Comparison

Skym vs TouchOSC

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

Head to head
About

Skym

Control your Ableton devices with expressive touch gestures. This MIDI controller app lets you manipulate four parameters simultaneously, offering instant variability and interest to your sounds. It requires Ableton on macOS and does not generate sound on its own.

Highlights
  • Touch control for Ableton devices
  • Control 4 parameters simultaneously
  • X, Y, Speed, and Gate parameters
  • USB or Bluetooth connection
  • Free starter Ableton project included
  • Expressive sound design
Features
Read full description

Touch control for your Ableton devices. Skym is a MIDI controller app that allows you to control 4 parameters of your Ableton devices at once. Simply download the app, and install our Ableton script on Mac, and you can connect over USB or Bluetooth to perform expressive sound design. Our free starter Ableton project has some sounds to get you up and running. Skym sends 4 parameters at once. X, Y, Speed (how fast your touch is moving), and Gate (flips on and off with touch). These parameters automatically map to macros 1, 2, 3, and 4 respectively. Combining these layers of control on synths, samplers, effects, gives you access to instant variability and interest in your sounds. Note Skym is a controller and not a sound generator, so the app does not make sound on its own. We only support connection and integration with Ableton on Mac. Mac OS must be 10.11 or later Ableton must be 11.0.0 or later

About

TouchOSC

This app provides a powerful and flexible modular control surface for MIDI and OSC messages. It features a GPU-powered editor for creating complex layouts, cross-network synchronized editing, and a scripting engine for deep customization. It's designed for musicians and audio professionals seeking advanced control over their digital audio workstations and other compatible software.

Highlights
  • Modular control surface
  • Powerful integrated editor
  • MIDI and OSC message support
  • Cross-network synchronized editing
  • Scripting engine for customization
  • Wired & wireless MIDI connections
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

Brand-new app. Brand-new powerful editor. We've listened for the past 10 years and we've re-written the application from the ground up - with speed, features and usability in mind. A GPU-powered, fast and advanced integrated editor is part of TouchOSC on all platforms - create the most complex of control layouts with ease and precision. MIDI, OSC and more... TouchOSC supports sending and receiving any number of MIDI and OSC messages on many connections simultaneously. On top of OSC over UDP & TCP, we support every type of wired & wireless MIDI connection your device can offer, including MIDI over USB. Cross-Network. Synchronized editing. Multiple instances of TouchOSC can be connected on the network for synchronized editing. Use the precision of your desktop's mouse and keyboard for fine-grained, detailed editing - test-drive and preview in real-time on all connected touch-screen devices at the same time. Scripting and local messages. A lightweight and fast scripting engine allows deep access to all aspects of your controller and enables limitless customization and interactivity. For less complex tasks we've added local messages - simply wire up controls to transmit or display values; no need to break out the big (code) guns. Easy. This is only the beginning... We've supported and updated TouchOSC Mk1 for more than 10 years and we're planning to do the same for this new version. We've already got a whole bunch of features cooking that were just not quite ready yet. There is so much more to come... Welcome to the next generation!

Screenshots

Skym4 screens
TouchOSC4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Skym at $7.99 against TouchOSC's $19.99. Skym also leads on review sentiment (80% vs 72%). TouchOSC's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 4) and rating (4.6 vs 4.3). On update cadence, 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

Skym costs $7.99 and TouchOSC $19.99 up front. Skym sells 4 one-off in-app purchases. TouchOSC asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

TouchOSC holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 4.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: TouchOSC has 232 ratings behind it against 22, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 80% of Skym's written reviews are positive against 72% of TouchOSC's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Skym ships an update monthly, TouchOSC every 6 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 24, 2026 and October 16, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 4 level
Skym versus TouchOSC: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSkymTouchOSC
Price$7.99 — better$19.99
Rating4.3 (22 ratings)4.6 (232 ratings) — better
Positive reviews80.0% of reviews — better71.7% of reviews
Number of ratings22232 — better
Update frequencyMonthly — betterEvery 6 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationPaidPaid
Best chart rank—#72 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.013.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size34 MB39 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperResGuide LLCHexler LLC

Customer experience

Skym

All ratings22 ratings
Positive81.8%
Neutral0.0%
Negative18.2%
Written reviews15 reviews
Positive80.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative20.0%

TouchOSC

All ratings232 ratings
Positive90.1%
Neutral2.2%
Negative7.8%
Written reviews99 reviews
Positive71.7%
Neutral9.1%
Negative19.2%

Bugs and requests

Skym

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

TouchOSC

Reported bugs

12 issues
  • App crashes and won't reopen
  • Connection drops between iPad and computer
  • OSC not transmitting despite showing connected
  • Screen goes blank when typing text
  • Document tree scrolling jumps erratically
Show 7 more
  • Pen input unresponsive on iPad
  • Control surfaces appearing upside down
  • Inconsistent mirror editing from desktop
  • MIDI over USB connection issues on Windows
  • Automatic 'untitled' file creation on connection
  • Studio One integration failures
  • Logic Pro mapping inconsistencies

Requested features

17 requests
  • Bluetooth MIDI support on iOS devices
  • VST/AU plugin version for DAWs
  • Better documentation and video tutorials
  • Cross-control scripting capabilities
  • Image and background customization
Show 12 more
  • Global variables for state management
  • Improved document tree navigation
  • Batch editing for multiple controls
  • Real-time cloud synchronization
  • Radial radio button controls
  • Audio analyzer for frequency/BPM detection
  • Background mode operation
  • Joycon controller support
  • NRPN MIDI support
  • Better grid snapping options
  • Position lock for interface elements
  • Standalone app compilation/export

In-app purchases

4 purchases

Skym

One-time4
  • Heat Map$4.99
  • Warp Speed$9.99
  • Pulse Cell$9.99
Show 1 more
  • Life Flower$9.99
None

TouchOSC

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Skym free?
Skym costs $7.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Is TouchOSC free?
TouchOSC costs $19.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Skym or TouchOSC?
TouchOSC is rated higher. Skym averages 4.3 out of 5 from 22 ratings, while TouchOSC averages 4.6 from 232 ratings.
Do Skym or TouchOSC have ads?
Neither Skym nor TouchOSC shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Skym or TouchOSC?
Skym ships an update monthly, and TouchOSC every 6 weeks. Most recently, Skym was updated on September 24, 2026 and TouchOSC on October 16, 2026.

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