Shortcut Remote vs Backstage Sidekick
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Shortcut Remote
Customize wireless shortcut remote button functions on your mobile device. Enhance your creative workflow with pre-set software configurations for popular tools.
- Customize remote button functions
- Wireless connectivity
- Mobile device integration
- Pre-set software configurations
- Enhance creative workflow
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XPPen tools help users customize wireless shortcut remote button functions on mobile devices (providing some commonly used software presets), better assisting your creativity.
Backstage Sidekick
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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
Verdict
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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Shortcut Remote ships an update every 2 weeks, Backstage Sidekick every 5 days. Both last shipped on October 14, 2026.
| Parameter | Shortcut Remote | Backstage Sidekick |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 1.3 (12 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 12.5% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 12 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 2 weeks | Every 5 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 12.0 — better | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 3 MB | 4 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 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 moreShow fewer
- 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 moreShow fewer
- Support JIS keyboard layout
- Support landscape UI
Backstage Sidekick
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Shortcut Remote
No in-app purchases
Backstage Sidekick
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Shortcut Remote free?
Is Backstage Sidekick free?
Do Shortcut Remote or Backstage Sidekick have ads?
Which is updated more often, Shortcut Remote or Backstage Sidekick?
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