Comparison

Dirigo vs Sotto

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

Head to head
About

Dirigo

Control your Marantz or Denon AV receiver with advanced features beyond the physical remote. Manage inputs, surround modes, HEOS streaming, and deep settings. Integrates with Apple TV for a seamless experience.

Highlights
  • Power on/off receiver
  • Adjust master volume
  • Switch inputs and surround modes
  • Browse and play HEOS streams
  • Manage playback queue
  • Control multi-zone receivers
  • Configure deep receiver settings
  • Apple TV touchpad remote
Features
Read full description

Dirigo is one remote for your home theater, on iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch. It controls current Marantz and Denon AV receivers directly over Wi-Fi, well beyond what the bundled remote can do, and with Home Assistant it works without one. WHAT YOU CAN DO • Power, volume, every input and every surround mode your receiver supports • Browse and play HEOS streaming sources — Qobuz, TIDAL, Amazon Music, TuneIn, and the rest • Manage the queue, see what is playing, skip tracks, view history • Control each zone on multi-zone receivers • Configure room correction, speaker levels, HDMI output, video settings, and the deep menus your physical remote pretends don't exist • Activate Quick Selects you have programmed on the receiver • Home Screen and Lock Screen widgets, and an Apple Watch app • Siri and Shortcuts ("Toggle mute with Dirigo", "Set volume with Dirigo") ACTIVITIES One tap sets the whole room: turn on the receiver and the TV, pick the input, set the volume and the lights. Every step reports what actually happened, and Activities run from Shortcuts too. TELEVISION REMOTES Pair the television or streaming box in the same room and Dirigo becomes its remote too. Apple TV gets a touchpad — swipe to navigate, tap to select — along with transport buttons and the Apple TV's own Control Centre and app switcher. Android TV, Google TV and NVIDIA Shield get a D-pad, Back and Home, and play, pause and skip. Dirigo tells you which app is on screen. Volume routes back to your receiver, and a now-playing card on your home screen shows what is on — title, artist, artwork, and how far through it is. Drag the progress bar to jump to a moment. Pairing is a one-time setup: Dirigo finds the television on your network and you type in the code it puts on screen. CUSTOM REMOTES (HOME ASSISTANT) Build remotes from the devices on your own Home Assistant server. • Add lights, switches, fans, buttons, scenes, scripts and sensor readings, and arrange them your way • Add a D-pad or a transport row and choose what each button drives • A Now Playing remote for a Home Assistant media player: artwork, progress, play and skip, volume • Show an infrared appliance on the Home screen: its inputs, volume and power, with a full remote for everything else • Put Home Assistant lights and scenes on your receiver's Home screen buttons • No Denon or Marantz receiver? Choose "Connect Home Assistant" when you first open Dirigo DEMO MODE No receiver to test against? Tap "Explore Demo Mode" on the Welcome screen to explore the app with a synthetic receiver, Apple TV and Android TV. PRIVACY Dirigo collects nothing. No analytics, no identifiers, no third-party tracking SDKs, no Dirigo account. All receiver, television and Home Assistant control happens on your local Wi-Fi network; Dirigo refuses Home Assistant Cloud and internet addresses. If you connect Home Assistant, its access token is stored in your iPhone's keychain and sent only to your own Home Assistant server. The only public-internet activity is album art: when you browse a HEOS streaming source, or show a Home Assistant media player whose cover is hosted by a music service, iOS loads the picture from that service's own image address, anonymously. Full policy at bit0100bitsoftware.com/dirigo-privacy. REQUIREMENTS A current-generation Denon or Marantz AV receiver with HEOS (Cinema 50, SR-series, AVR-X-series and similar), or a Home Assistant server. iOS 18 or later. Your receiver or Home Assistant server must be on the same Wi-Fi network as your iPhone. Apple TV pairing requires tvOS 18 or later. Android TV pairing works with Android TV and Google TV devices that support the built-in remote pairing service, including NVIDIA Shield. Dirigo is an independent third-party app and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Sound United, Denon, Marantz, Apple, Google, NVIDIA, or the Open Home Foundation. Home Assistant is a trademark of the Open Home Foundation.

About

Sotto

Effortlessly control your Denon or Marantz AV receiver with intuitive scene-based commands. Manage power, volume, inputs, and sound modes instantly. Supports multi-receiver and multi-zone setups, with advanced audio processing features.

