Comparison

Mobile MIDI vs Midiboard

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

Head to head
About

Mobile MIDI

Transform your mobile device into a versatile wireless MIDI controller. Utilize touch, motion, and device sensors to control virtually any aspect of your music production software. Save and share custom layouts for a personalized workflow.

Highlights
  • Wireless MIDI control via Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, or USB
  • Touch controls: drum pads, keyboard, XY pad, faders
  • Motion control: accelerometer, gyro, compass, pressure
  • ARKit face tracking and hand gesture control
  • AirPods head tracking for hands-free expression
  • Customizable layout designer
  • Save and share presets
Features
Currently charting
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Turn your iPhone or iPad into a wireless MIDI controller. Almost any sensor in your phone can be a knob. Touch: • Drum pads, keyboard, XY, faders, build-your-own layouts Motion: • Accelerometer + gyro (6 axes) • Gravity, attitude (pitch/roll/yaw), user acceleration • Compass heading, magnetic field • Barometric pressure • Step cadence, shake triggers Device & environment: • Battery level, charging state, thermal state • Screen brightness • Microphone loudness (analyzed on-device, never recorded) Tracking: • ARKit face blendshapes — 52 expressions • Hand gestures via Vision • AirPods head tracking — nod, tilt, turn Output: Bluetooth LE, USB, or Wi-Fi (Network MIDI) to any DAW. Save and share presets. Built for musicians, producers, and experimentalists. No extra hardware. No subscription. Pay once. TOUCH • 16-pad drum grid with MPE polyphonic pressure • Keyboard with configurable range and octave, MPE-capable • XY pad for two-dimensional continuous control • 8-fader CC bank • Custom layout designer — drag-and-drop your own surfaces MOVE • 6-axis device motion — accelerometer and gyro • Tilt, shake, gravity (X, Y, Z) • Compass heading • Barometric pressure • Per-axis smoothing, deadzone, and scaling EXPRESS • ARKit face tracking — 52 facial blendshapes as continuous CCs • Hand tracking — gesture-based control via the front camera • AirPods head tracking — hands-free expression for live performance SENSE • Battery level and charging state • Screen brightness • Thermal state • Any system signal can drive MIDI MUSICAL TOOLKIT • 27 scales, 31 chords • Chord, strum, trigger, and toggle modes • Intelligent note-off handling — no stuck notes • MPE channel allocation with LRU across channels 2–16 PRESETS • Save, load, import, export • Five built-in templates to get started fast • Share presets with other Mobile MIDI users CONNECTIVITY • Bluetooth MIDI (BLE) • USB MIDI (via adapter) • Wi-Fi / Network MIDI • Auto-reconnect and device picker DESIGNED FOR PERFORMANCE • Low-latency native audio path • Wakelock keeps the screen on during gigs • MIDI activity indicator • Clean, minimalist interface built for low-light stages Every control source is mappable to any CC, note, or pitch bend, on any channel. Build the controller you actually want. One-time purchase. No accounts. No telemetry. No subscriptions. Made by Pounding Systems.

About

Midiboard

Features
Read full description

Your phone, as the controller you actually wanted. Midiboard turns an iPhone into a Bluetooth MIDI controller you lay out yourself. Drop a widget on the grid, drag it where your hand goes, size it to the reach you actually have. Save the screen, build the next one, and flip between them with one tap while the song is running. Every other phone controller hands you someone else's idea of a surface. This one hands you the grid. BUILD THE SURFACE • Pad grids of any size, tuned chromatically or in fourths, fifths, thirds or octaves — a grid in fourths keeps every chord shape the same wherever you move it • Keyboards of any span, starting on any note, with glissando between keys • Chord buttons you write note by note. C, E, G#, D is as valid as a minor triad • Pitch and mod wheels shaped like the ones beside your keyboard, plus 270° arcs and endless rotaries • Faders and two-axis XY pads, with relative pickup so grabbing one mid-song does not throw the sound • Step sequencers where every step names the note it plays, each with its own run button • Footswitch banks where exactly one lamp is lit — press a switch and the last one goes out, so a glance tells you which preset you are actually on • Transpose controls that move a group of widgets, so a bass bank and a lead move independently on the same page PLAY IT • Set a key per widget: notes outside it either step back but stay playable, or snap into the key • Poly, mono, legato and glide, per widget • A clock with tap tempo, MIDI clock out, note repeat and an arpeggiator — or follow your computer's tempo instead • Set the travel of any control, so a fader only ever moves between two settings that are useful on the other end • Panic always within reach, and haptics you can tune per control KEEP IT • As many saved layouts as you like. Export one to a file, send it to someone, import theirs • Two colour palettes, and note names that match whatever your software calls them CONNECTS TO WHATEVER YOU PLAY Two routes, and you pick the one your rig has. Over Bluetooth LE MIDI, Mac, iPad and iPhone connect directly and Windows pairs through a Bluetooth MIDI bridge. Over Wi-Fi it is an RTP-MIDI session — built into macOS, and on Windows through rtpMIDI — which is the one to reach for when Bluetooth is crowded or the computer has none. It can also open a MIDI port for other apps on this same phone or iPad. No cable, no dongle, no account, and nothing to sign into. Midiboard collects nothing: no analytics, no crash reporting, no accounts, no tracking. Over Wi-Fi it uses your local network to reach the computer you chose, and the only thing it ever puts on it is MIDI. PRO Midiboard is free, with pad grids, keyboards, faders and labels. Pro adds every other widget, and starts with a free trial; after it, a monthly subscription or a one-time purchase keeps it. The subscription renews monthly unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the period. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy: https://safabulat.github.io/midiboard-site/privacy.html

Screenshots

Mobile MIDI4 screens
Midiboard4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Midiboard at Free against Mobile MIDI's $8.99. Midiboard also leads on update cadence (every 2 days vs every 6 weeks). Mobile MIDI's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1) and chart position (#165 vs unranked). On ads and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price Ā· Rating Ā· Positive reviews Ā· Number of ratings Ā· Update frequency Ā· Ads Ā· In-app purchases Ā· Monetization Ā· Best chart rank Ā· Devices Ā· Requires iOS

CostPrice Ā· In-app purchases Ā· Ads Ā· Monetization

Midiboard is free to download; Mobile MIDI costs $8.99 up front. Midiboard sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Mobile MIDI asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Mobile MIDI ships an update every 6 weeks, Midiboard every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on October 19, 2026 and October 7, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences Ā· 4 level
Mobile MIDI versus Midiboard: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMobile MIDIMidiboard
Price$8.99Free — better
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Update frequencyEvery 6 weeksEvery 2 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaid—
Best chart rank#165 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS14.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size21 MB3 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAdam HammadMAHMUT SAFA BULAT

In-app purchases

None

Mobile MIDI

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

Midiboard

One-time1
  • Midiboard Editor$9.99

Questions

Is Mobile MIDI free?
Mobile MIDI costs $8.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Midiboard free?
Midiboard is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Mobile MIDI or Midiboard have ads?
Neither Mobile MIDI nor Midiboard shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Mobile MIDI or Midiboard?
Mobile MIDI ships an update every 6 weeks, and Midiboard every 2 days. Most recently, Mobile MIDI was updated on October 19, 2026 and Midiboard on October 7, 2026.

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