Mavis Studio Brings Multicam Live Production to the iPad

by Johnnie BehiriApril 29^th, 2026

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At NAB 2026, Mavis launched Mavis Studio, a touch-first live production app that turns an iPad into a four-input multicam switcher with NDI HX3, a 16-channel audio mixer, and direct streaming to YouTube, Twitch, and other platforms. The Brighton-based developer, already known to mobile filmmakers for its Mavis Camera app, is positioning Studio as a portable alternative to fixed broadcast rigs for podcasts, houses of worship, corporate events, and small live productions.

We met Patrick Holroyd, CEO of Mavis, at the company’s booth in Las Vegas to walk through the new app and how it slots into the broader Mavis ecosystem. The team has spent the past year steadily expanding Mavis Camera with Frame.io camera-to-cloud integration, Atomos Ninja Phone support, NDI HX3 streaming, and, most recently LUT workflows and Open Gate capture via Film Kit. Mavis Studio is the natural next step: rather than just turning a phone into a better camera, the company now wants the iPad to act as the production room.

Sources, switcher, and multiview

At its core, Mavis Studio is a production switcher built around live and internal sources. The app supports up to four live video inputs, which can be a mix of NDI feeds and Mavis Camera streams from iPhones or iPads on the same network. HDMI and SDI cameras can also be brought in by routing through Mavis Camera’s existing integrations with the Atomos Ninja Phone and Accsoon SeeMo series, which extends compatibility to most mirrorless and cinema cameras.

Patrick told us the touchscreen is the central design choice that separates Studio from a laptop-based switcher. According to Patrick, tapping pictures directly on the multiview to send them to program feels faster and more intuitive than clicking through a desktop UI, and the multiview itself is fully configurable, so operators can lay it out for the show they are running. Custom and preset scene layouts allow up to four layers plus a background, with mix, dip, wipe, circle, and video wipe transitions between Program and Preview, plus a downstream keyer for graphics overlays.

Internal sources sit alongside the live inputs. There is a Media Player for rolling video packages, an Image Player for stills, and a Web Player that renders HTML5 graphics and web pages with alpha channel support, which is what powers lower thirds, branding, and other overlays. The image source count is four, but each one can hold an unlimited image library, and Patrick noted that the multiview can be reconfigured to bias toward stills if a particular show calls for it.

A 16-channel audio desk, not an afterthought

One of the more unusual claims Mavis is making for an iPad app is the audio side. Mavis Studio includes a 16-channel audio desk with channel strips, gain, EQ, panning, group routing, and a master fader. Each camera input contributes two channels of audio to the desk, which can then be grouped and operated from the main interface for quick on-air control. For podcasts, music performances, and houses of worship, where audio is often the deciding factor in production quality, putting a proper mixer inside the app is a meaningful choice.

We have to flag that this is the kind of feature that needs real-world testing. Touch faders are not the same as physical ones, and a 16-channel mix on a tablet screen will demand thoughtful interface design. From the booth demo, the channel strip layout looked clean and the grouping logic appeared to make on-air operation manageable, but mixing a multi-mic music performance live on glass is a different test than a two-host podcast.

Outputs, streaming, and recording

For delivery, Mavis Studio can push to RTMP and SRT destinations, including direct streaming to YouTube, Facebook, and Twitch. NDI HX3 is available as an output as well, which lets Studio sit inside a larger NDI infrastructure as either a contributor or a switcher feeding downstream encoders and recorders. Internal recording is included, with Apple ProRes among the supported codecs, so a clean program feed can be archived locally while a branded version is streamed or sent over NDI. Mavis says the internal video matrix lets users choose what each output carries, which is how the clean PGM and branded outputs are split.

A wired HDMI output is also available straight from the iPad’s hardware, useful for sending program to a monitor or projector at a live event. Integrated tally is part of the package, alongside frame-accurate jog wheel control for media playback and keyboard shortcut support when a Bluetooth or wired keyboard is connected.

Compatibility, pricing, and availability

Mavis Studio is optimized for M-series iPads, with the 13-inch iPad Pro giving the most screen real estate for the multiview and audio desk. The app scales down to the 11-inch iPad Pro and runs on a wider range of devices, although Patrick noted that performance and source-count headroom scale with the chip. According to Apple’s listing, Mavis Studio requires iPadOS 26.0 or later, with a Mac variant also available for machines on macOS 26 with Apple Silicon (M1 or newer).

The pricing model is consumer-app rather than broadcast-software. Mavis Studio is a free download from the App Store, with a watermark on all outputs in the free tier. Removing the watermark costs 24.99 USD per month or 79.99 USD per year. The full tier, which removes the watermark and activates NDI for four inputs and one output, costs 39.99 USD per month or 129.99 USD per year. For one-off projects the monthly option is the cheaper entry point, while the annual subscription is the obvious choice for anyone running regular live shows.

Compared to the cost of a hardware switcher with even a fraction of these features, Studio is positioned aggressively. The catch, as always with software-only systems, is that everything depends on the iPad, the network, and the discipline of the IP video setup behind it. NDI HX3 is bandwidth-friendly compared to Full NDI, but a four-camera live show still benefits from a properly configured wired or dedicated wireless network, and that part is on the user, not the app.

For more information, head to the Mavis Studio product page.

Could a 13-inch iPad Pro genuinely replace your current podcast or live-event switcher? Don’t hesitate to let us know in the comments below!