Onyx Remote vs MagicQ Remote Control
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Onyx Remote
Control Obsidian Onyx lighting systems remotely from your iPhone or iPod touch. Manipulate fixtures, presets, and DMX values with a user-friendly interface. Features include automatic device discovery, color control, and cuelist triggering.
- Automatic device discovery
- Remote control of fixtures and presets
- DMX channel manipulation
- Accelerometer-based pan/tilt control
- CMY and RGB color control with Lee filters
- Cuelist triggering (Go, Pause, Release)
- Offline mode for practice
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Onyx Remote is your personal assistant to remotely control lighting devices straight from your iPhone or iPod touch. It is the ultimate remote tool for the Obsidian Onyx™ lighting platform with a beautiful user interface and original features. Onyx Remote will discover your remote lighting devices automatically. It allows you to manipulate the fixtures, presets, channels and more on your show when you connect to an Obsidian Onyx™ controller. The belts in the parameter view allow you to manipulate all the DMX values. The pan/tilt control even allows you to manipulate the pan and tilt of the moving head via the built-in accelerometer of you iPhone or iPod touch. You can also control the color values in both CMY and RGB modes with support for Lee filters. This application is the ultimate remote tool to update your presets on stage. Using Onyx Remote, users can also trigger cuelists with Go, Pause and Release commands. An offline mode allows anyone to experience Onyx Remote without the need to have it connected to an Obsidian Onyx™ controller. Requires an Obsidian Onyx™ controller (Version 4 or higher) and Wi-Fi connection. Features: - Automatic discovery - Black skin for dark environment - Integrated help - Control Obsidian Onyx™ and M-Series controllers remotely - Passcode protected - Saves show data so that synchronisation will be faster the next time - Control all fixtures in your show - Virtual console in landscape mode - Integrated fixture search - Create and edit presets - Pan/Tilt view with built-in accelerometer support under sensor mode - Color picker with support for Lee filters - Easy manipulation of all DMX channels - The fast menu will appear when you shake your device so that you can clear values quickly - Start, pause and release cuelists, chases, etc... - Exclusively for iPhone and iPod touch
MagicQ Remote Control
Control your ChamSys lighting console remotely. Adjust focus, color, and test your rig. Edit and update lighting cues, palettes, and groups directly from your device.
- Remote control for MagicQ consoles
- Pan and tilt focusing controls
- Rainbow color picker
- Execute Window for rig testing
- Edit and update palettes, groups, and cues
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ChamSys Ltd MagicQ Remote Control ChamSys MagicQ systems provide leading edge control of stage lighting, LED pixelmapping and media systems. The MagicQ Remote enables remote control of MagicQ systems including MagicQ consoles and MagicQ PC Wing solutions. MagicQ Remote supports focusing with pan and tilt controls, colour adjustment using the rainbow colour picker and rig testing through the unique MagicQ Execute Window. Palettes, Groups and Cues can be edited and updated. ChamSys MagicQ software supports up to 102,400 channels (200 DMX universes) and is available to download and use for free from ChamSys website www.chamsys.co.uk. For instructions please use the in app link to the manual; go to Connection, Help and tap the Open Manual button. For bug reports, please submit them to our bugtracker: https://secure.chamsys.co.uk/bugtracker/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: MagicQ Remote Control at 4.3 against Onyx Remote's 3.9. Onyx Remote's advantage is iOS requirement (12.0 vs 14.0). 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
MagicQ Remote Control holds the better App Store score, 4.3 against 3.9. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 19 and 10 respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 70% of Onyx Remote's written reviews are positive against 63% of MagicQ Remote Control's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on June 4, 2026 and September 7, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Onyx Remote | MagicQ Remote Control |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.9 (19 ratings) | 4.3 (10 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 69.6% of reviews — better | 62.5% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 19 — better | 10 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months | Every 3 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 12.0 — better | 14.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 5 MB | 38 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Obsidian Control Systems | ChamSys Ltd |
Customer experience
Onyx Remote
MagicQ Remote Control
In-app purchases
Onyx Remote
No in-app purchases
MagicQ Remote Control
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Onyx Remote free?
Is MagicQ Remote Control free?
Which has better reviews, Onyx Remote or MagicQ Remote Control?
Do Onyx Remote or MagicQ Remote Control have ads?
Which is updated more often, Onyx Remote or MagicQ Remote Control?
Other comparisons
