Comparison

MidiWrist Unleashed vs Bandtopia

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

Head to head
About

MidiWrist Unleashed

Transform your Apple Watch into a standalone MIDI controller. Directly connect to Bluetooth LE MIDI devices without your iPhone, offering tactile control with haptic feedback and the digital crown. Customize knobs, buttons, and pages for a personalized music production experience.

Highlights
  • Standalone Apple Watch MIDI controller
  • Direct Bluetooth LE MIDI connection
  • Digital Crown control with haptic feedback
  • Configurable knobs, buttons, and pages
  • Transport control for DAWs
  • Motion data transmission
  • Save and manage presets
Features
Read full description

MidiWrist Unleashed turns your Apple Watch into a standalone MIDI controller that directly connects to any advertised Bluetooth LE MIDI device, without the need of your iPhone or any other proxy. The tactile feel of the digital crown combined with haptic feedback, gives you control over any MIDI device by touching your wrist, even when you're not looking. MidiWrist Unleashed makes no sound on its own and can't advertise itself as a Bluetooth LE MIDI device. NOTE: The reliability of Bluetooth LE MIDI support in hardware devices varies. MidiWrist Unleashed was tested with iPhone, iPad, Mac and CME WIDI devices. We can't guarantee the connection stability nor MIDI message latency with other devices. IMPORTANT: MidiWrist Unleashed can only connect to Bluetooth MIDI devices, and doesn't support Siri commands. If you need to connect to other MIDI devices or use the Siri features, the original MidiWrist app is still available with those features. Features: • Standalone MIDI controller for your Apple Watch • Fully configurable on your Watch, no external app is required • Watch face complication to launch the app straight from your watch face • Any number of knobs can be controlled with the Digital Crown • Macro control over multiple MIDI parameters from the Digital Crown • Remotely Play / Stop / Pause / Record / Rewind / Fast Forward your DAW from your Watch • Knobs can be controlled individually or simultaneously • Knobs can be linked to preserve their offsets • Any number of buttons can be toggled by tapping the Watch • Buttons can either be stateful or momentary • Double tap to actuate controls on Apple Watch Series 9, Ultra 2 and later • Buttons and triggers can send a single CC or channel pressure value instead of switching between a minimum and a maximum • Pages can be created with any combination of controls choosing from buttons and knobs • Program changes through the Digital Crown or by tapping the Watch • Transport control over MIDI Machine Control (MMC) or Mackie Control Universal (MCU) • Scrub transport with the Digital Crown • Save / Undo / Redo / Toggle Cycle / Toggle Click / Enter through MCU • XY pad with individual messages for each axis • Stepper panel to step through MIDI values with plus and minus buttons, accelerating as you hold • Motion data (pitch, roll, yaw, acceleration) can be sent in real time • Trigger thresholds for motion data to send discrete messages instead of a continuous stream • Configurable accelerometer range, so a strong movement can be told apart from an ordinary one when you wear the watch somewhere other than your wrist • Optional haptic feedback • Configurable colors for all knobs, buttons and panels • Configurable labels for knobs, buttons and panels • Configurable MIDI channels and MIDI messages (continuous control, program change, channel pressure, note) • Create any number of controller pages you need • Delete and rearrange controller pages • Save your configurations to presets for easy retrieval • MIDI learn for easy controller configuration • Delete and rearrange presets • Connect to other Bluetooth MIDI devices • Low latency and fast response

