Hohner MIDI SqueezeBox vs ChordPolyPad
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Hohner MIDI SqueezeBox
This app acts as a MIDI control surface for iPads, simulating a 31-button diatonic button accordion. It's designed to control external hardware or virtual instruments, offering customizable MIDI settings and a push/pull bellows simulation.
- 31-button three-row diatonic button accordion layout
- CoreMIDI control surface for iPad
- Simulates push/pull bellows action
- Customizable MIDI volume, channel, and velocity
- Supports transposition for different tunings
- Virtual MIDI port output option
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The Hohner MIDI SqueezeBox is a 31-button three-row diatonic Button Accordion CoreMIDI control surface for the iPad. The app doesn't produce any sound on it own, it is designed for playing hardware and software VST-style MIDI synthesizers via a CoreMIDI compatible interface connected to the dock connector or virtual MIDI instruments like Roland Sound Canvas for iOS, IK Multimedia SampleTank®, or Sonosaurus ThumbJam running on your iPad. Inspired by the iconic Hohner Corona II, the app uses the standard GCF (Sol) button layout popular for Tex-Mex, Norteño, Tejano, Conjunto, Vallenato, and similar styles of button accordion. Please visit the app website to see a demo video of playing SampleTank with the Hohner MIDI SqueezeBox. Touch the buttons with the fingers on your right hand to play. Buttons highlight when playing. Multiple buttons may be pressed at the same time to make chords. This style of accordion plays different notes depending on whether you are pushing or pulling on the bellows. Touch the anywhere in the bellows image at the top of the screen for PUSH notes, lift your finger for PULL notes. The PUSH/PULL indicator shows the current bellows direction. Also, the sides of the bellows light up tracking the bellows motion You may slide your fingers between the buttons. Touch the MIDI connector icon at the upper left corner to show the MIDI controls. Using the controls, you may set the overall instrument MIDI volume, MIDI modulation, MIDI channel (1-8), key attack velocity playing style (fixed or variable), velocity min/max, and transposition (+/- 12 semitones). Both fixed and variable velocity modes are provided to allow for expressive playback. In the variable velocity modes, the X or Y touch position within the bellows sets the velocity for the notes being played. The range for the velocity is set using the Min and Max Velocity sliders. For fixed velocity, the Max Velocity slider value is used. You may also set the Max Velocity to less than the Min Velocity to reverse the direction for velocity mapping in the bellows touch areas. The app is based on the standard GCF tuning. Other common tunings can be achieved by setting the transposition control. For example, for FBbEb (Fa) tuning, set a -2 semitone transposition. For EAD (Mi) tuning, set a -3 semitone transposition. Touch the '?' icon to show the base layout note names for each button (without transposition). Use the "Transmit MIDI Port" switch to choose between "Omni" sending MIDI data to all CoreMIDI apps (matches previous versions of the app) or "Virtual Port" sending to a named CoreMIDI virtual output port. When the "Virtual Port option is selected, the app will show up as an input option in apps that support virtual ports like Sonosaurus ThumbJam and MidiBridge. "Omni" mode is selected by default. All MIDI settings are saved when the app quits and restored the next time it is run. Touch the 'i' button at the middle top to send a MIDI "All Notes Off" message quiet any "stuck" notes if they occur. Settings for use with other MIDI synthesizer apps: Sonosaurus ThumbJam: - In "Preferences", under "Options", enabled "Background Audio". If using the "Virtual Port" transmit port option, enable the input port under Preferences / MIDI Control / MIDI Input Connections. IK Multimedia SampleTank: - In Settings (touch the gear icon), enable "Background Audio". IK Multimedia iRig MIDI Hardware MIDI Interface: - For simple direct connection, in MIDI SqueezeBox, set the "Transmit MIDI Port" option to "Omni" . - If using a MIDI filtering app like MidiBridge to modify the data stream, in MIDI SqueezeBox, set the "Transmit MIDI Port" option to "Virtual Port". Other CoreMIDI compatible synth apps will have similar settings. Touch the 'i' icon to show the instructions page. Be sure to visit the AppCordions.com website for MIDI setup and demo videos!
ChordPolyPad
This app is a versatile MIDI chord player that allows users to create and play complex chord sets. It offers extensive customization for pads, MIDI controls, and chord generation, functioning as a standalone app or an AUv3 MIDI effect plugin.
