# Cog (kode54) — Music player for every format > Open-source music player with extensive format support and advanced playback features. (iPhone/iPad app by Christopher Snowhill.) - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/cog-kode54/id1630499622 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`) - Developer: [Christopher Snowhill](https://appshunter.io/developer/1155861620) - Category: Music - Price: Free - Age rating: 4+ - Requires: iOS 18.0 · 60 MB - Languages: American English, European Spanish - Released: 2022-06-23 - Data updated: 2026-10-24 - Monetization: free - User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/cog-kode54/id1630499622/reviews.md ## What is Cog (kode54)? Cog is a free, open-source music player for people with music in more formats than any one player expects. Born on the Mac, it now plays your collection on iPhone and iPad, with the same audio engine and format support. PLAYS NEARLY EVERYTHING • Everyday and lossless audio: MP3, AAC, ALAC, FLAC, Opus, Ogg Vorbis, WavPack, Musepack, Monkey's Audio, Shorten, WAV, AIFF and much more • Cue sheets, M3U and PLS playlists, and music inside ZIP and other archives • Internet radio and streams, including HLS, from any URL A HOME FOR GAME AND CHIPTUNE MUSIC • Console and computer rips: NSF, SPC, GBS, VGM/VGZ, HES, KSS, AY, SAP and more • PSF family: PSF, PSF2, SSF, DSF, GSF, 2SF, NCSF, USF, QSF • Commodore 64 SID tunes • Tracker modules: MOD, S3M, XM, IT, MPTM and dozens more, plus AHX/HivelyTracker, Syntrax and AdLib formats • Streamed game audio through vgmstream, covering hundreds of formats • Cave Story's Organya music MIDI, DONE PROPERLY • Play MIDI files with your own SoundFonts • Emulate a classic Sound Canvas synthesizer from ROM files you provide • Or use the built-in system synthesizer NOW PLAYING • A Now Playing screen themed from the album art • Lyrics, from your files or looked up online with LRCLIB • Spectrum visualizer • Equalizer with presets • Change speed, tempo and pitch independently • Hold Next to fast-forward and Previous to rewind, in the app, on the lock screen, with headphones or in the car • Shuffle, repeat, queue and Stop After This • AirPlay, Control Center and lock screen controls YOUR MUSIC, YOUR WAY • Import from Files, or add Music Locations to play folders in place, anywhere the Files app can reach • Folders are scanned with their tags and album art • Search your playlist instantly • Music copied into Cog appears in the Files app and in Finder SCROBBLING • Last.fm and ListenBrainz support BUILT FOR iPAD TOO • A layout made for the larger screen • Menus and keyboard shortcuts for hardware keyboards PRIVATE AND OPEN Cog has no ads, no accounts and no tracking. Your music stays on your device and in the places you choose. Cog is open source and developed in the open on GitHub, where you can report bugs, request features and read every line of code. Available in English and Spanish. ## Key features - Plays nearly all audio formats - Supports game and chiptune music - Proper MIDI playback with SoundFonts - Lyrics integration and spectrum visualizer - Independent speed, tempo, and pitch control - Import from Files and folder playback - Last.fm and ListenBrainz scrobbling ## Is Cog (kode54) safe? Not enough ratings yet to assess Cog (kode54). ## Is Cog (kode54) legit? Cog (kode54) appears to be a legitimate app. The AppsHunter Legitimacy Score for Cog (kode54) is 83 out of 100 points across 7 verification signals from App Store and developer data. ## Recent user reviews (10 of 13) All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/cog-kode54/id1630499622/reviews.md ### 5/5 — Really…really good *2026-05-14* My fav. Beats Foobar2000. ### 5/5 — Excellent Choice for NAS Music Collection *2026-04-24* As someone that keeps their music collection on a Network Attached Storage, so that I can use it with multiple OSs, Cog is totally excellent with this option. I also appreciate the consistent updates to this application! ### 3/5 — Great *2026-04-17* Only missing thing is playlist management like creating smart playlists. There is currently no option to resume playing from last position when listening to spoken word books and lectures. ### 5/5 — Please ADD last.fm support! *2026-03-11* This app is great, but we all need last.fm support. Please add this feature! I’d like even pay for it. ### 5/5 — Amazing app *2026-03-10* If you're looking for a simple, lightweight, but also feature-rich music app for macOS, this is it. It's like foobar2000 if it actually looked nice lol. The only thing I wish it had was an option to see the full album artwork in a sidebar or something, rather than having it pop up in a separate window. Also, it would be nice to have sidebar controls to change between different playlists and see only the songs in that selected playlist. But hey, it's free and it's amazing. Totally worth it for me. ### 3/5 — Touch Bar Issues *2025-04-18* Just discovered this app and liking the simplicity. I did however notice that the app *DOES NOT* like when I seek a FLAC track using the Touch Bar and Lockes up 100% of the time necessitating a force quit. (16” 2019 Intel MBP) ### 5/5 — Thank you! *2025-04-07* I just wanted to say thank you! I don’t want a cloud, I don’t want