Comparison

Bluetooth Midi Pads vs ShowMIDI

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Bluetooth Midi Pads

Transform your iOS device into a wireless MIDI controller. Play your favorite DAWs and instruments on iOS, iPadOS, and desktop using Bluetooth Low Energy MIDI. Features a 16-pad matrix with selectable octaves.

Highlights
  • Wireless MIDI controller
  • 16-pad matrix
  • Selectable octave
  • Bluetooth Low Energy MIDI
  • iOS and iPadOS support
Read full description

Bluetooth Midi Pads turns your iOS and iPadOS devices in a wireless Midi pads controller. Play your favourites iOS, iPadOS and desktop Bluetooth LE Midi DAWs and instruments from your iPhone and iPad. -16 pads matrix. -Selectable octave. -Bluetooth Low Energy Midi. How does it works: Push connect button and in the opened view turn on the switch button. This will make your device discoverable by your Bluetooth MIDI Host, connect it from it and you will can play your MIDI Host from B.M.P.. If your MIDI Host don't support Bluetooth MIDI there are some free apps on the market that creates virtual Bluetooth Midi Ports. Demo video on developer's page.

About

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.

Highlights
  • Real-time MIDI visualization
  • Auto-hides irrelevant messages
  • Pause and snapshot data
  • Standalone application
  • AUv3 plugin support
  • Supports MPE configuration
Features
Read full description

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

Bluetooth Midi Pads2 screens
ShowMIDI4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: ShowMIDI at 4.8 against Bluetooth Midi Pads's 4.0. ShowMIDI also leads on update cadence (every 2 months vs every 66 months) and ratings volume (18 vs 3). On price, ads, in-app purchases 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

ShowMIDI holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: ShowMIDI has 18 ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Bluetooth Midi Pads ships an update every 66 months, ShowMIDI every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on September 24, 2026 and October 7, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Bluetooth Midi Pads versus ShowMIDI: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBluetooth Midi PadsShowMIDI
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.0 (3 ratings)4.8 (18 ratings) — better
Positive reviews—87.5% of reviews
Number of ratings318 — better
Update frequencyEvery 66 monthsEvery 2 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS18.612.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size2 MB8 MB
Age rating4+4+
Developerpablo lopezUwyn, LLC

Customer experience

Bluetooth Midi Pads

All ratings3 ratings
Positive66.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative33.3%

ShowMIDI

All ratings18 ratings
Positive94.4%
Neutral5.6%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews8 reviews
Positive87.5%
Neutral12.5%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

Bluetooth Midi Pads

No in-app purchases

None

ShowMIDI

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Bluetooth Midi Pads free?
Bluetooth Midi Pads is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is ShowMIDI free?
ShowMIDI is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Bluetooth Midi Pads or ShowMIDI?
ShowMIDI is rated higher. Bluetooth Midi Pads averages 4.0 out of 5 from 3 ratings, while ShowMIDI averages 4.8 from 18 ratings.
Do Bluetooth Midi Pads or ShowMIDI have ads?
Neither Bluetooth Midi Pads nor ShowMIDI shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Bluetooth Midi Pads or ShowMIDI?
Bluetooth Midi Pads ships an update every 66 months, and ShowMIDI every 2 months. Most recently, Bluetooth Midi Pads was updated on September 24, 2026 and ShowMIDI on October 7, 2026.

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