- Standalone app and AUv3 MIDI effect plugin
- 128 pads per preset
- Customizable X/Y MIDI controllers
- Advanced random chord generator
- Internal and external MIDI support
- Chord filtering and quantizing
- Preset manager with in-app purchases
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"ChordPolyPad" is a MIDI chords player that lets you create chord sets using a large internal library, any custom combination of notes, or randomly generated chords. Each preset contains either 8 groups of 16 pads or 2 groups of 64 pads, for a total of 128 pads. In addition to playing chords, each pad can generate customizable MIDI controls on its horizontal and vertical axes, allowing expressive real-time modulation. "ChordPolyPad" can be used as a standalone application or as an AUv3 MIDI effect plug-in. The app supports full internal and external MIDI input and output. An internal sound bank is included for immediate use. The AUv3 MIDI effect plug-in supports multiple instances. A compatible host is required and must support the Audio Unit v3 (AUv3) MIDI effect format. Hosts supporting AUv3 MIDI effect on iOS: Logic Pro, Cubasis, Beatmaker, AUM, Audiobus, NanoStudio, Auria Pro, apeMatrix. Hosts supporting AUv3 MIDI effect on macOS: Logic Pro 10.7 or later. Features: • Standalone application and AUv3 MIDI effect plug-in • 8 groups of 16 pads or 2 groups of 64 pads per preset (128 pads) • Assignable MIDI port and MIDI channel for each pad • Customizable X/Y controller per pad • Per-note velocity control for each chord • Strumming configuration per pad • Copy and paste for pads and groups • Drag and drop chords directly from the library • Chord filtering and quantizing based on the selected scale • Predefined scales and possibility to create custom scales • Advanced random chord generator with diverse musical moods featuring voice leading and context-aware harmonic progressions for naturally flowing compositions • Stop "Audio Background" automatically after inactivity (15 min, 30 min, 1 h, 2 h, or never) • Internal sound bank • Receive MIDI notes and control from external devices • Send MIDI to a virtual port usable as MIDI input by other "Core MIDI" compatible apps • Preset manager with support for in-app purchase packs • "Program Change" support • Preset sharing support by "AirDrop", "Mail", "Messages", and other supported services • Native iCloud support • "iCloud Drive" support in the "Files" app on iOS and "Finder" on macOS • Full support for "Windowed Apps" mode on iPad • Undo/Redo Supported MIDI connections: • Virtual "Core MIDI" connections between apps • Any compatible MIDI interface • MIDI over Wi-Fi • MIDI over Bluetooth
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: ChordPolyPad at 92% against Hohner MIDI SqueezeBox's 30%. ChordPolyPad also leads on rating (4.6 vs 1.0) and update cadence (every 2 months vs every 22 months). Hohner MIDI SqueezeBox's advantage is price ($4.99 vs $17.99) and in-app purchases (none vs 3). On ads and iOS requirement 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
Hohner MIDI SqueezeBox costs $4.99 and ChordPolyPad $17.99 up front. ChordPolyPad sells 3 one-off in-app purchases. Hohner MIDI SqueezeBox asks for nothing beyond the download.
ChordPolyPad holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 1.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: ChordPolyPad has 51 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 30% of Hohner MIDI SqueezeBox's written reviews are positive against 92% of ChordPolyPad's.
Hohner MIDI SqueezeBox ships an update every 22 months, ChordPolyPad every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 14, 2026 and October 23, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Hohner MIDI SqueezeBox | ChordPolyPad |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $4.99 — better | $17.99 |
| Rating | 1.0 (1 ratings) | 4.6 (51 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 30.0% of reviews | 92.1% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 1 | 51 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 22 months | Every 2 months — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Paid | Free with in-app purchases — better |
| Devices | iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — better |
| Requires iOS | 16.6 | 15.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 29 MB | 54 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Michael Eskin | Laurent Colson |
Customer experience
Hohner MIDI SqueezeBox
ChordPolyPad
In-app purchases
Hohner MIDI SqueezeBox
No in-app purchases
ChordPolyPad
- Retro Pop$4.99
- Clubwave$4.99
- Liminal Spaces$4.99
Questions
Is Hohner MIDI SqueezeBox free?
Is ChordPolyPad free?
Which has better reviews, Hohner MIDI SqueezeBox or ChordPolyPad?
Do Hohner MIDI SqueezeBox or ChordPolyPad have ads?
Which is updated more often, Hohner MIDI SqueezeBox or ChordPolyPad?
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