Comparison

MIDIWriter vs 88 Synthwave

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

Head to head
About

MIDIWriter

This app transforms keyboard input into musical notes and sounds. Type characters to instantly generate MIDI messages, or input phrases to create musical sequences with adjustable tempo and looping. It includes a built-in sound engine and supports external MIDI devices and apps.

Highlights
  • Text to MIDI conversion
  • Built-in General MIDI sound engine
  • Phrase playback with tempo control
  • Drum mode with multiple kits
  • External MIDI output
  • Hardware keyboard support
  • Wi-Fi MIDI networking
Features
Read full description

[[ A STRANGE MUSIC TOOL FOR MANIAC MUSIC LOVERS! ]] MIDIWriter is a unique app that converts keyboard input into MIDI note messages. Each character you type instantly produces sound. You can also enter a phrase and play it back as a sequence with adjustable tempo and loop options. KEY FEATURES: Built-in Sound Engine: No external app required! MIDIWriter includes a built-in General MIDI sound engine with 128 instruments and 9 drum kits. Just type and hear the sound immediately. Phrase Playback: Enter any text and play it as a musical sequence. Adjust the tempo (1-480 BPM), enable loop mode, and let your words become music. Space characters can be used as rests. Drum Mode: Switch to drum mode to play percussion sounds. Choose from 9 GM drum kits including Standard, Room, Power, Electronic, 808/909, Jazz, Brush, and Orchestral. MIDI Output: Send MIDI to other apps or external devices. Configure MIDI channel (1-16), program change (0-127), and destination. Works with Virtual MIDI and MIDI Network Session. Can be used simultaneously with the built-in sound engine. Keyboard Support: Use the on-screen software keyboard, or connect a Bluetooth/USB hardware keyboard for a real typing experience. Supports Japanese input with proper IME handling. MIDI Network Session: Connect to Mac or other iOS devices over Wi-Fi to control CoreMIDI-compatible sound generators remotely. Dark Mode & Rotation: Full support for light and dark modes. Works in portrait and landscape orientations on both iPhone and iPad. Note: Playback stops when the app goes to background. Using the Built-in Sound: Simply launch MIDIWriter and start typing. Each key produces a unique sound based on its character code. Enable drum mode in Settings for percussion sounds. Using with External MIDI Apps (Virtual MIDI): 1. Open a CoreMIDI sound generator app. 2. In MIDIWriter Settings, turn on "MIDI Output" and select the destination. 3. Type any key to hear sound from the external app. Using with Mac (MIDI Network Session): 1. Connect iPhone and Mac to the same Wi-Fi network. 2. Open MIDIWriter on iPhone. 3. On Mac, open "Audio MIDI Setup" and configure Network MIDI. 4. Connect your iPhone to the session. 5. Open a CoreMIDI app on Mac and select the network session as MIDI input. 6. Type on MIDIWriter to play sounds on Mac. Credits: Built-in sound engine uses "GeneralUser GS" SoundFont by S. Christian Collins. https://schristiancollins.com/generaluser.php

About

88 Synthwave

Features
Read full description

88 Synthwave writes complete synthwave tracks and plays them on its own synths. Press write and you get the whole track: an intro, verses, builds with a riser and a snare roll, choruses with the hook lifted over a pumping mix, a breakdown, solo or bridge in the middle, a final chorus an octave up, and an ending. That can be the arp left running, a fade, or one hit and silence. Everything is synthesized, so there is nothing to download. An analog-style polysynth with up to five detuned oscillators per voice, where no two notes are quite in tune, plays the pads, saw leads, arps and basses. A four-operator FM engine plays the bells, electric piano, brass and sax. Four classic drum machines sit behind a gated-room reverb and a sidechain pump. The tracks come from chaos maths. A Lorenz attractor draws the melody and the hook's rhythm, and a logistic map picks which steps the arpeggiator plays and where the ghost notes fall. Chaos on its own is noise, so a small model filters it: it is rewarded for consonant intervals and learns as it writes. The CHAOS / TASTE slider decides how much say each one gets. There are eleven styles, and each one sets its own scale, drum machine, rack and effects: Outrun, Night Drive, Darksynth, Dreamwave, Disco, Synthpop, Cyberpunk, Horror Synth, Space Disco, Miami Nights and Vaporwave. Tick STYLE LOADS RACK and each style brings its own sound. The sound is half the record. There are four channels (bass, pads and stabs, arp and keys, lead), each with a preamp or amp, a tone stack and a speaker: a studio monitor, a guitar cabinet, a bass cabinet or a car door. Eight one-click racks set a whole sound at once. The effects are the production: sidechain pump, gated room, chorus, tape, bit crush, phaser, width and tape hiss, with a plate, a hall, a spring and a tempo-synced delay on the master. Every track is built from its seed. Write the seed down and you can have that exact track again, note for note. A seed from the browser version rebuilds the same track here. You can play over it, too. The pads are the notes of the track's key rather than a piano keyboard, so nothing you touch is wrong. The sixteen-step lane stays in key when the writer picks a new track, and it follows your host. Both play any of 22 voices through that voice's own channel and out on its MIDI channel. Turn on RADIO and it keeps playing, picking a new style, key, scale and tempo for every track. You also get: • 11 styles, 21 scales, 12 keys, tempo and density • 22 voices: pads, leads, brass, FM bells and keys, arps and basses • 4 drum machines, 14 channel voicings, 6 speakers, 8 racks and 8 effects • Seven-part mixer with a meter on every part • MIDI in, so your keyboard plays whichever voice you have selected • Export a MIDI file, a WAV mix, or stems, one WAV per part (in the app; in a host you record the audio there) • A note and a MIDI channel for every drum and every riser and impact • UI scale, so the panel is not tiny on a big iPad • Live spectrum and waveform, and the chaos engine drawn as it runs There are two Audio Units, an instrument and a MIDI processor. Each part sends on its own MIDI channel and every drum has its own note and channel, so one instance can drive a whole rack of synths. The MIDI version passes your keyboard through. Both follow your host's tempo and transport, and one install registers both. The app is free and nothing in it is held back. Using the Audio Units inside other apps is a one-time purchase, and each AUv3 session plays for two minutes first so you can try them properly. No account, no ads, no subscription. Works offline.

Screenshots

MIDIWriter4 screens
88 Synthwave4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: 88 Synthwave at Free against MIDIWriter's $0.99. MIDIWriter's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1). On ads, device support 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

88 Synthwave is free to download; MIDIWriter costs $0.99 up front. 88 Synthwave sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. MIDIWriter asks for nothing beyond the download.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
MIDIWriter versus 88 Synthwave: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMIDIWriter88 Synthwave
Price$0.99Free — better
Rating1.5 (2 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews0.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings2 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 35 months—
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaid—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS16.015.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size31 MB17 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperMasayuki AkamatsuSoft Brew Mobile

In-app purchases

None

MIDIWriter

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

88 Synthwave

One-time1
  • AUv3 Unlock$2.99

Questions

Is MIDIWriter free?
MIDIWriter costs $0.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is 88 Synthwave free?
88 Synthwave is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do MIDIWriter or 88 Synthwave have ads?
Neither MIDIWriter nor 88 Synthwave shows ads.

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