Comparison

Sequentia vs MIDI Shimmer

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

Head to head
About

Sequentia

This app transforms your iPhone into a powerful MIDI sequencer for hardware synthesizers and drum machines. Generate complex musical patterns, control parameters, and integrate with your DAW. Save and export your creations for further editing.

Highlights
  • Generative MIDI patterns
  • Hardware synth control
  • DAW integration
  • Customizable modules (Drums, Acid, Chords, Arp, LFO)
  • Live pattern editing
  • MIDI export (.mid)
Read full description

Sequentia is a generative MIDI sequencer for synths, drum machines and modular. Add a module and it writes its own part: drums, basslines, arps, chords, melodies. Press Random and a full pattern is playing. Turn on Mutate and it keeps evolving while it runs. The pattern libraries are written for techno and acid, and the generative modules go further out than that. Seven finished demo tracks come with the app. WHAT WRITES THE PARTS Drums, eight lanes, with the swing each genre actually has. Tops, cymbals, shakers and claves over the kit, on one fader. Bass, sixteen styles from techno to dub to EBM. Acid, 303 lines that really slide. Chords and Arp, in your key, following each other. Stabs, from skank to rave. Piano, drawn by hand or written for you. Euclid, three rings at different lengths, drifting apart and landing together bars later. Rain, notes falling from a drizzle to a downpour. Bounce, physics balls playing your key off the walls. Sampler, your own loop, warped to the tempo and the key. Mod, LFOs that sweep your synth's knobs on their own. Vinyl, a record that turns while the rack plays. Mixer, to solo, mute and balance live. ONE STUDIO, YOUR WHOLE RIG Every module picks its own MIDI device and channel, so each machine gets its own part. MIDI over USB-C, Bluetooth or network. MIDI Clock in and out keeps the gear in time. In any DAW the app is a MIDI source you can record straight onto a track. Leave the app and the music keeps playing, with the controls on your Lock Screen. MODULATE AND CONTROL YOUR HARDWARE Pick your machine from the library and its control map loads, ready to turn: over a hundred and thirty synths, grooveboxes and drum machines, every map read out of its own manual. Put an LFO on any of those knobs and it sweeps in time with the pattern. Arm the red R, turn a knob by hand, and the move becomes a loop locked to the bar. CC coming in works too, so a controller fires Random, Mutate, mutes and the transport. LIVE JAM Every module keeps pattern slots. Fill them as you go and switch on the bar, like clips. Live Performer is one pad for the whole rack: move a finger and every module answers at once with more density, new variations or a break. Fills, swing and humanize are a tap each, while everything runs. SCENES, AND A SET YOU CAN PLAY Save a section as a scene, put the scenes in order, and the timeline plays the set. Or switch scenes by hand while it runs. A project holds several racks, each with its own key and tempo, so a breakdown can sit lower and slower than the drop. ONE PROGRESSION, EVERYTHING FOLLOWS Write the chords once. The basslines, arps and stabs follow the changes. NO HARDWARE YET Every module plays through the app's own synth, free, so a whole track works with nothing attached. Load your own samples into the Sampler, or build a drum kit out of them. EVERYTHING IN ONE PROJECT Notes, patterns, scenes, samples, routing and arrangement live in one project that saves itself. Take the whole thing out in one step: the rack as MIDI, or every scene as its own folder, named so the session opens in your DAW making sense. Samples come with it if you want them. ON IPHONE AND IPAD One app for both. On the tablet the rack becomes a grid of cards you page through, three across on a 13 inch. Menus come in from the right and leave the instrument where it is. Open a module and it steps into the middle of the screen with its settings beside it. Landscape, for a stand and two hands. Turn iCloud on and the same projects, presets and samples are on both devices, in a Sequentia folder you can see in Files. Off until you switch it on. Sequentia is free, and so is the built in sound, Live Performer and CC Control. Sequentia Pro adds pattern slots, scenes, several racks, every drum style, your own libraries, unlimited projects and MIDI export. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://www.sequentia.studio/privacy

About

MIDI Shimmer

Read full description

MIDI Shimmer turns your iPhone or iPad into a professional synthesizer with a true shimmer reverb engine. Connect any MIDI keyboard wirelessly via Bluetooth LE or wired via USB-C, and instantly access 28 hand-crafted presets across five categories: Pads, Keys, Strings, Brass & Wind, and Synth. SHIMMER REVERB Shimmer reverb is the ambient effect behind countless iconic pads and soundscapes: every note is pitch-shifted up one octave and fed into a long cathedral reverb, creating a glowing halo of sound that trails above the note you play. MIDI Shimmer runs two independent FX buses in parallel — a natural hall reverb and the shimmer path — both continuously adjustable with dedicated sliders. FEATURES • 28 presets across Pads, Keys, Strings, Brass and Synth — including a Korg D1 E-Piano • True shimmer reverb — parallel octave-shifted cathedral reverb bus • Dual FX Mix panel — Reverb, Shimmer, and Master Volume sliders per preset • Bluetooth LE MIDI — connect wirelessly to adapters like the Yamaha MD-BT01 • USB MIDI — plug in any keyboard via USB-C hub • Real-time chord detection — names every chord you play (maj7, m9, sus4, inversions) • Chord history breadcrumb — scrollable log of your progression • Built-in demo — tap ▶ to hear the synth without a keyboard • Sustain pedal support (MIDI CC 64) • Background audio — sound continues when screen locks • Adaptive portrait and landscape layout for iPhone and iPad • Ultra-low latency via AVAudioEngine • No account, no subscription, no internet required

Screenshots

Sequentia4 screens
MIDI Shimmer2 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Sequentia at Free against MIDI Shimmer's $1.99. MIDI Shimmer's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 3) and update cadence (every 5 days vs every 11 days). On ads, device support 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

Sequentia is free to download; MIDI Shimmer costs $1.99 up front. Sequentia sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $7.99 per month. MIDI Shimmer asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Sequentia ships an update every 11 days, MIDI Shimmer every 5 days. Both last shipped on October 25, 2026.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Sequentia versus MIDI Shimmer: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSequentiaMIDI Shimmer
PriceFree — better$1.99
Rating4.7 (10 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings10 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 11 daysEvery 5 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFreemium—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.016.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size25 MB336 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperYahor KamarouHeinrich Krupp

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Sequentia

Subscriptions2
  • Sequentia Pro Monthly3 Days trial$7.991 Month
  • Sequentia Pro Yearly3 Days trial$39.991 Year
One-time1
  • Sequentia Pro Lifetime$79.99
None

MIDI Shimmer

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Sequentia free?
Sequentia is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is MIDI Shimmer free?
MIDI Shimmer costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Do Sequentia or MIDI Shimmer have ads?
Neither Sequentia nor MIDI Shimmer shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Sequentia or MIDI Shimmer?
Sequentia ships an update every 11 days, and MIDI Shimmer every 5 days. Most recently, Sequentia was updated on October 25, 2026 and MIDI Shimmer on October 25, 2026.

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