Comparison

AUMI vs ShowMIDI

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

Head to head
About

AUMI

This app allows individuals with limited mobility to create music through movement and gestures. It focuses on improvisation and self-expression, making music accessible to a wider range of people, including those with profound physical disabilities.

Highlights
  • Music creation through movement and gestures
  • Focus on improvisation and self-expression
  • Accessible for individuals with profound physical disabilities
  • Uses device cameras for input
  • Configurable sound sensitivity
  • MIDI controller functionality
  • Import audio from other apps
Features
Read full description

Adaptive Use Musical Instruments (AUMI) software interface enables people who have very limited controlled (voluntary) movement to independently engage in music making. The Adaptive Use Musical Instruments software interface enables the user to play sounds and musical phrases through movement and gestures. This is an entry to improvisation rather than “hitting the right notes” or playing set pieces of music. Instead, the software uses music as a way for participants to express a range of affects, both by themselves and in response to, or in conversation with, others. While the AUMI interface can be used by anyone, the focus has been on working with people who have profound physical disabilities. In taking these participants as its starting point, the project attempts to make musical improvisation and collaboration accessible to the widest possible range of individuals. This approach also opens up the possibility of learning more about the relations between ability, the body, creativity and improvisation, from within a cultural context that does not always acknowledge or accept people with disabilities. This iOS version of AUMI runs on devices with cameras, and can run on iPhones, iPod touches, and iPads. A large assortment of sounds can be triggered with configurable amounts of sensitivity. AUMI also can be used as a MIDI controller to access other iOS based synthesizers or external equipment (using the iPad's Camera Connection kit or via Core MIDI over WiFi.) AUMI can also import audio from other iOS or desktop apps to be used as melodic or percussive instruments. AUMI can capture a record of the movement in the session, which can be exported and turned into reports in a clinical setting.

About

ShowMIDI

This application provides a real-time, glanceable view of all MIDI activity on your computer. It visualizes various MIDI messages and allows you to pause the flow for a data snapshot. It can be used as a standalone tool or an AUv3 plugin within your DAW.

Highlights
  • Real-time MIDI visualization
  • Auto-hides irrelevant messages
  • Pause and snapshot data
  • Standalone application
  • AUv3 plugin support
  • Supports MPE configuration
Features
Read full description

ShowMIDI is an open-source multi-platform GUI application to effortlessly visualize MIDI activity. Instead of wading through logs of MIDI messages to correlate relevant ones and identify what is happening, ShowMIDI visualizes the current activity and auto-hides what you don't care about anymore. It provides you with a real-time glanceable view of all MIDI activity on your computer. ShowMIDI is designed to be always on, using the spacebar or play/pause button you can pause the flow and focus on a data snapshot with the latest state of any MIDI entity. ShowMIDI can be ran as a standalone application that automatically detects all your MIDI devices, or as an AUv3 plugin in your DAW or host to visualize MIDI data in your sessions. ShowMIDI visualizes: * MIDI ports * channels * program change * note on/off * channel pressure * polyphonic pressure * continuous control change * pitchbend * RPN and NRPN * MPE configuration and channel modes ShowMIDI supports: * themes * standalone operation * AUv3 operation

Screenshots

AUMI4 screens
ShowMIDI4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: ShowMIDI at 88% against AUMI's 50%. ShowMIDI also leads on update cadence (every 2 months vs every 6 months) and ratings volume (18 vs 4). AUMI's advantage is rating (5.0 vs 4.8). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

AUMI holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.8. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 4 and 18 respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 50% of AUMI's written reviews are positive against 88% of ShowMIDI's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

AUMI ships an update every 6 months, ShowMIDI every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on September 25, 2026 and October 17, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
AUMI versus ShowMIDI: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterAUMIShowMIDI
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (4 ratings) — better4.8 (18 ratings)
Positive reviews50.0% of reviews87.5% of reviews — better
Number of ratings418 — better
Update frequencyEvery 6 monthsEvery 2 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS12.412.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size69 MB8 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperRensselaer Polytechnic InstituteUwyn, LLC

Customer experience

AUMI

All ratings4 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews4 reviews
Positive50.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative50.0%

ShowMIDI

All ratings18 ratings
Positive94.4%
Neutral5.6%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews8 reviews
Positive87.5%
Neutral12.5%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

AUMI

No in-app purchases

None

ShowMIDI

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is AUMI free?
AUMI is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is ShowMIDI free?
ShowMIDI is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, AUMI or ShowMIDI?
AUMI is rated higher. AUMI averages 5.0 out of 5 from 4 ratings, while ShowMIDI averages 4.8 from 18 ratings.
Do AUMI or ShowMIDI have ads?
Neither AUMI nor ShowMIDI shows ads.
Which is updated more often, AUMI or ShowMIDI?
AUMI ships an update every 6 months, and ShowMIDI every 2 months. Most recently, AUMI was updated on September 25, 2026 and ShowMIDI on October 17, 2026.

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