ShaderMania vs Web Inspector
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
ShaderMania
Create, edit, and share Metal shaders with a live coding environment and real-time preview. Explore a database of public and tutorial shaders, connect nodes to build complex effects, and export your creations. A physical keyboard is recommended for optimal use.
- Live coding of Metal fragment shaders
- Real-time preview and playback
- Node-based shader creation
- Public shader database
- Tutorial shaders with video links
- Export shader output to PNG
- Syntax checking and error display
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Create, edit, render, share, and learn Metal shaders with ShaderMania for iPad. ShaderMania is a visual Metal shader editor for iPadOS. Write fragment shaders with realtime preview and playback, organize shaders and images as nodes, connect shader inputs, expose parameters as sliders, and export rendered images. ShaderMania also includes a public shader library with examples and tutorial shaders, including links to explanation videos where available. ShaderMania is free to use. Optional tips are available if you want to support development. A physical keyboard is recommended for coding shaders on iPad. Features • Live Metal fragment shader editing with realtime preview and playback. • Visual node graph for shader and image nodes. • Connect shader nodes to build reusable shader chains. • Named shader input slots declared directly in shader source code. • Parameter annotations for sliders and live UI controls. • Realtime syntax checking, compiler errors, and warnings. • Render to custom resolutions and export PNG images. • Undo and redo for common node graph edits. Shader Library • Browse public shader examples and tutorial shaders. • Add shaders from the library to your own projects. • Upload useful, inspectable shader work to the public library.
Web Inspector
This app provides a suite of web development tools for Safari on mobile devices. Inspect and edit the DOM, view element styles, execute JavaScript commands, monitor network requests, and examine stored resources like cookies.
- DOM inspection and editing
- Element style viewer
- JavaScript console
- Network request monitoring
- Resource storage details
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Web Inspector expands Safari on iPhone and iPad with a set of web development tools: Elements: Browse the DOM tree and tap elements on the page to inspect them. View node details, styles, and computed values. Search the DOM, edit an element's HTML, and copy or delete nodes. Console: Type JavaScript commands to debug, modify, and get information about your webpage. Sources: Read the webpage's source with syntax highlighting. Network: See a list of network requests made by the webpage, with headers and responses. Filter requests, or copy one as a cURL command. Resources: Find details about the data stored by a webpage, such as cookies, local storage, and session storage. Tip: If you tap the Web Inspector button and nothing happens, reload the page once..
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: ShaderMania at 100% against Web Inspector's 65%. Web Inspector's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 3) and update cadence (weekly vs every 16 months). On price, ads, monetization model 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. ShaderMania sells 3 one-off in-app purchases. Web Inspector asks for nothing beyond the download.
ShaderMania ships an update every 16 months, Web Inspector weekly. The most recent releases landed on November 3, 2026 and November 7, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | ShaderMania | Web Inspector |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | — | 3.9 (160 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better | 64.7% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | — | 160 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 16 months | Weekly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Best chart rank | — | #51 — better |
| Devices | iPad, Mac | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 17.6 | 15.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 24 MB | 2 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Markus Moenig | And a Dinosaur |
Customer experience
ShaderMania
Web Inspector
Bugs and requests
ShaderMania
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
Web Inspector
Reported bugs
4 issues- Disappears when reloading webpage
- Doesn't work on newer iOS versions
- Doesn't load on crashed tabs
- Permissions issues
Requested features
4 requests- CSS editing capabilities
- Resizable panel
- Improved console functionality
- Better integration with Safari
In-app purchases
ShaderMania
- Small Tip$1.99
- Medium Tip$4.99
- Large Tip$9.99
Web Inspector
No in-app purchases









