Comparison

ShaderMania vs Web Inspector

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

Head to head
About

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.

Highlights
  • 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
Read full description

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.

About

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.

Highlights
  • DOM inspection and editing
  • Element style viewer
  • JavaScript console
  • Network request monitoring
  • Resource storage details
Features
Read full description

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

Web Inspector4 screens

Verdict

The call

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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. ShaderMania sells 3 one-off in-app purchases. Web Inspector asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

ShaderMania ships an update every 16 months, Web Inspector weekly. The most recent releases landed on November 3, 2026 and November 7, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 6 level
ShaderMania versus Web Inspector: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterShaderManiaWeb Inspector
PriceFreeFree
Rating—3.9 (160 ratings) — better
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews — better64.7% of reviews
Number of ratings—160 — better
Update frequencyEvery 16 monthsWeekly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFreeFree
Best chart rank—#51 — better
DevicesiPad, MaciPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS17.615.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size24 MB2 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperMarkus MoenigAnd a Dinosaur

Customer experience

ShaderMania

Written reviews4 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Web Inspector

All ratings152 ratings
Positive68.4%
Neutral9.2%
Negative22.4%
Written reviews224 reviews
Positive64.7%
Neutral13.4%
Negative21.9%

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

3 purchases

ShaderMania

One-time3
  • Small Tip$1.99
  • Medium Tip$4.99
  • Large Tip$9.99
None

Web Inspector

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is ShaderMania free?
ShaderMania is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Web Inspector free?
Web Inspector is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do ShaderMania or Web Inspector have ads?
Neither ShaderMania nor Web Inspector shows ads.
Which is updated more often, ShaderMania or Web Inspector?
ShaderMania ships an update every 16 months, and Web Inspector weekly. Most recently, ShaderMania was updated on November 3, 2026 and Web Inspector on November 7, 2026.

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