About

Bandtopia

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BandTopia is the booking and band-management platform for working musicians. Find venues, run the booking pipeline, run the business, coordinate across the band, share the calendar, build your repertoire, and put a professional EPK in front of every venue you're courting — all in one app. Built for working bands — local circuit, regional tours, wherever you're playing next. WHAT YOU CAN DO Find venues • Search a unified catalog of community-vetted venues and a vast public venue database in one ranked list • Build your personal venue list for outreach tracking • Filter out closed venues and event-rental halls automatically • "Rank with AI" scores up to 60 candidate venues against your band's profile, genre, and history — best fits bubble to the top Run the business (Pro) • Per-show income and expenses • Configurable pay splits (equal, percentage, fixed, per-member overrides) • Invoicing with paid/unpaid tracking • Monthly income widgets • Optional band-wide sharing — toggle whether all members see finances or only managers Coordinate the band • Topic-based channels (#booking, #gear, #shows) • Threaded discussions • Native push notifications for messages, booking updates, calendar conflicts • Alerts surface booking changes, schedule conflicts, and follow-up reminders as actionable items Book shows (Pro) • Move venues through stages: Lead → Outreach → Hold → Booked → Played • Track contact people at each venue — booking managers, owners, night managers • Log every reach-out, response, and follow-up • Track deal terms per booking (door, guarantee, percentage) • Bookings dashboard with full booking detail per show Share the calendar • Shows, rehearsals, blockouts, polls — visible to every band member • Members mark dates they can't play; conflicts surface before you book • Availability polls let the band vote on proposed dates • Subscribe to your band's calendar from any external calendar app Build your repertoire • Per-band song library with tags, custom fields, and notes • Drag-and-drop setlist builder with breaks and set divisions • Show Mode: big, on-stage performance view designed for stage lighting and quick glances between songs • Print-friendly setlist view for the stage / music stand Public EPK (Free) • Every band gets a public Electronic Press Kit with a shareable URL • The digital one-sheet to paste into cold emails to venues • Photos, bio, links, social media, contact info — customizable to match the band's look Play in multiple bands • Working musicians often play in multiple bands — BandTopia treats individuals as first-class • One login, multiple bands, unified personal calendar across all of them • Aggregated pay across every band you're in FREE TO START Free tier includes multi-band membership, public EPK, calendar, venue search, songs, setlists, Show Mode, channel messaging, push notifications, and 10 AI venue rankings per month. Pro (14-day free trial) adds the Booking Pipeline, Finances, Invoicing, and 100 AI venue rankings per month. Subscriptions purchased in the iOS app are managed through your Apple account. BandTopia is built by JPW Tech Solutions LLC. Privacy Policy: https://bandtopia.io/privacy Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Terms of Service: https://bandtopia.io/terms Support: info@bandtopia.io

Screenshots

Bandtopia4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Bandtopia at Free against MidiWrist Unleashed's $14.99. Bandtopia also leads on iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.0). MidiWrist Unleashed's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 2). On 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Bandtopia is free to download; MidiWrist Unleashed costs $14.99 up front. Bandtopia sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $17.00 per month. MidiWrist Unleashed asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

MidiWrist Unleashed ships an update every 3 weeks, Bandtopia monthly. The most recent releases landed on October 30, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
MidiWrist Unleashed versus Bandtopia: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMidiWrist UnleashedBandtopia
Price$14.99Free — better
Rating4.2 (6 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews80.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings6 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeks — betterMonthly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaid—
DevicesiPhone, Apple WatchiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS17.015.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size4 MB27 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperUwyn, LLCJason Watson

In-app purchases

None

MidiWrist Unleashed

No in-app purchases

2 purchases

Bandtopia

Subscriptions2
  • BandTopia Pro Monthly14 Days trial$17.001 Month
  • BandTopia Pro Annual14 Days trial$162.991 Year

Questions

Is MidiWrist Unleashed free?
MidiWrist Unleashed costs $14.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Bandtopia free?
Bandtopia is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do MidiWrist Unleashed or Bandtopia have ads?
Neither MidiWrist Unleashed nor Bandtopia shows ads.
Which is updated more often, MidiWrist Unleashed or Bandtopia?
MidiWrist Unleashed ships an update every 3 weeks, and Bandtopia monthly. Most recently, MidiWrist Unleashed was updated on October 30, 2026 and Bandtopia on October 31, 2026.

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