Comparison

Banner Basic vs Magic Display

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

Head to head

Banner Basic

Free

🌟 Lifestyle

★ 3.225 ratingsView app →

Magic Display

Free

🌟 Lifestyle

★ 2.9159 ratingsView app →

About

Banner Basic

Create custom LED-matrix-style messages and display them on your device. Show text, symbols, dates, times, tweets, and music information with various customization options for speed, appearance, and display settings.

Highlights

Customizable LED-matrix display
Show user-defined messages
Display date and time
Show tweet feeds
Display music information
Adjustable scroll and blink speeds
Customizable LED appearance (size, shape, color)

Features

Read full description

Banner is an LED-matrix-like display with which you can show custom messages. The following items can be shown: - 5 user-defined messages - 35 types of symbol characters - Date (3 formats) - Time (3 formats) - Bluesky (3 defined feeds based on user's timeline or keyword search) - Music (Artist, Song, Album) The application has the following settings: - Scroll speed - Blink speed - Landscape-only mode - Upside-down display - Mirror display - Double-tap editing - Sleep disable - Character size (3 sizes) - Element (LED) size (3 sizes) - Element (LED) shape (6 shapes) - Element (LED) color (Hue, Saturation) - Element (LED) color randomization Note - Bluesky posts will be updated every minutes or every posts displayed. - "Banner Basic" is a free version with ads; "Banner" and "Banner Extreme" are paid versions with no ad. - "Banner Extreme" has a little bit different from the others on the style and the speed.

About

Magic Display

Transform your LED screen with custom text, designs, and effects via Bluetooth. This app offers built-in animations, collaborative playback, graffiti tools, and music synchronization for a unique visual experience.

Highlights

Bluetooth wireless connection
Custom text and design effects
Built-in display effects
Collaborative playback
Custom graffiti
Music playback synchronization

Features

Read full description

LED display via bluetooth wireless connection, realize the change in the APP screen text, design effect.A variety of built-in display effect, joining together play, custom graffiti, music playback, cool variety of gameplay, allowing you to LED screen is unique. LED显示屏通过蓝牙无线连接，实现在应用程序屏幕文字、设计效果上的改变。各种内置显示效果，联袂播放，自定义涂鸦、音乐播放，酷炫多样的游戏玩法，让您的LED显示屏独树一帜。

Screenshots

Banner Basic4 screens

Magic Display2 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Magic Display at none against Banner Basic's shown. Magic Display also leads on update cadence (every 5 weeks vs every 7 months) and monetization model (free vs free with in-app purchases). Banner Basic's advantage is review sentiment (56% vs 34%) and rating (3.2 vs 2.9). On price, in-app purchases 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Banner Basic holds the better App Store score, 3.2 against 2.9. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Magic Display has 159 ratings behind it against 25, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 56% of Banner Basic's written reviews are positive against 34% of Magic Display's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Banner Basic ships an update every 7 months, Magic Display every 5 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 27, 2026 and August 28, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level

Banner Basic versus Magic Display: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
Parameter	Banner Basic	Magic Display
Price	Free	Free
Rating	3.2 (25 ratings) — better	2.9 (159 ratings)
Positive reviews	56.3% of reviews — better	33.6% of reviews
Number of ratings	25	159 — better
Update frequency	Every 7 months	Every 5 weeks — better
Ads	Yes	No — better
In-app purchases	No	No
Monetization	Free with in-app purchases	Free — better
Devices	iPhone, iPad, iPod — better	iPhone, iPod
Requires iOS	15.0	10.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size	6 MB	61 MB
Age rating	4+	4+
Developer	Masayuki Akamatsu	Tianlang innovation Technology (Shenzhen) Co.,Ltd.

Customer experience

Banner Basic

All ratings25 ratings

Positive52.0%

Neutral8.0%

Negative40.0%

Written reviews387 reviews

Positive56.3%

Neutral12.7%

Negative31.0%

Magic Display

All ratings159 ratings

Positive40.9%

Neutral17.6%

Negative41.5%

Written reviews116 reviews

Positive33.6%

Neutral19.8%

Negative46.6%

User reviews

Banner Basic

From 25 App Store ratings

What we love

👍 Easy to use
🤩 Fun and creative
🙌 Useful for communicating across a room
😊 Great for quick messages

Room to improve

🐛 Crashes and stability issues
⏱️ Slow scrolling speed
🎨 Limited customization options
💤 Drains battery quickly

Magic Display

From 159 App Store ratings

What we love

👍 Easy to use once connected
🎨 Custom text and drawing features work well
🚀 Fast live display updates
✨ Fun and visually appealing
🔄 Simple connection process when working

Room to improve

🐛 Bluetooth connection failures (most critical issue)
❌ Limited customization options
🎵 Music functionality severely limited
📝 Text character limit too restrictive
🎨 Limited color options (fixed quadrants)

Bugs and requests

Banner Basic

Reported bugs

3 issues

Crashes on launch
Distorted text display
Incompatibility with iOS updates

Requested features

5 requests

Speed control for scrolling
Color and font customization
Ability to save/recall preset messages
Orientation and display options
Improved performance and stability

Magic Display

Reported bugs

15 issues

Bluetooth connection not discovering device
App crashes when entering text (iOS 17 compatibility issue)
Display shows upside down
Apostrophe adds extra space in text
Music mode crashes when playing

Show 10 more

Brightness slider non-functional
Bold button non-functional
Flashlight button non-functional
App requires reinstall to work again
Hat resets to default settings randomly
Connection times out without timer set
DIY delete and erase buttons too close together
Pac-Man animation unavailable despite being shown
Animations disappear when hat is connected
Text inversion feature not working

Requested features

15 requests

Custom animation creation tool
Ability to upload and play personal music
Spotify/Apple Music integration
Customizable color selection
Larger drawing/DIY canvas area

Show 10 more

Save text message presets
Emoji and Unicode support
Battery level indicator
Microphone-triggered equalizer
Import images/GIFs from device
Real-time clock display
Voice activation functionality
More music options beyond lullabies
Better DIY interface design
Undo/redo functionality for drawings

In-app purchases

None

Banner Basic

No in-app purchases

None

Magic Display

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Banner Basic free?

Banner Basic is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

Is Magic Display free?

Magic Display is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

Which has better reviews, Banner Basic or Magic Display?

Banner Basic is rated higher. Banner Basic averages 3.2 out of 5 from 25 ratings, while Magic Display averages 2.9 from 159 ratings.

Do Banner Basic or Magic Display have ads?

Banner Basic shows ads; Magic Display does not.

Which is updated more often, Banner Basic or Magic Display?

Banner Basic ships an update every 7 months, and Magic Display every 5 weeks. Most recently, Banner Basic was updated on September 27, 2026 and Magic Display on August 28, 2026.