Comparison

DeckPilot vs Creating Space

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

Head to head
About

DeckPilot

Transform your iPhone, iPad, or Apple Watch into custom button decks for your Mac. Streamline workflows with customizable buttons, macros, and gestures that adapt to your active application. Enjoy tactile feedback and dynamic visual cues for enhanced productivity.

Highlights
  • Customizable button decks for Mac apps
  • Macro builder with AppleScript and Shortcuts integration
  • Tactile feedback and customizable haptics
  • Dynamic button states and visual cues
  • Trackpad gesture emulation
  • Touch Bar functionality on mobile devices
  • MIDI support for DAWs
Features
Read full description

Made for people who care about how they work with their Mac. The keyboard, mouse, and trackpad shape how you reach into your Mac. There's another way. DeckPilot turns your iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch into custom button decks that follow whichever app you're in. Logic, Xcode, Figma, Slack: the right buttons are always under your thumb. Quick to set up Install on your Mac and iPhone, connect once over Wi-Fi or USB. Auto-reconnects the way AirDrop does. No hardware to buy. Buttons for everything Tap to open Figma. Tap to mute Zoom. Tap to fire a 5-step macro. Build them from apps, files, websites, keyboard shortcuts, AppleScript, or Apple Shortcuts, and chain anything together in a visual macro builder. 300,000+ icons, or bring your own. One button, more than one move Tap for one thing, double-tap for another, hold for a third. Or hold to pop open a whole submenu of buttons from a single tile. One button can run your whole flow. Buttons you can feel Every press lands with a real mechanical click and a tactile thump. Pick the feel, from a crisp keyboard to a soft, heavy thock, with sound and haptics you tune separately. Your Mac's clipboard, on your phone Everything you copy on your Mac lands in a searchable history on your phone. Pin what you reuse, see when you copied it, and send any snippet back to your Mac with a tap. Images come through full-size. Every workflow its own look A teal gradient and big icons for your DAW. A tight grid with greyscale icons for your code editor. Pick from the community gallery or design your own. Buttons that already know A red mic pill on your Zoom button when you're muted. A live waveform on Spotify when it's playing. You stop checking your Mac, because the buttons already know. Keep your favorites close Pin the decks you live in and they stay a swipe away, whatever app you're in. Trackpad gestures you know Two fingers down to minimize, two up to maximize, three across to switch spaces. Or bind any swipe to almost anything: Apple Shortcuts, AppleScript, macros, jumping decks. Touch Bar, reborn Apple's Touch Bar is gone. DeckPilot brings it back as a floating glass strip on your phone. Volume, brightness, media, mic mute, a clock, and live Battery, CPU, and Memory readouts, colored to match each deck. Widgets on every screen Home Screen widgets put your top buttons one tap from anywhere. The Lock Screen widget shows your active deck without unlocking, and joins iOS 17+ StandBy on a charger. On your wrist, too A dedicated Apple Watch deck with multiple pages and real app icons. Digital Crown for volume and brightness. Complications for one-tap Mute and Play/Pause. Built-in MIDI for any DAW Faders, knobs, XY pads, velocity pads, and transport for Logic Pro, GarageBand, Ableton Live, FL Studio, and anything that speaks MIDI. Also good - Built-in AppleScript editor with ten dark themes - Auto-lock and OLED-safe auto-dim after a short idle - Share .deckpacks, browse community templates, try Demo Mode without pairing - Privacy-first. Commands stay on your Wi-Fi, nothing leaves your network Made for developers, designers, streamers, and musicians who want a faster way to drive their Mac. To unlock the full kit, DeckPilot offers an optional Pro subscription. Pro: $7.99/month or $39/year, auto-renewable. Lifetime: $79 one-time. Pro adds multi-page decks, larger grids, MIDI, macros, AppleScript, app-aware switching, multi-launch buttons, advanced gestures, Apple Watch, per-deck themes, and Shortcuts. Payment is charged to your Apple ID at confirmation. Subscriptions renew automatically unless canceled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Manage or cancel anytime in your App Store account settings. Terms: https://deckpilot.co/terms Privacy: https://deckpilot.co/privacy Support: https://deckpilot.co/support

