Comparison

SysX Buddy vs Breadbin

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

Head to head
About

SysX Buddy

Manage MIDI System Exclusive messages on your iPhone or iPad. This utility allows you to send, receive, edit, and organize SysEx data for vintage synthesizers and sound modules. It supports external MIDI devices and BLE-MIDI, bridging classic instruments with modern mobile technology.

Highlights
  • Send and receive MIDI SysEx messages
  • File manager with folder creation
  • Hex viewer for SysEx data
  • Create and edit SysEx files
  • Support for USB MIDI devices
  • Support for BLE-MIDI
  • iCloud Drive integration
Features
Read full description

Turn your iPhone or iPad into a dedicated SysEx manager. A reliable companion for your vintage MIDI gear. SysX Buddy is a straightforward and powerful app for sending, receiving, editing, and managing MIDI System Exclusive (SysEx) messages. SysEx messages were widely used in the 1980s and 1990s by classic synthesizers and sound modules. SysX Buddy helps bridge the gap between these vintage instruments and your modern iPhone or iPad. Key Features - Send and receive MIDI SysEx messages - Simple file manager with folder creation - View SysEx data in a hex viewer - Create and edit SysEx files in hex format - Send a dump request message when recording - Support for external MIDI devices (USB MIDI) - Support for BLE-MIDI (Bluetooth Low Energy) - Save files anywhere on your device --- with fully customizable folder locations, including iCloud Drive. Note that: - There might be some communication issues on iOS/iPadOS 14. - The application and description contain AI-generated contents. - The data in the screenshot are not included by the application.

About

Breadbin

Features
Read full description

Breadbin is a Commodore 64 emulator for iPhone, iPad and Mac — written from scratch in Swift, every chip built from the original hardware documentation. Not a port, and not a wrapper around somebody else's emulator, original code from the first cycle to the last. YOU BRING THE ROMS Breadbin ships clean — no ROM images and no games, because they are not ours to give away. On first launch the app lists the three system files the machine needs (KERNAL, BASIC, character generator), shows which ones it has found, and imports them with a tap from the Files app. Dump them from hardware you own, or use freely licensed replacement ROMs — either way you are a minute from a READY prompt. Your files stay on your device. ACCURACY YOU CAN CHECK • Cycle-accurate 6510 processor — undocumented opcodes, NMOS decimal mode, per-cycle bus behaviour. Passes Klaus Dormann's 6502 functional test suite, the standard the emulator community measures against. • Cycle-based VIC-II video — bad lines, sprite DMA, the border unit, all eight graphics modes, raster interrupts. Raster-timing demos behave the way they should. • A real 1541 drive — its own processor, its own VIA chips, a rotating GCR bitstream with byte-ready wired exactly as the hardware does it. Fastloaders and copy-protected disks work here instead of hanging. • Both SID sound revisions, 6581 and 8580, built from the datasheet — including the mixer quirk that makes 4-bit sample playback audible on the 6581. DIAL A BULLETIN BOARD Breadbin carries an emulated SwiftLink modem bridged to the internet. Run a terminal program, pick a board from your phone book, and you are logged into a live BBS over TCP — telnet negotiation handled for you, PETSCII intact. The boards are still out there, and still busy. Your phone book is a plain text file you edit yourself. BUILT FOR THE DEVICE IN YOUR HAND • A touch keyboard laid out like the real machine, with national keycaps for Sweden/Finland, Denmark/Norway and Germany • On-screen joystick — analog stick or D-pad, placed where your thumb actually is, with autofire • 1351 proportional mouse — a trackpad on touch screens, a captured pointer on the Mac • Save states with thumbnails, so you can put the machine down mid-level • Display filters from razor-sharp pixels to a softened CRT look, with an adjustable border • Instant loading when you want it, true drive speed when the software demands it • Loads .prg, .d64, .g64, .t64, .p00 and .crt cartridge files • One purchase covers iPhone, iPad and Mac PAY ONCE, PLAY FOREVER No ads. No subscriptions. No in-app purchases. No account. And no data collection: no analytics, no tracking — nothing is collected, so there is nothing to sell, share or leak. The only network traffic Breadbin ever makes is the bulletin board you tell it to dial. Breadbin is not affiliated with, authorised by, or endorsed by the owners of the Commodore or Commodore 64 trademarks. It ships no Commodore software.

Screenshots

SysX Buddy4 screens
Breadbin4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Breadbin at fortnightly against SysX Buddy's every 2 months. Breadbin also leads on price ($2.99 vs $4.99). SysX Buddy's advantage is iOS requirement (13.0 vs 16.0). On 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

SysX Buddy costs $4.99 and Breadbin $2.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

SysX Buddy ships an update every 2 months, Breadbin fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 9, 2026 and October 19, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
SysX Buddy versus Breadbin: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSysX BuddyBreadbin
Price$4.99$2.99 — better
Rating5.0 (3 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings3 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsFortnightly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaid—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, Mac
Requires iOS13.0 — better16.0
Further details — not scored
Size1 MB2 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperRyouta KiraLASZLO DOBROVOLSZKI

In-app purchases

None

SysX Buddy

No in-app purchases

None

Breadbin

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is SysX Buddy free?
SysX Buddy costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Breadbin free?
Breadbin costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.
Do SysX Buddy or Breadbin have ads?
Neither SysX Buddy nor Breadbin shows ads.
Which is updated more often, SysX Buddy or Breadbin?
SysX Buddy ships an update every 2 months, and Breadbin fortnightly. Most recently, SysX Buddy was updated on October 9, 2026 and Breadbin on October 19, 2026.

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