Digital Pan vs Sibelius
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Digital Pan
Explore the full range of steelpan instruments with this app. Practice and develop your skills on various pans, access high-quality sounds, and utilize helpful teaching aids. Record your creations and learn through tutorials.
- Full steelpan range simulation
- High-quality recorded sounds
- Practice and skill development
- Recording and playback functionality
- Tutorial videos
- Piano interface for expanded learning
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The Digital Pan Mobile App is the only steelpan app that is officially and exclusively endorsed by the world governing body for the steelpan - Pan Trinbago. The app allows users to practice and develop their skills for not just one specific pan, but the entire range of the steelpan family. This includes: Tenor High C, Tenor Low C, Double Tenor, Double Seconds, Double Guitar, Triple Cello, Four Cello, Tenor Bass, Six Bass and a Children's steelpan. The app offers the opportunity to experience the diverse richness of the national instrument of Trinidad and Tobago and the only percussive instrument created in the 20th century. In addition to which, it acts as a teaching aid by increasing the capabilities of users which adds to the potential of obtaining different opportunities. The Digital Pan App features: • Lock: This icon allows users to freely play the pan while all other icons are locked as to prevent accidentally touching another icon. • Full Steelpan Range: Access to the entire range of the Steelpan family, including the Tenor High C, Tenor Low C, Double Tenor, Double Seconds, Double Guitar, Triple Cello, Four Cello, Tenor Bass, Six Bass and a Junior Steelpan. • Piano: In addition to the range of the steelpan family, there is a piano which has the notes accessible to broaden the learning experience. • High Quality Sound: All Steelpan notes were recorded directly off the GILLPANS Masters Series and digitally mastered. • Recordings: Users can record and replay pieces that they created. Also, users can select all the previous recordings and play them all at once or one by one. • Tutorial: There are videos available for users to view which demonstrates the app in use. • Teaching Aid: The notes on the Steelpan and the piano can be toggled on/off to act as a teaching aid. • Multitouch: Traditionally, steelpan players use 2 or 4 sticks when playing the various pans. However, the advantage of the app is now you have 10 fingers that can be easily used to play the steelpans. • Rotation & placement: All pans on the app can be rotated and moved to suit to the users’ preference. • Colour: The app allows users to change the colour of the junior pan only to the variety of fun colours available. • Help Screen: Screenshots with explanation a breakdown of all the functions the app possesses. • Main menu: Layout of / link to history, description of each pan, about DB and availability to share the app via social media. The Digital Pan App is the first of its kind and is entirely "Made in Trinidad and Tobago". Some noteworthy achievements so far have been: • Winner of Service Exporter of the year 2012 from the TTCSI • The only steelpan app that has been officially and exclusively endorsed by the world governing body for steelpan - Pan Trinbago • Digital Pan was used to play the National Anthem of Trinidad and Tobago at the opening of ALL Panorama 2013 events • Featured in Machel Montano video "Gold" launched in November 2012 ___________________________________ ABOUT DIGITAL BUSINESS LTD ___________________________________ Digital Business is a leading Caribbean management and technology consulting company committed to helping companies create knowledge and deliver innovation. Our team of experienced consultants offers breakthrough e-business, knowledge management and consulting services solutions that allows governments, leading organizations and small and medium-sized enterprises to create, share and apply knowledge that helps them to deliver innovation and transform their business. In a commitment to create, share and apply knowledge with innovation intrinsic to the core of their business, digital business has used ingenious thinking and collaborative team work to build their very own mobile applications. Now users can enjoy more ground-breaking innovations.
Sibelius
Professional music notation software is now available on mobile devices. Create, edit, and hear your compositions anywhere with a full suite of tools optimized for touch and stylus input. Seamlessly sync across platforms and access different feature tiers to suit your needs.
