Banner Basic vs Backgrounds!
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.
Backgrounds!
Discover a vast collection of high-quality wallpapers optimized for iPad displays. Explore diverse categories, filter by your preferences, and enjoy a seamless browsing experience with a polished interface. New backgrounds are added regularly.
- iPad-optimized wallpapers
- Multiple categories (Cars, Landscapes, Flowers, etc.)
- Filter by category
- Browse by popularity, recent, or random
- Fast speed and easy navigation
- Polished UI and beautiful design
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With great wallpapers specifically designed for iPad display, this is the best background app for iPad! Get it today for FREE and enjoy all the great backgrounds! Features: - Great wallpapers specifically designed for iPad - Lots of categories, such as Cars, Landscapes, Flowers, Animals, Holidays and more! - More wallpapers are being added. - Filter by categories - Browse by popularity, recent or random - Fast speed and easy navigation - Polished UI, beautiful design We are always adding new backgrounds, don't forget to check back! FAQ: - How to change background/wallpaper? Open the Settings app and select "Brightness & Wallpaper", or use the Photos App. The images downloaded through this app is saved under the Camera Roll. Send your comments/suggestions to hanamobiles@gmail.com or visit http://www.hanamobiles.com Disclaimer: These images are either from public domain (provided by wikipedia or other websites), or licensed under create commons and have been fully attributed, or created by our design team. If you have any questions regarding the content, contact us through hanamobiles@gmail.com.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Backgrounds! at 4.0 against Banner Basic's 3.2. Backgrounds! also leads on ads (none vs shown) and iOS requirement (4.3 vs 15.0). Banner Basic's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1) and device support (3 vs 1). On price, review sentiment, ratings volume and update cadence 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. Backgrounds! sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Banner Basic asks for nothing beyond the download.
Backgrounds! holds the better App Store score, 4.0 against 3.2. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 25 and 14 respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 56% of Banner Basic's written reviews are positive against 54% of Backgrounds!'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, Backgrounds! every 6 months. The most recent releases landed on October 2, 2026 and September 30, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Banner Basic | Backgrounds! |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.2 (25 ratings) | 4.0 (14 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 56.3% of reviews — better | 53.9% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 25 — better | 14 |
| Update frequency | Every 7 months | Every 6 months — better |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPad |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 4.3 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 6 MB | 3 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Masayuki Akamatsu | Hana Mobile |
Customer experience
Banner Basic
Backgrounds!
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
Backgrounds!
From 14 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🖼️ Beautiful pictures and artwork
- ✨ High-quality images
- 🎨 Great variety of wallpapers
- 👍 Easy to use
- 💯 Free to use
Room to improve
- 😩 Pop-up ads are intrusive
- 🚫 Cannot save pictures
- 📉 Limited selection of backgrounds
- 😵 Confusing interface
- 👎 Poorly organized categories
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
Backgrounds!
Reported bugs
9 issues- App crashes when applying filters
- App continuously closes when clicking a filter or button
- Cannot install the app
- App shuts down when using the filter function
- Filter function doesn't work
Show 4 moreShow fewer
- App hasn't been working properly recently
- Won't let you add to photo gallery anymore
- Stopped working
- No app support
Requested features
7 requests- Add a search by topic/type button
- Organize new backgrounds into a 'NEW' folder
- Add more filters like anime
- Improve organization with categories (e.g., flowers, nature, cars)
- Implement swipe to go to the next page
Show 2 moreShow fewer
- Add quote backgrounds
- Improve the iPhone app experience
In-app purchases
Banner Basic
No in-app purchases
Backgrounds!
- Backgrounds Pro$1.99
Questions
Is Banner Basic free?
Is Backgrounds! free?
Which has better reviews, Banner Basic or Backgrounds!?
Do Banner Basic or Backgrounds! have ads?
Which is updated more often, Banner Basic or Backgrounds!?
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