Banner Basic vs More Cowbell!
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- 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)
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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.
More Cowbell!
This app provides a virtual cowbell experience, allowing users to play along with their favorite music. It offers various percussion instruments and integrates with your music library for an enhanced jamming session.
- Multiple percussion instruments
- Play along with iPod library
- Automatic power song playback
- Shake to play option
- Cowbellometer tracking
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The ORIGINAL and still the best cowbell on the iPhone & iPad, as featured on Jeopardy, in Wired, CNN Fortune's Top 10 Must Have iPhone apps, and Mac Life's 101 Most Essential iPhone Apps. Sometimes you have a fever, and there is only one prescription - More Cowbell! For best results, start up your favorite rock song (Don't Fear The Reaper, anyone?), then launch More Cowbell and tap the screen to play along. Make sure to keep up the beat, or your record producer may demand more. More cowbell, that is! What are people saying about More Cowbell? "Seriously this thing has absolutely no purpose other than being awesome." "This app is nothing short of brilliant" Features: - Choose from two kinds of cowbell and four other instruments when a cowbell isn't enough- maracas, triangle, tambourine, or sleigh bells. - Select and play your favorite cowbell related song from your iPod library right inside the More Cowbell app. Or have More Cowbell automatically play your power song whenever you start the app! - Option turn on/off ability shake the iphone/ipod to play the cowbell, - Built-in cowbellometer to track how many times you've played it!
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is ads: More Cowbell! at none against Banner Basic's shown. More Cowbell! also leads on update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 7 months) and monetization model (free vs free with in-app purchases). Banner Basic's advantage is rating (3.2 vs 2.9). On price, ratings volume, 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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Banner Basic holds the better App Store score, 3.2 against 2.9. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 25 and 35 respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 56% of Banner Basic's written reviews are positive against 65% of More Cowbell!'s, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Banner Basic ships an update every 7 months, More Cowbell! every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 8, 2026 and October 6, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Banner Basic | More Cowbell! |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.2 (25 ratings) — better | 2.9 (35 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 56.3% of reviews | 65.2% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 25 | 35 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 7 months | Every 3 weeks — better |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 8.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 6 MB | 7 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Masayuki Akamatsu | Maverick Software LLC |
Customer experience
Banner Basic
More Cowbell!
User reviews
Banner Basic
From 25 App Store ratingsWhat 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
More Cowbell!
From 35 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🤩 Fun and entertaining app
- 👍 Responsive and easy to use
- 🎶 Great for playing along to music
- 🙌 Captures the spirit of the SNL sketch
Room to improve
- 🐛 Crashes or doesn't work for some users
- 🔇 Lack of volume control for the cowbell sound
- 🤖 Repetitive quotes from Christopher Walken
- 🤔 Limited functionality beyond just tapping the cowbell
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
More Cowbell!
Reported bugs
3 issues- Compatibility issues with newer iOS versions
- Sound not working for some users
- App crashing on launch for some devices
Requested features
4 requests- More cowbell sound options and variations
- Ability to play cowbell along to user's own music
- Shake or motion-based cowbell playing
- Customization options for the cowbell appearance
In-app purchases
Banner Basic
No in-app purchases
More Cowbell!
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Banner Basic free?
Is More Cowbell! free?
Which has better reviews, Banner Basic or More Cowbell!?
Do Banner Basic or More Cowbell! have ads?
Which is updated more often, Banner Basic or More Cowbell!?
Other comparisons