- Professional music notation
- Cross-platform synchronization
- High-quality sample library
- Apple Pencil and touch optimization
- Innovative note entry
- Command Search functionality
- Scalable subscription tiers
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Sibelius brings professional music notation to iPad and iPhone, putting the workflows used by countless composers, orchestrators, and arrangers at your fingertips. Seamlessly move between iPad, iPhone and desktop, and from studio to coffeeshop to scoring stage, and write anywhere inspiration strikes. # Work on scores anywhere Sibelius for mobile puts the #1 selling music notation program at your fingertips—literally. Work with the same tools and features used by countless composers and production houses every day on your iPad and iPhone. Whether writing down ideas, creating full-blown compositions, or reviewing scores, you have the freedom to create wherever you’re comfortable. #Take your portfolio to go Forget having to bring and break out your laptop when meeting with clients and collaborators. Instead, you can conveniently take the world’s most powerful notation toolset and your entire music portfolio with you wherever you go—ideal for those unexpected opportunities. And for tandemly working through last-minute revisions. # Hear your music in stunning detail Sibelius includes a high-quality sample library filled with a variety of musical instrumentation, so you can hear what your music will sound like when performed by real musicians. The Espressivo advanced notation interpretation even lets you adjust rhythm and swing to create a more humanistic feel. # Speed your workflow Sibelius for mobile is designed to take full advantage of Apple Pencil and iPad touch capabilities. Its elegant, streamlined interface provides the most intuitive and efficient workflows possible while supporting the same keyboard shortcuts you know and love from working on the desktop version, so you’ll feel right at home. # Get innovative note entry Experience the pen and paper workflow reimagined. Enter notes with the onscreen Keypad or a keyboard, and Sibelius takes care of all note layout. Touch a note and drag up or down to change its value, or drag left or right to add a flat or sharp. With an Apple Pencil, tap a note and tilt up or down to add a flat or sharp, or tilt left or right to choose the note value. # Have everything you need In addition to the Keypad, Sibelius for mobile features a Create menu that’s optimized for iOS, making it easy to add clefs, key signatures, time signatures, barlines, symbols, text styles, and more to your score from searchable galleries. You can also quickly search through all Sibelius commands using the Command Search, putting the entire app at your fingertips. # Move tiers to meet needs Sibelius is designed to grow with you to support your creative aspirations and project needs. From the introductory (and free) Sibelius First to the industry-standard Sibelius Ultimate, you can add more notation capabilities and instrument parts to take on more creative opportunities by simply upgrading your subscription tier. # Have everything on one creative platform Seamlessly move from desktop to tablet and back without ever having to import or export files. That’s because whether on mobile or desktop, you’re always in Sibelius. With files saved to iCloud, Dropbox, Google Drive, or other iOS-supported cloud service, you have easy anywhere access to all your ideas and scores. # Enable a hybrid workflow While Sibelius for mobile is fully featured, providing many of the same tools as its desktop counterpart, there are some notation and layout features only available in the desktop version, making it an integral part of a complete workflow (compare versions). Plus, the mobile version comes free with the desktop version, enabling you to work where and how you want.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Sibelius at Free against Digital Pan's $9.99. Sibelius also leads on ratings volume (1.8K vs 195). Digital Pan's advantage is review sentiment (71% vs 36%) and in-app purchases (none vs 2). On rating, update cadence, ads 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
Sibelius is free to download; Digital Pan costs $9.99 up front. Sibelius sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $5.99 per month. Digital Pan asks for nothing beyond the download.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.3 for Digital Pan against 4.2 for Sibelius. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Sibelius has 1.8K ratings behind it against 195, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 71% of Digital Pan's written reviews are positive against 36% of Sibelius's.
Digital Pan ships an update every 6 weeks, Sibelius every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 20, 2026 and October 19, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Digital Pan | Sibelius |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $9.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 4.3 (195 ratings) — better | 4.2 (1.8K ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 70.8% of reviews — better | 35.7% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 195 | 1.8K — better |
| Update frequency | Every 6 weeks — better | Every 2 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Best chart rank | #180 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 12.1 — better | 13.4 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 51 MB | 1.4 GB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Digital Business Limited | Avid® |
Customer experience
Digital Pan
Sibelius
User reviews
Digital Pan
From 195 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Worthy Investment
- 👍 Great for Practice
- 👍 Fantastic App
- 👍 Realistic Sounding Pan
- 👍 Helpful for Beginners
Room to improve
- 🐛 No Sound
- 🐛 Glitchy/Unstable
- 🐛 Recording Issues
- 🐛 Sensitivity/Latency Problems
- 🐛 Incorrect Note Mapping
Sibelius
From 1.8K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Easy to use and intuitive
- 🚀 Useful for composing on the go
- 💡 Good for making quick edits to existing scores
- 🎨 Stylish and professional-looking app
Room to improve
- 🐛 Crashes and freezes frequently
- 🔒 Difficulty unlocking full version and accessing features
- 💰 Subscription service is very expensive
- 🔇 Limited sound library and poor playback quality
- 📁 Unreliable saving and file management
Bugs and requests
Digital Pan
Reported bugs
3 issues- Crashes when accessing Help screen
- Inconsistent note playback
- Compatibility issues on older devices
Requested features
5 requests- Allow Mirroring/Rearranging of Pans
- Add More Pan Layouts
- Implement MIDI Support
- Add Tutorials and Sheet Music
- Improve Recording Functionality
Sibelius
Reported bugs
4 issues- Scores disappearing or not saving properly
- Subscription issues and inability to log in
- Crashes when performing basic actions
- Compatibility problems with newer iPad OS versions
Requested features
7 requests- Ability to enlarge chord symbols
- More time signature options
- Support for MIDI input
- Better Apple Pencil integration
- Autosave and improved file management
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- Export options like MusicXML and PDF
- Customizable shortcuts and toolbars
In-app purchases
Digital Pan
No in-app purchases
Sibelius
- Sibelius Artist for iOS1 Month trial$5.991 Month
- Sibelius Ultimate for iOS1 Month trial$12.991 Month









