Comparison

Shortcut Remote vs Backstage Sidekick

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

Head to head
About

Shortcut Remote

Customize wireless shortcut remote button functions on your mobile device. Enhance your creative workflow with pre-set software configurations for popular tools.

Highlights
  • Customize remote button functions
  • Wireless connectivity
  • Mobile device integration
  • Pre-set software configurations
  • Enhance creative workflow
Features
Read full description

XPPen tools help users customize wireless shortcut remote button functions on mobile devices (providing some commonly used software presets), better assisting your creativity.

About

Backstage Sidekick

Features
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Backstage Sidekick is a free moderator tool for Whatnot live shows, for iPhone and iPad. For Whatnot mods, co-hosts and sellers, it puts a mod's whole night on one tap: chat phrases, sizes and emoji, a list of everyone to thank for raids, tips and giveaway wins, prebid alerts, a name list and raid train lineups. No account, no sign-up, no charge. Anyone who's modded a show knows the loop. Welcome people in, push the follow, hype the giveaway, ask the winner's size, thank the raid. The same twenty messages, typed over and over, all night. Open your show inside Sidekick and it turns them into taps. CHAT PHRASES, IN YOUR WORDS It comes loaded with the lines mods actually post: welcomes, follow and bookmark pushes, giveaway hype, congrats, prebid and Buy It Now callouts, sponsor thank-yous. Edit any phrase, add your own categories, and fold a category away when you don't need it. Fill-in-the-blank phrases ask for the username or item, then post clean. Export your phrases to a file and bring them back in anytime. SIZES, BRANDS AND EMOJI Size chips post "sz 8" style callouts, with separate tabs for women's, men's, kids and shoes, and a brands list you fill in yourself. Pin your favorites to the top. Emoji walls land with one tap, and taps stack, so "Welcome in!" plus a heart builds one message before you send. WHO TO THANK, SO NOBODY SLIPS PAST While the show is open, Sidekick keeps a running list of the moments that deserve a shoutout: raids, tips and giveaway winners, in the order they arrived, with a clock showing who's been waiting. Thank each one by @username with a tap and check them off. Opened Sidekick mid-show? Tap Catch up to fill in what you missed. PREBID ALERTS The listings getting bids before they go live are the show's hottest items. Sidekick gives them their own tab, so one tap drops a "prebids are hot" line for the item heating up. NAME LIST Keep a running list: giveaway entries, everyone who typed DONE, people to follow back. Add names one at a time or in bulk, jot a note under anyone, or set a watch word and Sidekick collects anyone who types it in chat. Check people off, then post the whole list back to chat at once. SEE THE SHOW YOUR WAY ON IPHONE On iPhone, switch between Whatnot's phone layout, a view of just the video, or just the chat, and lock it so it stays put while you mod. RAID TRAINS Modding a raid train? Paste the train's tracking number from Raid Train Express and the Train tab shows the full running order, who's live now and who's next, with the host, the show notes and the rules, so the handoff never catches you off guard. Backstage partners with Raid Train Express, where trains are organized. WORKS THE WAY YOU MOD Pick how a tap works: Send posts straight to chat, Copy puts the phrase on your clipboard, and Build adds it to a scratch pad so you can put one message together and send it yourself. Mods and hosts can send any line as an /announce or /hide, and every phrase wears the color of what a tap will do. YOUR PRIVACY No account, no sign-up. Who bought what, who won, who tipped and how much stays on your device and is never sent to us. To learn what helps, Sidekick records the shows you work with it open: whose show it was, your Whatnot username, whether you were the seller or a mod, and counts of which features you used, along with your email if you give one. Never a buyer's name, an item, an amount of money, or anything you type in chat. We never sell your data or run ads. You sign in to Whatnot directly with Whatnot; Sidekick never sees your password. Full details: backstagelive.app/sidekick/privacy New to modding? Read the free guides at backstagelive.app/sidekick/guide: Whatnot mod commands, how to become a mod, and how to be a mod sellers ask back. Made by Backstage, the crew behind the seller tools at backstagelive.app, built by watching real mods run real shows. Backstage Sidekick is an independent tool and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Whatnot Inc.

Screenshots

Shortcut Remote4 screens
Backstage Sidekick4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Backstage Sidekick at every 5 days against Shortcut Remote's every 2 weeks. Shortcut Remote's advantage is iOS requirement (12.0 vs 15.0). On price, ads, in-app purchases 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

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Shortcut Remote ships an update every 2 weeks, Backstage Sidekick every 5 days. Both last shipped on October 14, 2026.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Shortcut Remote versus Backstage Sidekick: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterShortcut RemoteBackstage Sidekick
PriceFreeFree
Rating1.3 (12 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews12.5% of reviews—
Number of ratings12 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeksEvery 5 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS12.0 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size3 MB4 MB
Age rating4+17+
Developer深圳汉王友基科技有限公司Slow Arcs, LLC

Bugs and requests

Shortcut Remote

Reported bugs

15 issues
  • Shortcut remote not connecting
  • App crashes
  • App connects but does nothing
  • Cannot save shortcuts
  • App doesn't work on iPad
Show 10 more
  • Not saving changes
  • Keys don't change
  • App not working
  • Buttons not mapping
  • App fails to modify keys
  • App does not open
  • Connection issues
  • Software keyboard US layout issue
  • UI only supports portrait mode
  • Shortcut remote not saving assigned key binding

Requested features

7 requests
  • Fix shortcut remote connection issue
  • Allow remote connection only to iPad
  • Provide detailed connection and usage guides for iPad
  • Add support for Ibispaint
  • Add K11 switching function
Show 2 more
  • Support JIS keyboard layout
  • Support landscape UI

Backstage Sidekick

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Shortcut Remote

No in-app purchases

None

Backstage Sidekick

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Shortcut Remote free?
Shortcut Remote is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Backstage Sidekick free?
Backstage Sidekick is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Shortcut Remote or Backstage Sidekick have ads?
Neither Shortcut Remote nor Backstage Sidekick shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Shortcut Remote or Backstage Sidekick?
Shortcut Remote ships an update every 2 weeks, and Backstage Sidekick every 5 days. Most recently, Shortcut Remote was updated on October 14, 2026 and Backstage Sidekick on October 14, 2026.

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