Comparison

YouTube vs Backpack Studio Soundboard

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

Head to head
About

YouTube

Watch and subscribe to a vast array of videos, from music and gaming to news and learning. Discover trending content, connect with creators, and even upload your own videos. Offers options for ad-free viewing and exclusive perks.

Highlights
  • Personalized video recommendations
  • Subscribe to favorite channels
  • Explore trending and popular content
  • Connect with creators via comments and posts
  • Create and upload videos
  • Ad-free viewing with Premium
  • Save videos for offline playback
Features
Read full description

Get the official YouTube app on iPhones and iPads. See what the world is watching -- from the hottest music videos to what’s popular in gaming, fashion, beauty, news, learning and more. Subscribe to channels you love, create content of your own, share with friends, and watch on any device. Watch and subscribe ● Browse personal recommendations on Home ● See the latest from your favorite channels in Subscriptions ● Look up videos you’ve watched, liked, and saved for later in Library Explore different topics, what’s popular, and on the rise (available in select countries) ● Stay up to date on what’s popular in music, gaming, beauty, news, learning and more ● See what’s trending on YouTube and around the world on Explore ● Learn about the coolest Creators, Gamers, and Artists on the Rise (available in select countries) Connect with the YouTube community ● Keep up with your favorites creators with Posts, Stories, Premieres, and Live streams ● Join the conversation with comments and interact with creators and other community members Create content from your mobile device ● Create or upload your own videos directly in the app ● Engage with your audience in real time with live streaming right from the app Find the experience that fits you and your family (available in select countries) ● Every family has their own approach to online video. Learn about your options: the YouTube Kids app or a new parent supervised experience on YouTube at youtube.com/myfamily Support creators you love with channel memberships (available in select countries) ● Join channels that offer paid monthly memberships and support their work ● Get access to exclusive perks from the channel & become part of their members community ● Stand out in comments and live chats with a loyalty badge next to your username Upgrade to YouTube Premium (available in select countries) ● Watch videos uninterrupted by ads, while using other apps, or when the screen is locked ● Save videos for when you really need them – like when you’re on a plane or commuting ● Get access to YouTube Music Premium as part of your benefits Note: If you subscribe via Apple, payment will be charged to App Store Account at confirmation of purchase. Subscription automatically renews unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Account will be charged for renewal within 24 hours prior to the end of the current period at the rate of the selected plan. Subscriptions and auto-renewal may be managed by going to Account Settings after purchase. YouTube paid service terms: https://www.youtube.com/t/terms_paidservice. Privacy policy: https://www.google.com/policies/privacy

About

Backpack Studio Soundboard

Record, mix, and master professional-sounding podcasts and radio shows directly from your mobile device. This app automates post-production, allowing you to focus on creativity with live sound triggering and advanced audio processing.

Highlights
  • Live sound triggering with automatic volume adjustment
  • Unlimited soundboard pages with customizable pads
  • Import sounds from various cloud services and apps
  • Optional subscription for remote guest recording and live streaming
  • Create video versions of podcasts with animations
  • Automatic studio-quality audio mastering and EQ
  • Customizable shortcuts for recording and sound triggering
Features
Read full description

Backpack Studio turns your iPhone or iPad into a live soundboard and a complete mobile podcast studio. It’s easy to get started, but there’s plenty here for professionals too. Under the hood is a studio-quality sound engine built for recording and live mixing. Need a soundboard? Load your music, sound effects, cues, intros, voice clips, or anything else you want to play. Arrange everything across multiple pages, then trigger sounds instantly during a podcast, performance, event, class, or stream. We think it’s the most powerful soundboard you can put on an iPhone or iPad. Making a podcast? Record in high quality, mix microphones and sound pads live, invite remote guests, edit the recording, stream your show, and export the finished episode—all from one app. When the recording is finished, Backpack’s optional AI tools can create a transcript, show notes, chapters, and highlight clips. You can even generate original sound effects and music for your show or soundboard. People use Backpack Studio for: Podcasts and radio shows Live events and streams Theatre productions Church services Workshops and classes Voice presentations Weddings and dance recitals Stage management Magic and puppet shows With Backpack Studio you can: Import multiple sounds from iCloud Drive, your device, Google Drive, Dropbox, our free sound library, or your AI generations Arrange pads quickly across multiple soundboard pages Play music, effects, intros, outros, cues, and clips while recording Keep separate soundboards for different shows, clients, and events Record high-quality audio anywhere Mix microphones and sound pads live Bring remote guests into interviews and podcasts Edit and export MP3, M4A, WAV, AIFF, FLAC, or Apple Lossless Live stream your show Create transcripts, show notes, chapters, and highlight clips with AI Generate original sound effects and music Back up and sync recordings and soundboards Backpack Pro unlocks Batch Import, Pad Arranger, transcripts, show notes, chapters, highlight clips, cloud backup and syncing, guest rooms, live streaming, uncompressed recording, lossless exports, and sound generation. Backpack Studio is designed to work well with VoiceOver and has won awards from the AppleVis community. Visit backpackstudioapp.com for more info Send feedback to backpackstudioapp@gmail.com Privacy Policy: https://backpackstudioapp.com/privacy Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

