The scenario to test is starting a file from home on the phone, carrying on in the car and keeping the queue when the connection changes.
Which apps people use
These apps are mentioned in the breakdown of this job. Open each one to compare strengths and limits. The order of the list is not a ranking of fitness.
Rank 4. Review score: 72 out of 100. App Store rating: 4.7★ · 9,739 ratings
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The best option for people who want to stream their own library in high quality from any device. FLAC support, gapless playback, and smart rediscovery of a personal collection set it apart. Shuffle repeats the same order, the CarPlay interface is sparse, and navigation takes some getting used to.
Praised: Stream your own FLAC files from anywhere via a Plex server without paying for a catalog.
Complaints: Shuffle mode plays tracks in the same order every time it starts.
Best for: Collectors with a personal music library who want to stream their own files
Rank 10. Review score: 67 out of 100. App Store rating: 4.7★ · 3,407 ratings
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The best choice for listeners who store their own collection on OneDrive or Google Drive: supports large libraries, offline caching, and CarPlay. Scanning collections above 15,000 tracks is slow, and playlist creation is cumbersome.
Praised: The only player in this niche that actually reads a large personal collection from the cloud.
Complaints: Creating and managing playlists is cumbersome with large libraries.
Best for: Music collectors with their own collection on a cloud drive
Rank 21. Review score: 58 out of 100. App Store rating: 4.6★ · 8,371 ratings
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The best local FLAC player on iOS with a customizable interface and equalizer. Playlists sometimes get stuck on the first track, large files cause crashes, and navigation requires some adjustment.
Praised: The only reliable option for playing a FLAC collection without compression on iOS.
Complaints: Playlists get stuck on the first track after an iOS update, and large lossless files periodically cause crashes.
Best for: Audiophiles with a personal FLAC collection on iOS
Rank 28. Review score: 55 out of 100. App Store rating: 4.2★ · 3,146 ratings
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One of the best players for FLAC and personal collections, with a parametric equalizer and Last.fm scrobbling. Over the past year, problems with VOX Cloud sync, CarPlay, and playback reliability have been mounting.
Praised: A parametric equalizer, FLAC support, and SoundCloud integration without ads in one player.
Complaints: Sync between devices via VOX Cloud is unreliable and frequently breaks.
Best for: Audiophiles with personal FLAC collections and high audio quality requirements
Rank 19. Review score: 61 out of 100. App Store rating: 4.6★ · 18,711 ratings
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One of the best options for listeners with their own collection: supports cloud storage, has a tag editor, and library filtering. The key downside is that the monetization model has shifted against users and ads in the free version have become aggressive, including fraudulent banners.
Praised: Connecting to multiple cloud storage services simultaneously and full search with filtering across a large library work better than competitors.
Complaints: Album artwork cannot be edited through the built-in tag editor, even though all other fields are available for editing.
Best for: Music fans with a personal collection in the cloud who want to listen to their own music without being tied to streaming services
