SIM vs Virtual Stream Deck
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
SIM
Transform your smartphone or tablet into a customizable auxiliary display for racing, truck, flight, and farming simulations. Design your own dashboard with a variety of widgets and share your creations with a community of users. Unlock full potential with in-app purchases.
- Freely configurable auxiliary display
- Easy dashboard editor
- Large number of widgets
- Community designs download/share
- Virtual button box for PC
- Personalized layouts
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Get the most out of your favorite racing, truck, flight and farming simulations with the SIM Dashboard Companion App. • Use your smartphone or tablet as a freely configurable auxiliary display. • Create your own dash with the easy editor • Choose from a large number of widgets like analog displays, gear indicator, fuel usage, lap times, RPM LED Bars and many more • Register for the community to download and share Designs with others • Button Box (for games running on a PC only), use virtual buttons to execute keystrokes on your PC Supported games This app supports more than 40 games on PC, PS5, PS4 and Xbox like: • American Truck Simulator - ATS • Assetto Corsa (PC/PS4/PS5) • Assetto Corsa Competizione - ACC • Automobilista • BeamNG.drive • DiRT Rally 2.0 (PC) • DiRT 4 (PC) • DiRT Rally (PC) • Euro Truck Simulator 2 - ETS2 • Farming Simulator 22 (PC) - FS22 • Forza Horizon 5 • Forza Horizon 4 • Forza Motorsport • F1 24 • F1 23 • F1 22 • F1 2021 • F1 2020 • F1 2019 • F1 2018 • F1 2017 - 16 • F1 2015 - 10 (PC) • GRID Legends (PC) • Grid Autosport • GT7 • iRacing • LFS • Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 - fs2020 • OMSI 2 • RaceRoom Racing Experience - R3E • rFactor • rFactor 2 • Richard Burns Rally - RBR • TrackMania 2 • The Bus • X-Plane 11 ... AND MORE! Check the app for the complete and up to date list of supported games! Most relevant features • Create your personal layouts • Move and scale your widgets • Change colors • Additional options in every widget • Use your own graphics • Select from cool templates Test the free version without a time limit and use one layout and up to three widgets per game. In order to achieve its full potential, you can remove the restrictions with in app purchases. The variety of widgets can differ per game Problems or questions? If you encounter problems or have additional questions, please dont give a negative rating. Check the help pages on www.stryder-it.de/simdashboard/help first. You can also contact me and I try to solve the problem. E-mail: info(at)stryder-it.de The Software is provided "as is," with all faults, defects, bugs, and errors. All trademarks and registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Names are used for identification purposes only.
Virtual Stream Deck
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Your iPhone or iPad becomes a wireless stream deck for your Mac: a full-screen grid of big, glowing buttons that switch OBS scenes, launch apps, fire keyboard shortcuts, run Apple Shortcuts, and more. Tap the phone — the Mac does it instantly, over your own Wi-Fi. PAY ONCE, OWN IT No subscription. No account. No cloud. Try it free with six buttons, and unlock everything with a single one-time purchase. BUILT FOR STREAMING • Native OBS Studio integration (OBS 28 or later) — no plugins to install • Switch scenes from your real scene list, start/stop streaming and recording, mute your mic • Live state on every button: the record button glows while you're recording, your current scene stays highlighted, your mic button shows its true mute state • Runs entirely on your local network — taps land in milliseconds CONTROL YOUR WHOLE MAC • Send any keyboard shortcut to any app • Launch apps, open files and websites • Run any Apple Shortcut — if Shortcuts can do it, your deck can too • System controls: volume, mute, play/pause, next/previous track • Multi-actions: chain steps with delays into one button • Shell scripts for power users FEELS LIKE HARDWARE • Pure black, edge-to-edge button grid with crisp haptics on every press • Pages you swipe between, folders that open sub-decks • Custom icons, colors, and labels for every button • Profiles that switch automatically when you change apps on the Mac • The screen stays awake while you're connected PRIVATE BY DESIGN • Pair once with a 6-digit code shown on your Mac — like pairing AirPods • Every connection is end-to-end encrypted, and nothing ever leaves your network • No account, no analytics, no data collection. Ever. GETTING STARTED On your Mac, download the free companion app, Virtual Stream Deck Hub, from our website. Open this app on your iPhone or iPad — your Mac appears automatically. Type the 6-digit code. That's it: you're paired for good. Design your layouts in the Mac editor — drag in actions, pick icons and colors — and watch every change appear on your device instantly. REQUIRES • iOS/iPadOS 18 or later • A Mac running macOS 15 (Sequoia) or later with the free Virtual Stream Deck Hub app • Both devices on the same network • OBS features require OBS Studio 28+ with its WebSocket server enabled
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is iOS requirement: SIM at 15.0 against Virtual Stream Deck's 18.0. On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases 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. SIM sells 10 one-off in-app purchases and Virtual Stream Deck sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 7, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | SIM | Virtual Stream Deck |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.6 (473 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 42.9% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 473 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 2 weeks | Every 2 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 — better | 18.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 108 MB | 11 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Christian Hausmann | Joshua Vucelich |
Bugs and requests
SIM
Reported bugs
21 issues- Free version too limited (3 widgets)
- Can't get money back for accidental purchase
- Time slip on drag times not loading
- ACC on PS5 not working
- iOS app not updated for AC Evo
Show 16 moreShow fewer
- iOS 26 permission changes broke app
- Not working on Horizon 5 (Horizon 4 error)
- Pro version not usable on multiple iPhones
- Scaling options not displaying info properly on iOS
- Crashing on iPhone SE and iPhone 15
- Lost pro purchase after reset/update
- App crashes after buying pro
- App not opening after recent update
- App no longer opens after update
- Email invalid, can't use dashes
- ATS on iPad not working
- Max speed of trip/session won't convert to mph
- Can't log in with old account on new phone
- Stopped working after two months
- Ready-made widgets not loading
- Current iOS version has frustrating bugs
Requested features
8 requests- Add Assetto Corsa Rally support
- Working PSI gauge for Beamng drive
- Remote dashboard studio for iOS
- More engine info for Beamng
- Add Farming Simulator 25 to console
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- Grouping of layers for scaling and moving widgets
- Save groups as preset widgets
- Web interface to design dashboards
Virtual Stream Deck
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
SIM
- BeamNG.drive$1.49
- Forza Horizon 4 & 5$2.99
- Farming Simulator 25 (Upgrade)$2.99
Show 7 moreShow fewer
- GT7$3.99
- Farming Simulator 22$4.49
- Farming Simulator 25$4.49
- Assetto Corsa$4.79
- iRacing$4.79
- ETS2 & ATS$5.99
- PRO$12.99
Virtual Stream Deck
- Virtual Stream Deck Pro$19.99
Questions
Is SIM free?
Is Virtual Stream Deck free?
Do SIM or Virtual Stream Deck have ads?
Which is updated more often, SIM or Virtual Stream Deck?
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