# Crankshaft — Deep music discovery & radio > Music discovery app that learns taste from listening behavior, not manual input. (iPhone/iPad app by Crankshaft LLC.) - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/crankshaft/id6759019414 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`) - Developer: [Crankshaft LLC](https://appshunter.io/developer/1876403560) - Category: Music, Entertainment - Price: Free - Rating: 5.00/5 from 3 App Store ratings · 1 written reviews indexed - Age rating: 12+ - Requires: iOS 17.5 · 7 MB - Languages: American English - Released: 2026-08-08 - Data updated: 2026-08-31 - Monetization: free - User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/crankshaft/id6759019414/reviews.md ## What is Crankshaft? Crankshaft learns what you love by watching how you listen — not what you tell it. Requires an active Apple Music subscription — Crankshaft plays through your existing Apple Music library. No separate account, no sign-up, and Crankshaft never sends your listening data anywhere. It stays on your device unless you choose to export it. Most music apps ask you to pick genres, tap hearts, and thumb songs up and down. Crankshaft ignores all of that. Instead it reads the physics of how you actually listen: how hard you turn up the volume, how long you let a song play, when you skip, and when you come back. Every session shapes a living profile of your taste that gets sharper over time. Give it real sessions — not a quick test — and you'll feel the difference within a week. The app is free, you just bring your own Apple Music. The data is all yours, so there's no risk to you. HOW IT WORKS Crankshaft sits on top of your Apple Music library. Hit Ignite and it plays from your personal affinity ledger — a behavioral map of every song, scored by how you actually interacted with it. Crank the volume on a song you love and it learns. Skip something in the first ten seconds and it learns that too. Let a song play to the end and that quiet signal counts. Five behavioral zones, from instant skip to full completion, score every track on a curve. No thumbs. No hearts. Just physics. IT PLAYS LIKE A STATION YOU CAN STEER Crankshaft doesn't shuffle. It holds a mood — an era, a genre, an energy — the way a great radio station does, and keeps it there until you signal you want to move. Skip to steer: nudge it toward a different sound and it follows you down the rabbit hole; leave it alone and it holds the vibe. It's built to walk you around your own library, not loop your ten favorites. REACH BEYOND WHAT YOU OWN Declare the artists you love — even ones your library never captured — and Crankshaft opens their catalog and works them into your rotation. A single discovery dial sets how adventurous the engine gets, from comfortable and familiar to wide-open exploration. FEATURES The Crank — Turn up the volume with intent and Crankshaft feels it. That one gesture is worth more than a hundred likes. Affinity Ledger — Every song earns a score from real listening behavior. Scores rise and fall with your habits, not your clicks. Station & Drift — Crank a song and Crankshaft builds a station around that vibe, holding it and drifting naturally through your library and the Apple Music catalog. Declared Artists — Name the artists you love and Crankshaft reaches their whole catalog, even music you don't own yet. Discovery Dial — Blend new and unfamiliar music into your rotation at exactly the level you choose. Pick an Album — On-demand album picks drawn from your affinity ledger, weighted toward what you love with a wildcard from deep in your library. Parent Mode — A completely separate universe with its own ledger, scoring, and visual theme. Your kids' listening never touches your profile. Road Trip Mode — A pre-cached 60-track queue built for long drives. Works offline. CarPlay — Full CarPlay integration with Crank, Freeze, and Parent Mode controls on the dash. PRIVACY BY DESIGN Your data stays on your device. Crankshaft has no cloud sync, no ad targeting, no social graph, and no tracking pixels. Your affinity ledger lives in your app's local storage and never leaves your phone. Built on Apple MusicKit. ## Key features - Learns taste from listening behavior - Personalized music stations - Explores Apple Music catalog - Discovery dial for new music - On-demand album picks - Parent Mode for separate profiles ## Recent user reviews (1 of 1) All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/crankshaft/id6759019414/reviews.md ### 5/5 — Interesting implementation *2026-08-15* This app provides a novel approach to playing good music from your library **Developer response:** Thanks! Novel was what I was hoping for, that’s awfully nice of you to say. Crankshaft reads how you actually listen instead of asking you to rate everything (double thanks for taking the time to write this, in context). If you hit anything you don’t like, I’m all ears, this is a one-person project, real feedback shapes it directly. Thanks for giving it a try! -Justin ## Frequently asked questions about Crankshaft ### Does Crankshaft have ads? Crankshaft is completely ad-free. As it is a free application and does not feature advertisements, users can enjoy an uninterrupted music listening experience. ### What is the pricing for Crankshaft? Crankshaft is available for free. Users only need an active Apple Music subscription to utilize its features, as it plays through your existing library. ### How does Crankshaft learn my music taste? Crankshaft learns your taste by observing your listening habits, such as volume levels, song skips, and playback duration. It creates an 'affinity ledger' based on this behavioral data, rather than manual input like likes or genre selections. ### Can I use Crankshaft without an Apple Music subscription? No, Crankshaft requires an active Apple Music subscription to function. It integrates directly with your existing Apple Music library and catalog. ### What devices does Crankshaft support? Crankshaft is supported on iPhone and iPad devices. This allows users to enjoy its personalized music discovery features across their Apple mobile devices. ### How often is Crankshaft updated? Crankshaft was last updated on August 8, 2026, with version 1.0. As this is its initial release date, future update frequency is yet to be determined. ### Is Crankshaft suitable for children? Crankshaft has an age rating of 12+. It also includes a 'Parent Mode' which creates a separate listening profile and visual theme, ensuring a tailored experience for younger users without affecting the main profile. ### Can Crankshaft play music I don't own? Yes, Crankshaft can incorporate artists you declare you love, even if their music isn't currently in your Apple Music library. The 'Discovery Dial' also allows you to blend new and unfamiliar music into your rotation. ## Version history (last 4 releases) ### 1.3 — 2026-08-27 What's new in 1.3 You cranked, we listened. • Volume slider right in the player — control the sound without leaving the app. • Previous-track button — tap to restart the song, double-tap to jump back to the last one. • Honest crank feedback — the flame now shows when a track is fully cranked, so you know your love landed. • Smarter Settings navigation — Back now returns to the previous screen, not all the way out. • New "Send Feedback" option in Settings — tell us what to build next. We read every note. Still 100% on your device. Still collects nothing. Thanks for listening with us. ### 1.2 — 2026-08-22 New in 1.2 — Save to Apple Music You can now push what you discover in Crankshaft back into Apple Music: • Save your recent picks as a new playlist • Add them to a playlist you already have • Save songs straight to your library • Capture the song that's playing into a running Crankshaft Captures playlist The share button on the now-playing screen now creates a proper Apple Music link you can send to anyone. This update should also fix crashing with enormous music collections. Plus polish and fixes throughout. A lot of this came straight from your feedback. Thank you. ### 1.1 — 2026-08-13 Crankshaft just got deeper. It now reaches further into your own library, surfacing more of the songs you actually own and love instead of the same handful on repeat. And it reaches wider into the artists you already care about to find more that fits you. Everything still runs on your phone and collects nothing. Thanks for listening. Tell me what's working and what isn't at hello@crankshaft.fm ### 1.0 — 2026-08-08 No release notes. ## More apps by Crankshaft LLC - [Cache - Card Collection](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/cache-card-collection/id6761269562) All apps by Crankshaft LLC: https://appshunter.io/developer/1876403560 ## Related topics [free music identifier](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/free-music-identifier) --- *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 2026-08-31.*