YouTube4 screens
Backpack Studio Soundboard4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Backpack Studio Soundboard at none against YouTube's shown. Backpack Studio Soundboard also leads on review sentiment (79% vs 48%). YouTube's advantage is ratings volume (49M vs 303) and chart position (#1 vs unranked). On price, rating, update cadence and in-app purchases 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. YouTube sells 11 in-app purchases, starting at $11.99 per month and Backpack Studio Soundboard sells 6 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for YouTube against 4.6 for Backpack Studio Soundboard. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: YouTube has 49M ratings behind it against 303, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 48% of YouTube's written reviews are positive against 79% of Backpack Studio Soundboard's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly weekly. The most recent releases landed on September 25, 2026 and September 21, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 7 level
YouTube versus Backpack Studio Soundboard: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterYouTubeBackpack Studio Soundboard
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (49M ratings) — better4.6 (303 ratings)
Positive reviews48.2% of reviews78.7% of reviews — better
Number of ratings49M — better303
Update frequencyWeeklyWeekly
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFreemium
Best chart rank#1 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Apple TV — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.0 — better17.6
Further details — not scored
Size375 MB133 MB
Age rating12++4
DeveloperGoogleEd Filowat

Customer experience

YouTube

All ratings49,072,318 ratings
Positive91.9%
Neutral3.1%
Negative5.0%
Written reviews20,111 reviews
Positive48.2%
Neutral9.3%
Negative42.5%

Backpack Studio Soundboard

All ratings303 ratings
Positive91.1%
Neutral2.6%
Negative6.3%
Written reviews141 reviews
Positive78.7%
Neutral4.3%
Negative17.0%

User reviews

YouTube

From 49M App Store ratings

What we love

  • ⭐ Great app
  • 🎨 Diverse content
  • 🎓 Educational videos
  • 🎶 Excellent music selection
  • 🌐 Vast library of videos

Room to improve

  • 💰 Too many ads
  • 🤖 Biased algorithm recommendations
  • 🔇 Inability to listen with screen off
  • 🔍 Difficult to find relevant content
  • 🔒 Censorship concerns

Backpack Studio Soundboard

From 303 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Helpful for video editing
  • 👍 Compatible with screen readers
  • 👍 Easy to create videos with text and audio
  • 👍 Intuitive and user-friendly interface
  • 👍 Flawless performance and stability

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Text displayed in videos differs from original
  • 🐛 Crashes when trying to load pads from Dropbox or Google Drive
  • 🐛 Buttons not responsive, causing issues during live playback
  • 🐛 Crashes when trying to add album art to saved audio files
  • 🔒 Lacks support for Google Drive and 2FA security

Bugs and requests

YouTube

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Video playback issues
  • Subscription tab bugs
  • Inconsistent UI changes
  • Syncing problems across devices
  • Unreliable video recommendations

Requested features

5 requests
  • Bring back dislike button
  • Improve playlist management
  • Add option to customize video quality
  • Enhance background playback
  • Improve comment section functionality

Backpack Studio Soundboard

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Text displayed in videos differs from original
  • Crashes when trying to load pads from Dropbox or Google Drive
  • Buttons not responsive, causing issues during live playback
  • Crashes when trying to add album art to saved audio files

Requested features

6 requests
  • Add more audio effects (reverb, echo, etc.)
  • Implement Apple Watch integration for controls
  • Add video recording and editing capabilities
  • Improve multi-track output for further audio editing
  • Provide option to disable the dark pad after playing
Show 1 more
  • Add support for more audio interfaces and inputs

In-app purchases

11 purchases

YouTube

Subscriptions6
  • Premium Lite1 Month trial$11.991 Month
  • FOX One3 Days trial$19.991 Month
  • YouTube Premium1 Month trial2 variants$20.991 Month
Show 3 more
  • YouTube Premium2 variants$20.991 Month
  • Youtube Premium Family1 Month trial$34.991 Month
  • YouTube Premium Family$34.991 Month
One-time5
  • Super Chat$1.99
  • Movies & Shows$2.99
  • Movies & Shows$3.99
Show 2 more
  • Super Chat$4.99
  • Movies & Shows$5.99
6 purchases

Backpack Studio Soundboard

Subscriptions5
  • Backpack Live 10 Hours3 Days trial$9.991 Month
  • Monthly Pro Subscription$11.991 Month
  • Backpack Live 25 Hours$19.991 Month
Show 2 more
  • Backpack Live 60 Hours3 Days trial$29.991 Month
  • backpack pro annual$99.001 Year
One-time1
  • Live Streaming$9.99

Questions

Is YouTube free?
YouTube is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Backpack Studio Soundboard free?
Backpack Studio Soundboard is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, YouTube or Backpack Studio Soundboard?
YouTube is rated higher. YouTube averages 4.7 out of 5 from 49M ratings, while Backpack Studio Soundboard averages 4.6 from 303 ratings.
Do YouTube or Backpack Studio Soundboard have ads?
YouTube shows ads; Backpack Studio Soundboard does not.
Which is updated more often, YouTube or Backpack Studio Soundboard?
YouTube ships an update weekly, and Backpack Studio Soundboard weekly. Most recently, YouTube was updated on September 25, 2026 and Backpack Studio Soundboard on September 21, 2026.

Other comparisons