internet, I just need a simple tool to practice my instrument and believe me or not, when I upload a file, I can use Cog to help me practice over it at ease. TY! Awesome little app! ### 1/5 — Can’t handle a large music Library *2025-03-08* This app simply get’s bogged down with a large library (don’t know how well it works with a small one). It took over 5 hours to read all of my files and get all of the metadata. It finally finish when at bedtime so I turned off my external drive and when I fired it back up this morning Cog stated the whole process all over 🤯. I tied to scroll dow to play a music file and I got the spinning wheel of death. I’ve read online how this app is light weight and uses little resources, I’m not experiencing that at all. I have been using Strawberry and before that Clementine and those, while a bit primitive have worked flawlessly; (I would stay with Strawberry but they are no longer supporting Mac for free). I’d rather pay for an app that works well than struggle with one that doesn’t so I’ll have to find a paid app instead. I appreciate your effort, and thanks for the response but I ended up finding an open source app that fit my needs. With it I loaded my entire library in under 2 minutes and works flawlessly. **Developer response:** I have made some minor improvements with file loading recently, maybe try it again? It loads about 4500 files here in under three minutes, which, while not really that great, is also from a network share. Tag loading should also be considerably faster now that I've attempted to shortcut the weird tag encoding issues by trying UTF-8 first. ### 5/5 — Amazing App Keeps Getting Better! *2024-11-24* Finally found the perfect music player for my Mac! Dev is very active still and keeps making this already amazing app even better! Thank you for making this! ### 5/5 — Great for live music collecting *2024-08-28* I collect concert recordings in lossless audio, which isn't handled by most mainstream music apps. Cog has always been my go-to for opening a folder of music files and playing without the hassle of converting formats. ## Frequently asked questions about Cog (kode54) ### What audio formats does Cog support? Cog supports a vast array of formats, including everyday and lossless audio like MP3, AAC, ALAC, FLAC, Opus, and Ogg Vorbis. It also handles game and chiptune music formats such as NSF, SPC, VGM, and SID, as well as numerous tracker modules. ### Can Cog play MIDI files? Yes, Cog plays MIDI files properly. You can use your own SoundFonts, emulate a classic Sound Canvas synthesizer with provided ROM files, or utilize the built-in system synthesizer. ### Does Cog have ads? No, Cog is completely ad-free. It is an open-source application with no ads, no accounts, and no tracking, ensuring your music stays private. ### How can I import music into Cog? You can import music into Cog from the Files app. Additionally, you can add Music Locations to play folders directly from anywhere the Files app can access, with folders being scanned for tags and album art. ### Does Cog support playback controls on the lock screen? Yes, Cog offers comprehensive playback controls. You can use the 'Next' and 'Previous' buttons to fast-forward and rewind, respectively, directly from the app, lock screen, headphones, or car controls. ### What is the age rating for Cog? Cog has an age rating of 4+. This indicates it is suitable for a wide audience, with no mature content concerns. ### How often is Cog updated? Cog was last updated on October 18, 2026, with version 25. While this indicates a recent update, the frequency of future updates is not specified but is typical for open-source projects. ### Is Cog available on macOS? Yes, Cog was originally developed on Mac and is available for macOS. It also supports playback on iPhone and iPad, sharing the same audio engine and format support across devices. ## Version history (last 5 releases) ### 44 — 2026-10-24 • VU meter: the ••• menu's Visualizer is now a submenu with Off, Spectrum and VU Meter. The VU meter rises over the lower half of the album art, with a needle each for left and right. Tap it to switch to bars for every channel. On an iPad keyboard, Shift-Command-V still shows or hides the visualizer. • Always Dark: a new option in Settings > Now Playing keeps Now Playing and the mini player dark for tracks without album art, just as tracks with art take on their album's colors. It is off by default. From the previous version, I apologize for the language mixup: • iPhone Duo support: when unfolded, the playlist and Now Playing appear side by side, split along the fold on iOS 27.1 and later. • Laptop posture on iPhone Duo: with the device partly folded, the playback controls move to a Liquid Glass bar at the bottom of the playlist, on the half lying flat. • On iPhone Duo, the equalizer, speed, lyrics and Info open on the playlist's side of the fold at half height, so the playlist and Now Playing stay in reach. As the hinge moves, Now Playing smoothly adjusts its layout. • The playlist now appears beside Now Playing on any device with enough room in both directions, not just iPad. • Shuffle and Repeat: touch and hold either button for a menu that lets you pick any mode directly. The album mode now shows an "A" badge in the corner of the icon, and VoiceOver reads the current mode aloud. • Now Playing picks the layout that shows the largest album art. On iPad with More Space in landscape, it stays stacked instead of placing small art beside the controls. • In the stacked layout, the progress bar and buttons no longer stretch across the full width of large screens. • Play and Repeat no longer change size or fall out of step when you open a card beside the playlist. • All controls and cards now animate together with a single, smoother motion. ### 42 — 2026-10-23 • Compatibilidad con el iPhone Duo: al desplegarlo, la lista y En reproducción aparecen una junto a la otra, divididas por el pliegue en iOS 27.1 y posteriores. • Postura de portátil en el iPhone Duo: con el dispositivo parcialmente plegado, los controles de reproducción pasan a una barra de Liquid Glass al pie de la lista, en la mitad que queda apoyada. • En el iPhone Duo, el ecualizador, la velocidad, la letra e Información se abren en el lado del pliegue de la lista, a media altura, para que la lista y En reproducción sigan a mano. Al mover la bisagra, En reproducción ajusta su disposición con suavidad. • La lista aparece ahora junto a En reproducción en cualquier dispositivo con espacio suficiente en ambas direcciones, no solo en el iPad. • Aleatorio y Repetir: mantén pulsado cualquiera de los dos botones para abrir un menú y elegir directamente cualquier modo. El modo por álbum ahora muestra una insignia «A» en la esquina del icono, y VoiceOver anuncia el modo actual. • En reproducción elige la disposición que muestra la carátula más grande. En el iPad con Más espacio en horizontal, se mantiene apilada en lugar de poner una carátula pequeña junto a los controles. • En la disposición apilada, la barra de progreso y los botones ya no se estiran a todo el ancho en pantallas grandes. • Reproducir y Repetir ya no cambian de tamaño ni se desacompasan al abrir una tarjeta junto a la lista. • Todos los controles y tarjetas se animan ahora juntos con un movimiento único y más fluido. ### 36 — 2026-10-21 • Lyrics now refresh on their own when a track's tags change, or when you turn LRCLIB lookup on or off in Settings. You no longer need to skip away and come back. • The Now Playing spectrum visualizer now uses the same renderer as Cog for Mac, with slightly translucent bars. ### 30 — 2026-10-19 • Liquid Glass mini player: on iOS 26 and later, the mini player floats over the playlist as a glass capsule tinted with the album's colors. When the track changes, the tint fades, the art crossfades, and the title and artist blur into the new ones. • Go to Current Track: hold the mini player, or the art in Now Playing on iPad, to scroll the playlist to the playing track and highlight it briefly. If a search would hide it, the search is cleared. The menu command now does the same. • Info, easier to reach: on iPhone, Info is now a button in Now Playing's toolbar and opens within Now Playing, on the album's colors. On iPad, it's a button next to Lyrics and opens as a card beside the playlist. It's no longer in the More menu. • Acknowledgements: Settings now ends with the third-party credits, grouped and searchable, each with its copyright holders and license. • The waveform seek bar now defaults to rectified and a linear scale, which is easier to read. If you already changed these settings, your choices are kept. ### 25 — 2026-10-18 What's new - Waveform seek bar: Now Playing's slider shows the track's waveform. Drag sideways anywhere on it to scrub from the playhead. Its options are in Settings, or you can hold the times under the bar. - Track info: the More menu in Now Playing and the menu on each playlist row now show a track's details: art, tags, format, ReplayGain, play count and comment. The exact length, gain values, and first-seen and last-played dates appear under each value. - Play counts: plays are now counted, as on macOS. - Playlist row actions: search the playlist for a row's artist, album artist or album, or remove the row. - Open in Cog: supported audio files can be opened in Cog from Files and other apps. Cog adds the file to the playlist and plays it. Shared files move into Cog's Music folder. - Added tracks are highlighted: however you add tracks, the playlist scrolls to them and highlights them briefly. If a search would hide them, it's cleared. - Smoother fast forward: holding Next now starts at normal speed and speeds up gradually. - Play and Pause now animate between each other. In landscape on iPhone, Now Playing uses the full screen height. Fixes - Surround output no longer goes silent on 3 or 4-channel devices, and channels now go to the right speakers when the layouts differ. - Hidden "._" files are no longer added as tracks, and any that are already in the playlist are removed at launch. ## More apps by Christopher Snowhill - [Kuroshi Catte](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/kuroshi-catte/id1155861621) All apps by Christopher Snowhill: https://appshunter.io/developer/1155861620 ## Related topics [cog](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/cog) · [gyverhub](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/gyverhub) --- *Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-10-24.*