The Sorting Synth vs MPEdie
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
The Sorting Synth
This app offers a creative outlet for generating unique musical patterns and textures. Inspired by vintage synthesizers, it allows for endless sonic exploration with configurable settings and effects. It's perfect for both casual time-passing and serious music composition.
- Vintage synthesizer design
- Configurable settings
- Built-in effects
- Speed controls
- Vast pattern possibilities
- Offline functionality
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The simple joys in life are fun for the sake of fun, while sparking your creativity and letting the chaos sort itself out. The Sorting Synth embodies that philosophy. You can mindlessly pass the time or use it as an instrument to add colorful melodies and textures to your music. Features include: - Design inspired by 1970's synthesizers - Configurable settings - Effects - Speed Controls - 11,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 unique patterns possible (1.1 x 10^21) - No internet required after install Happy Sorting!
MPEdie
This app is an expressive MIDI keyboard controller for mobile devices. It allows for detailed per-note expression, enabling unique sound manipulation. It can be used standalone or as an AUv3 plugin with other music applications.
- MPE keyboard controller
- Per-note MIDI channel control
- Four playing surfaces (Piano, Isomorphic, Ribbon, Scale Grid)
- Customizable expression matrix
- AUv3 plugin support
- Standalone operation
- 26 presets
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MPEdie is an MPE keyboard controller for iPhone and iPad. It makes no sound: it plays whatever instrument you send it to, and it gives every note its own MIDI channel — so every note bends, breathes and changes timbre on its own. On an ordinary keyboard a bend moves the whole chord. Here it moves one note. APP AND AUv3 Run it standalone and send MIDI to other apps on the device, to Bluetooth gear or over Wi-Fi. Or load it as an AUv3 MIDI plugin in your host and route it straight to an MPE instrument. FOUR PLAYING SURFACES • PIANO — the keyboard your hands know. Sliding follows the pitch under the finger, not the width of the key. • ISOMORPHIC — a grid where a chord shape is the same in every key. Rows, columns and row interval are yours to set. • RIBBON — one continuous strip, nothing to land on. You choose how many semitones fit across it. • SCALE GRID — the same grid, with only the notes of the chosen scale. Nothing out of key by accident. Fourteen scales, any root, split the surface in two with its own layout and octave on the right. EVERY FINGER MOVEMENT IS ROUTABLE A matrix of seven destinations — bend, timbre, pressure, strike, lift and two free CCs — and eight sources: sideways glide, absolute or relative position in the key, contact area, force, time held, or a fixed value. Each link has a curve, a gain, an offset and an invert. And an honest answer about pressure: iOS glass does not measure how hard you press. It measures contact area. MPEdie can send that, and it says so instead of pretending — it is one tap away in the matrix, and the factory default is a gesture you can predict. BUILT TO AGREE WITH THE RECEIVER Lower, upper or split zones. Member channel counts. Per-note and master bend ranges. RPN sent to every member channel when your instrument needs it. Channel pressure or poly aftertouch. Any timbre CC. Channel stealing by oldest or quietest, with a cooldown. One button resends the MPE zone setup to an instrument loaded after you. UNDER THE HANDS PANIC that also lifts the pedal. Octave and key count. Four glide modes — continuous, snap, locked, per-note lock. Pitch, modulation and volume strips, with a spring you can switch off. Two assignable XY pads. Sustain, momentary or latching. Latch, with held notes drawn apart so a stuck note never looks like a played one. Bank select and program change, sent when you ask and never behind your back. TWENTY-SIX PRESETS Seven folders: keyboards, grids, ribbons, splits, scales, and a Targets family that answers the same question — what does the receiver actually understand? — five different ways. Save your own; they are plain files you can move and share. A FREE COMPANION FOR MAC AND WINDOWS MPEdie Desktop receives the iPad over the network and republishes it as a virtual MIDI port, so your DAW sees MPEdie in its list of MIDI inputs, exactly like a hardware controller. That is the point: an input gets recorded. Arm a track and the DAW writes down the per-note expression — every note's own bend, pressure and timbre — and plays it back. Nothing is installed on the iPad, and no driver on Windows. Free download from the developer's site. The full manual is inside the app. MPE (MIDI Polyphonic Expression) is an open standard published by the MIDI Association and AMEI. MPEdie is MPE-compatible. Diego Capoccitti · 34Audiovisuals · www.diegocapoccitti.it
Screenshots
Verdict
The Sorting Synth and MPEdie both sit at 4.8 stars, but that hides the real split: 100% of MPEdie's written reviews are positive against 50% of The Sorting Synth's. MPEdie also leads on price (Free vs $2.99) and update cadence (every 6 days vs every 18 months). On rating, ratings volume, ads 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
MPEdie is free to download; The Sorting Synth costs $2.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.8 for The Sorting Synth against 4.8 for MPEdie. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 5 and 6 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 50% of The Sorting Synth's written reviews are positive against 100% of MPEdie's.
The Sorting Synth ships an update every 18 months, MPEdie every 6 days. The most recent releases landed on September 8, 2026 and September 23, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | The Sorting Synth | MPEdie |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $2.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 4.8 (5 ratings) | 4.8 (6 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 50.0% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 5 | 6 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 18 months | Every 6 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 12 MB | 10 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Kelly Mylett | Diego Capoccitti |
Customer experience
The Sorting Synth
MPEdie
In-app purchases
The Sorting Synth
No in-app purchases
MPEdie
No in-app purchases





