Sliver vs StepBud
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Sliver
Create unique sonic textures and playable instruments from any audio. Manipulate sound with real-time resizable clips, advanced automation, and physics-based XY pads. Supports extensive import/export and MIDI control.
- Real-time manipulation slivers
- Independent audio channels
- Full automation control
- Physics-based XY pads
- Touchable waveform scrubbing
- Extensive effects chain
- MIDI learn and control
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Sliver is a powerful tool for soundscape and sonic texture creation. Working beautifully with any audio content... melodic, rhythmic, noise, or otherwise, Sliver is well suited for a broad range of project types including: Soundscapes Ambient Drone Glitch Noise Pads Sound Design / Sound Effects Unique Sonic Textures Cinematic Sound Elements Creating a playable instrument from any sound. The core of Sliver is the 4 real-time resizable clips (slivers) that can be moved around the waveform. Each sliver has it’s own channel with independent volume, pan, filter, and sliver size. These controls can be set in motion with Sliver's automation engine. Sliver uses a real-time automation system to movement in your textures. This system also allows for override to be able to shape the ongoing captured performance. The filters and size windows are controlled by XY pads, giving Sliver a natural playability, creating a new type of instrument. Touching along the waveform places, moves, and sizes the slivers, allowing you to intuitively scrub the waveform with a variable loop size. A chain of effects assigned to XY Control pads allows you to shape and mangle the sounds produced by the slivers. You can Automate every control. Sliver uses Apples UIKit Dynamics to create physics on the XY Pads, allowing customized settings for the controls to shape the sound randomly with physics. Sliver supports Audiobus, sitting in an input slot. You can import samples via AudioShare import or Audiocopy. You can resample, record your own samples via the Mic, or do both at once. This app uses Background Audio and Records from the Mic. You will see a red bar when placing the app in the background. Sliver supports MIDI learn and is fully controllable from Virtual, Network, and MIDI hardware. Make some noises, mangle some sounds, create your own soundscape. Features: 4 Real-time Manipulation Slivers 4 Independent Audio Channels Full Automation Control Apple UIKit Dynamics Physics Controls 8 X/Y Pad control Touchable Waveform Low Pass Filter Temp Sync'ed Delay Reverb Realtime Pitch-shifting without effecting Time Domain (TimeStretch) BitCrush Saturation Audiobus Support AudioShare Import/Export Email Import/Export (Sounds and Presets) AudioCopy/Paste Sample Recording Resampling Playable Virtual Keyboard MIDI (Virtual, Network, or Hardware) MIDI Learn 40+ Factory Samples 60 Factory Presets
StepBud
This app is a versatile MIDI sequencer that allows for unlimited steps and detailed control over each step's parameters. It integrates with other music apps and supports various sequencing modes for creative performances.
- Unlimited steps
- Step parameter control (note, velocity, rate, etc.)
- Custom MIDI CC messages
- Step locking and skipping
- Master fader with copy/shift modes
- Step Editor for detailed note editing
- Arpeggio modes (up, down, random)
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StepBud is a MIDI Sequencer with Audio Unit AUv3 plugin, Audiobus and Ableton Link. Add an unlimited number of steps to your sequencer. Your steps appear with a LED and a fader on top of your screen. You can change the active mode that your step faders displaying/controlling. - Set the current note or chord in range of the scale and key you selected with respect the range of the octave you want to focus, - Set the velocity, rate, gate time, modulation, pitch bend, portamento, probability and swing for each step, - Try increasing the rate and repeat count your steps if you want to add more flavor. - Send unlimited custom MIDI CC messages if you want to control your hardware or software synth parameters. - Lock steps if you don't want them to change their value. - Skip steps for creating interesting live performances. Below the step faders, you have a master fader where you can control your entire sequencer. It has two modes which you can change from the settings strip on the bottom of the app. - In copy mode, it assigns its value to each step. - In shift mode, it shifts up or down each step. If you want to go off-scale or try some crazy chords on some of your steps, or maybe on all of them, you can go to the Step Editor by double tapping the LED of the step you want to edit. In StepBud's powerful Step Editor, you can set your step's notes either from the virtual keyboard or your connected MIDI keyboard. Don't forget to enable MIDI in port of your MIDI keyboard or the you want to receive MIDI from the settings menu. You may also preview the selected notes by pressing the preview button in Step Editor for making sure you created the perfect sound for your particular step. You can also toggle the steps you want to disable by tapping its LED. If you long-press the LED, you can access a menu where you may copy/paste the steps around, remove them or edit them. If you enable the lock mode from the settings strip on the bottom of the app, you may adjust each visible step fader on the screen by a single swipe gesture without having to lift your finger up. Try to change your arppegio mode from the settings strip. You can sequence your steps up, down, up-down or random order. StepBud is a MIDI sequencer app and it does not generate sounds itself. You need to route its MIDI out port in the settings menu to the audio app you want to sequence. Please note that you need to have an iOS 11+ device and an Audio Unit host application such as AUM, apeMatrix, Cubasis, BeatMaker or Audiobus in order to use the StepBud as an Audio Unit plugin. And don't forget to route StepBud's MIDI out to the app or audio unit you want to sequence. StepBud's MIDI layer powered by free and open-source project AudioKit https://github.com/AudioKit/AudioKit Also, StepBud offers its core components for free on GitHub. Feel free to star, fork or contribute. https://github.com/cemolcay/MusicTheory https://github.com/cemolcay/LiveFader https://github.com/cemolcay/MIDIEventKit
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Sliver at 4.7 against StepBud's 4.4. Sliver also leads on iOS requirement (8.0 vs 13.0). StepBud's advantage is update cadence (fortnightly vs every 6 weeks) and chart position (#200 vs unranked). On review sentiment, ads and in-app purchases 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
Sliver costs $5.99 and StepBud $4.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Sliver holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.4. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 10 and 38 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 75% of Sliver's written reviews are positive against 71% of StepBud's.
Sliver ships an update every 6 weeks, StepBud fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 23, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Sliver | StepBud |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $5.99 | $4.99 — better |
| Rating | 4.7 (10 ratings) — better | 4.4 (38 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 75.0% of reviews — better | 70.6% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 10 | 38 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 6 weeks | Fortnightly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Free — better |
| Best chart rank | — | #200 — better |
| Devices | iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 8.0 — better | 13.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 33 MB | 8 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Alex Matheu | Cem Olcay |
Customer experience
Sliver
StepBud
In-app purchases
Sliver
No in-app purchases
StepBud
No in-app purchases








