Comparison

Onyx Remote vs Luminair

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

Head to head
About

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.

Highlights
  • 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
Features
Read full description

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

About

Luminair

This professional lighting control platform offers advanced DMX and smart light management for designers, filmmakers, musicians, and artists. It supports multiple DMX universes, RDM, and HomeKit integration, allowing for complex scene creation and playback.

Highlights
  • Multi-universe DMX control
  • RDM support
  • Apple HomeKit integration
  • Fixture Cloud library
  • DMX FX Engine
  • Sound Active mode
  • Luminair Remote for Apple Watch
Features
Read full description

Luminair is a professional-grade lighting control platform that gives lighting designers, filmmakers and TV professionals, musicians, artists and other enthusiasts advanced control over DMX-enabled lights, as well as "Smart" lights via Apple HomeKit. Control any light... Luminair's Fixture Cloud library contains over 30,000 fixture profiles. Luminair 4 adds a wide range of user-requested features like multi-universe support, RDM support, user interface improvements, Universal Search, support for Apple HomeKit, and so much more. Move beyond the lighting console! Join us and see why Luminair has been setting the standard for mobile lighting control since 2008! Access all iPadOS, iOS, and macOS versions under a single subscription plan. Try it FREE for 2 weeks, with all features unlocked, and no obligation. See offer details below. Highlights: - 1 to 4 DMX Universes (512-2048 Channels, depending on Subscription level) - 1 Art-Net DMX Input Universe for creating Snapshot scene recordings from another lighting console - RDM Support over Art-Net - Works with any Art-Net or sACN E1.31 compliant DMX interface - Transmits Art-Net, sACN E1.31, and/or and KiNET over built-in Wi-Fi hardware - Supports DMX over Bluetooth with LumenRadio BLE CRMX devices, MoonLite and TimoTwo - Supports wired ethernet with 3rd-party adapters - Advanced document viewer allows you to save projects in iCloud, 3rd-party services like Creative Cloud and Dropbox, plus external disks and flash drives - LTP faders with fully-configurable scene parameters - DMX FX Engine with a Movement generator, Oscillator, Color Looping, Random Color/Intensity and more - Palette/preset based movement system allows you to control and edit movements of multiple moving lights together in unison - Sequences allow you to play back scenes with customized fade and hold times - Sound Active mode allows for music controlled light shows using the built-in microphone, or external sound sources - Innovative tap-to-bump gesture allows you to quickly bump the levels of a scene while holding it's button, releasing those levels when let go - Supports simultaneous control of DMX and HomeKit lights in the same project - Touch ID powered Lockdown mode allows you to lock specific parts of the Luminair user interface - Includes Luminair Remote for Apple Watch (on iPhone devices) - Supports various external control methods as MIDI, MIDI over Bluetooth LE and Wi-Fi, Geofences, OSC Input - Additional support for 4 Universes, Scheduling, DMX Input Triggers, iBeacons, MSC, MTC, and HomeKit Button Triggers available with Luminair Pro Subscription - 64-bit app with a scalable UI that uses the latest Apple technologies like iCloud, Core Animation, Core MIDI and more Please visit us at https://luminair.app for full details. IMPORTANT: Luminair requires external DMX or HomeKit hardware to control lights, but can also be used in an "offline" mode for building projects and as a learning tool. Access Luminair Standard or Luminair Pro with monthly or annual subscriptions. You will be automatically billed through Apple every 30 days for monthly subscriptions or every 365 days for yearly subscriptions until you cancel your subscription. The first billing will occur after the one-time free trial period of 2 weeks. Your subscription automatically renews unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24-hours before the end of the current period. Your subscription can be managed and the auto-renewal may be turned off by going to the App Store Account Settings after purchase. No cancellation of the current subscription is allowed during active subscription period. Any unused portion of the free trial period will be forfeited when you purchase a subscription during the free trial period. Privacy Policy: https://luminair.app/privacy Terms of Use: https://luminair.app/terms

Screenshots

Onyx Remote4 screens
Luminair4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Luminair at 4.6 against Onyx Remote's 3.9. Luminair also leads on update cadence (fortnightly vs every 3 months) and ratings volume (1.2K vs 19). Onyx Remote's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 4) and review sentiment (70% vs 36%). On price and ads 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. Luminair sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month. Onyx Remote asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Luminair holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 3.9. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Luminair has 1.2K ratings behind it against 19, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 70% of Onyx Remote's written reviews are positive against 36% of Luminair's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Onyx Remote ships an update every 3 months, Luminair fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on September 25, 2026 and October 16, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard8 real differences · 2 level
Onyx Remote versus Luminair: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterOnyx RemoteLuminair
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.9 (19 ratings)4.6 (1.2K ratings) — better
Positive reviews69.6% of reviews — better36.0% of reviews
Number of ratings191.2K — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsFortnightly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterSubscription
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac, Apple Watch — better
Requires iOS12.0 — better14.0
Further details — not scored
Size5 MB1.7 GB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperObsidian Control SystemsSynthe FX, LLC

Customer experience

Onyx Remote

All ratings19 ratings
Positive68.4%
Neutral21.1%
Negative10.5%
Written reviews23 reviews
Positive69.6%
Neutral17.4%
Negative13.0%

Luminair

All ratings1,172 ratings
Positive90.4%
Neutral2.8%
Negative6.8%
Written reviews197 reviews
Positive36.0%
Neutral9.6%
Negative54.3%

Bugs and requests

Onyx Remote

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

Luminair

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Scenes not loading properly
  • Ethernet connectivity problems
  • Unexpected settings changes during use

Requested features

4 requests
  • Allow one-time purchase option
  • Improve fixture profile management
  • Add more advanced effects and animation
  • Enhance multi-device/project workflow

In-app purchases

None

Onyx Remote

No in-app purchases

4 purchases

Luminair

Subscriptions4
  • Luminair Standard Monthly14 Days trial$9.991 Month
  • Luminair Pro Monthly14 Days trial$19.991 Month
  • Luminair Standard Yearly14 Days trial$99.991 Year
Show 1 more
  • Luminair Pro Yearly14 Days trial$199.991 Year

Questions

Is Onyx Remote free?
Onyx Remote is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Luminair free?
Luminair is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Onyx Remote or Luminair?
Luminair is rated higher. Onyx Remote averages 3.9 out of 5 from 19 ratings, while Luminair averages 4.6 from 1.2K ratings.
Do Onyx Remote or Luminair have ads?
Neither Onyx Remote nor Luminair shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Onyx Remote or Luminair?
Onyx Remote ships an update every 3 months, and Luminair fortnightly. Most recently, Onyx Remote was updated on September 25, 2026 and Luminair on October 16, 2026.

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