Highlights
  • Scene-based control
  • Power, volume, and mute at a glance
  • Input and sound mode switching
  • Automatic receiver discovery
  • Multi-receiver and multi-zone support
  • Advanced audio processing control
Features
Read full description

Control your Denon® or Marantz® AV receiver from your iPhone. Sotto is calm and instant: every tap responds the moment you touch it, and the app is built around scenes instead of receiver menus. WORKS WITH Network Denon and Marantz receivers that accept the manufacturers' IP control protocol, roughly 2013 and newer: Denon AVR-X, AVR-S, AVC and DRA models; Marantz SR, NR, CINEMA and AV models. 32 models are Verified from a snapshot of that exact receiver, so zones, volume ceiling and room correction come from the hardware rather than a generic default: Denon AVR-E400, AVR-A1H, AVR-X6800H, AVR-X6500H, AVR-X4800H, AVR-X4400H, AVR-X3800H, AVC-X3700H, AVR-X3600H, AVR-X2800H, AVR-X1800H, AVR-X1600H, AVR-X1000, AVR-S760H, AVR-S750H, AVR-S650H, AVC-S660H, AVR-S700W, AVR-2113, AVR-1613, DRA-800H; Marantz CINEMA 50, AV8805A, SR8015, SR7015, SR6011, SR6010, SR5015, SR5013, SR5009, NR1711, NR1504 (AVR and AVC versions share a profile). Other network models run in experimental mode; available controls depend on the receiver. CEOL and M-CR network CD receivers remain experimental, with model-dependent power, source control and volume ranges; the dB display is AV-specific. Not sure? Try the built-in demo receiver first; no hardware needed. EVERY DAY • Power, volume and mute at a glance, with a half-step precise dial or fader • Inputs, shown with the names you set on the receiver itself • Sound modes grouped the way you think: Movie, Music, Game, Pure, Auto • Scenes: one tap sets input, volume and sound mode, and can switch Zone 2 on or off, from the app or a Home Screen widget • Zone 2 and Zone 3 power, input and volume • HEOS now playing with album art and play, pause and skip, on HEOS models • Sleep timer with a Lock Screen countdown SOUND • The Audyssey playback chain: MultEQ, Dynamic EQ, Dynamic Volume, LFC and channel trims • Dirac Live slot switching on models that have it • Tone EQ, sound favorites, and a command console for power users EVERYWHERE ON iOS • Siri and Shortcuts: "Mute Sotto", "Turn off Sotto", "Set the volume with Sotto", plus Shortcuts actions for power, mute, exact volume, input by name, scenes and the sleep timer • Home Screen and Lock Screen widgets, including a scene grid • Control Center, Lock Screen and Action Button controls • A volume ceiling and an optional Night Mode, applied to the app's controls, scenes, Siri and widgets SETUP Same Wi-Fi as the receiver, Network Control on. Sotto finds receivers on your network, or takes an IP address by hand, and tests the connection before you finish. If discovery fails, allow Local Network access for Sotto in iOS Settings. FREE, ALL OF IT Every feature, every receiver. No subscription, no ads, no account, no tracking. Your settings stay on your device, and Sotto controls the receiver over your local network only. The one thing that can leave it is album art, which HEOS serves from the streaming service when that is what is playing. If Sotto makes your evenings calmer, there is an optional tip jar in Settings. That is the whole business model. Sotto controls the receiver. It does not set up HEOS speakers or browse HEOS music sources; keep the HEOS app for those. This app is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Denon, Marantz, or Sound United. "Denon" and "Marantz" are trademarks of their respective owners and are used here only to describe compatibility.

Screenshots

Dirigo4 screens
Sotto4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Dirigo at every 2 days against Sotto's every 6 days. Dirigo also leads on device support (3 vs 1). Sotto's advantage is ratings volume (9 vs 2). On price, rating, review sentiment and ads 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. Dirigo sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Sotto sells 3 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Dirigo against 5.0 for Sotto. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 2 and 9 respectively. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 100% and 100% positive.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Dirigo ships an update every 2 days, Sotto every 6 days. Both last shipped on October 24, 2026.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Dirigo versus Sotto: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterDirigoSotto
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (2 ratings)5.0 (9 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings29 — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 days — betterEvery 6 days
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — betteriPhone
Requires iOS18.018.0
Further details — not scored
Size61 MB11 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperBit 0100 Bit Software LLCGeorgios Giannoutsos Barkas

Customer experience

Dirigo

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Sotto

All ratings9 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews4 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Dirigo

One-time1
  • Dirigo$7.99
3 purchases

Sotto

One-time3
  • Small tip$1.99
  • Generous tip$4.99
  • Lavish tip$9.99

Questions

Is Dirigo free?
Dirigo is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Sotto free?
Sotto is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Dirigo or Sotto?
Dirigo and Sotto are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 2 and 9 ratings respectively.
Do Dirigo or Sotto have ads?
Neither Dirigo nor Sotto shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Dirigo or Sotto?
Dirigo ships an update every 2 days, and Sotto every 6 days. Most recently, Dirigo was updated on October 24, 2026 and Sotto on October 24, 2026.

Other comparisons