-time, glanceable view of all MIDI activity on your computer. It visualizes various MIDI messages and allows you to pause the flow for a data snapshot. It can be used as a standalone tool or an AUv3 plugin within your DAW.
- Real-time MIDI visualization
- Auto-hides irrelevant messages
- Pause and snapshot data
- Standalone application
- AUv3 plugin support
- Supports MPE configuration
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ShowMIDI is an open-source multi-platform GUI application to effortlessly visualize MIDI activity. Instead of wading through logs of MIDI messages to correlate relevant ones and identify what is happening, ShowMIDI visualizes the current activity and auto-hides what you don't care about anymore. It provides you with a real-time glanceable view of all MIDI activity on your computer. ShowMIDI is designed to be always on, using the spacebar or play/pause button you can pause the flow and focus on a data snapshot with the latest state of any MIDI entity. ShowMIDI can be ran as a standalone application that automatically detects all your MIDI devices, or as an AUv3 plugin in your DAW or host to visualize MIDI data in your sessions. ShowMIDI visualizes: * MIDI ports * channels * program change * note on/off * channel pressure * polyphonic pressure * continuous control change * pitchbend * RPN and NRPN * MPE configuration and channel modes ShowMIDI supports: * themes * standalone operation * AUv3 operation
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: ShowMIDI at none against WiDI MIDI Studio's 1. ShowMIDI also leads on ratings volume (18 vs 2). WiDI MIDI Studio's advantage is rating (5.0 vs 4.8) and iOS requirement (10.0 vs 12.0). On price, update cadence, ads and monetization model 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. WiDI MIDI Studio sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. ShowMIDI asks for nothing beyond the download.
WiDI MIDI Studio holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: ShowMIDI has 18 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two.
WiDI MIDI Studio ships an update every 3 months, ShowMIDI every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on September 9, 2026 and September 5, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | WiDI MIDI Studio | ShowMIDI |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (2 ratings) — better | 4.8 (18 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | — | 87.5% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 2 | 18 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months | Every 2 months — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 10.0 — better | 12.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 26 MB | 8 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | HYPERTIDE SAS | Uwyn, LLC |
Customer experience
WiDI MIDI Studio
ShowMIDI
In-app purchases
WiDI MIDI Studio
- WiDI Fully Unlocked Version$1.99
ShowMIDI
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is WiDI MIDI Studio free?
Is ShowMIDI free?
Which has better reviews, WiDI MIDI Studio or ShowMIDI?
Do WiDI MIDI Studio or ShowMIDI have ads?
Which is updated more often, WiDI MIDI Studio or ShowMIDI?
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