About

Creating Space

Features
Read full description

Put your phone down. Pick your life back up. Creating Space is a screen time and focus app that helps you step away from distracting apps and make more room for the people, places, and moments that matter. Choose which apps to block. Choose how long. Then put your phone down and go live your life. BUILD YOUR OWN SKY Every day you create space for what matters, you earn a new star. Over time, those stars form constellations and your Universe grows with them. Begin among the familiar constellations of the Milky Way, then journey into new galaxies, stars, planets, nebulae, and worlds waiting to be discovered. CHOOSE YOUR DISTRACTIONS You decide what gets blocked. Select individual apps or entire categories, like social media or games, while keeping everything else available. Creating Space makes it easy to block distractions and keep what you actually need close at hand. CREATE SPACE WHEN YOU NEED IT Start a 25, 50, 75, or 100-minute focus session whenever you want some time back. Or schedule the moments you want to protect in advance, whether that's dinner with your family, mornings without social media, time to create, or an evening with friends. SEE HOW YOU'RE SHOWING UP Track your current and longest streaks, see your screen time activity over time, and look back at the focus sessions you've completed. It's a simple, honest record of the space you've created. WATCH YOUR UNIVERSE COME TO LIFE The more space you create, the more you unlock. Earn stars. Complete constellations. Discover planets and nebulae. Eventually, venture into entirely new galaxies as your Universe continues to grow. CREATE SPACE FOR WHAT MATTERS Creating Space isn't about never using your phone. It's about choosing when you don't want it competing for your attention. Dinner with your family. Time with friends. Reading before bed. A walk outside. Making something. Being fully present with someone you love. Your life is happening right now. Create some space for it. CREATING SPACE+ SUBSCRIPTION Creating Space is free to use. Creating Space+ unlocks app blocking during focus sessions and scheduled hours, and is available as a monthly subscription, an annual subscription with a 7 day free trial, or a one time lifetime purchase. Subscriptions renew automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Payment is charged to your Apple Account at confirmation of purchase. Manage or cancel your subscription in your App Store account settings. Any unused portion of a free trial is forfeited when a subscription is purchased. The lifetime purchase is a one time payment and does not renew. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://creatingspace.app/privacy

Screenshots

DeckPilot4 screens
Creating Space4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: DeckPilot at none against Creating Space's shown. DeckPilot also leads on device support (3 vs 1). On price, update cadence, in-app purchases and iOS requirement 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. DeckPilot sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $7.99 per month and Creating Space sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $5.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on October 8, 2026 and October 11, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
DeckPilot versus Creating Space: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterDeckPilotCreating Space
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (6 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings6 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 4 daysEvery 4 days
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — betteriPhone
Requires iOS17.017.0
Further details — not scored
Size20 MB27 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperKeshav KewlaniLightbulb Moment Labs

In-app purchases

3 purchases

DeckPilot

Subscriptions2
  • DeckPilot Pro$7.991 Month
  • DeckPilot Pro$39.001 Year
One-time1
  • Founding Member$79.00
3 purchases

Creating Space

Subscriptions2
  • Creating Space+ Monthly7 Days trial$5.991 Month
  • Creating Space+ Annual7 Days trial$39.991 Year
One-time1
  • Creating Space+ Lifetime$79.99

Questions

Is DeckPilot free?
DeckPilot is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Creating Space free?
Creating Space is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do DeckPilot or Creating Space have ads?
Creating Space shows ads; DeckPilot does not.
Which is updated more often, DeckPilot or Creating Space?
DeckPilot ships an update every 4 days, and Creating Space every 4 days. Most recently, DeckPilot was updated on October 8, 2026 and Creating Space on October 11, 2026.

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