# Now Playing Plus — user reviews > 49 indexed App Store user reviews of Now Playing Plus by The Iconfactory, rated 3.70/5 from 51 ratings. - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/now-playing-plus/id6443591394/reviews - App overview in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/now-playing-plus/id6443591394.md - Rating breakdown: 5★ 27 · 4★ 7 · 3★ 1 · 2★ 6 · 1★ 10 ## Newest reviews (13 of 49) ### 4/5 — Great app *2025-10-23* Just wish we could customise the complication colours. White and red stand out too much ### 4/5 — Nearly perfect *2025-02-24* I love apps which does one thing perfectly. I just miss a complication which is compatible with the Photos watchface. ### 5/5 — Thank you *2023-11-06, version 1.0.2* Now Playing is the complication I use the most. This app means my watch face options are not limited. Thank you! ### 5/5 — Add to Apple Watch complications all mobile audio listeners *2023-10-14* This is essential for people who enjoy audio applications and music when walking about . No need to fish for the iPhone to pause or rewind. I have added this app into my watch face complications. Why Apple did not do this , beats me! Well done tech designer of Play On Plus. ### 4/5 — Hacky but useful *2023-08-09* The functionality is clearly limited in part by apple’s restrictions and fragmentation, but it’s still a useful add for three reasons: 1. It lets me jump to now playing for any app I listen from (I use a few) from any watch face 2. It “remembers” what I was playing far longer than the built in now playing feature. It’s crazy that if I pause audio for a few minutes my phone and watch make me go back into the audio app to restart, npp remembers. 3. Apple Watch apps for some audio players (overcast, castro) don’t work great, npp always works My only request would be to add the track name of whatever’s playing to the complication ### 5/5 — App is missing *2023-07-04* I used this on my Apple Watch 6 for a year and loved it. But when I upgraded to an Apple Watch Ultra it disappeared! There is now way to find and add it to my new watch Update: developer show me what I was doing wrong. Back to using and loving this app. **Developer response:** The app needs to be reinstalled using the App Store app on the watch itself - it won't work using the iOS app (as it did when you originally got it). This bug has been reported to Apple. Details here: https://support.iconfactory.com/kb/general/reinstall-watchos-app-when-purchased-is-greyed-out ### 5/5 — Great *2023-06-05* Hey there great app but I’m missing some small details. Could you improve the variety of complication spots? Could you show the name of the track if text is part of the complication? A last request would be if you could shrink the icon optionally. Thank you ☺️ ### 4/5 — Very messy app . Needs major updates *2023-04-19* Messes with quick action. After this was installed the “double pinch” action was not working properly . After uninstall it started working again. After uninstalling , it is still not completely removed from your watch , as other reviews have mentioned. Do better ### 5/5 — Brilliant *2023-04-01* This should be a stock feature. But since it’s not , this app makes the watch experience much better. This app, other than the built-in playing now does not always default to the phone. Also, having a button on the watch face is great. Thanks so much for this app, and for making it free! ### 3/5 — Wish it did more *2023-01-29, version 1.0.1* Found this while looking for a corner complication that showed what was playing. This certainly does, if you click it. But it isn’t live on the watch face, it just shows the app name. So does Spotify. Was hoping for a little more. ### 5/5 — I'm back to loving this app *2023-01-04* Thank you developers for reaching out to me about the workaround if I already downloaded the app to my watch! I'm so glad to have this awesome back in my complications list! **Developer response:** If the Apple Watch app is deleted on the device, you cannot re-install the app using your iPhone (it shows a grayed out PURCHASED button). This bug has been reported to Apple. The workaround is to re-download the app on your watch - it's easiest to search for "Iconfactory" then select the download icon for Now Playing Plus. ### 4/5 — One step away from being perfect *2022-12-04* This is so close to perfect. I’ve been using a third party Apple Music app to play my music and not being able to put it on my infographic watch face has been annoying to no end. My only slight complaint is that I wish the ‘now playing’ text on the complication changed to show the name of the song like the official Apple Music one does. If that happened it would be literally perfect. **Developer response:** We tried to implement this, but for privacy reasons, Apple doesn't let any third party apps know what another app is playing. Folks like Google and Facebook would put this information into their "things you like" bucket. ### 5/5 — Everything Apple missed *2022-11-10* This is exactly what Apple should have built, it works really well and provides a complication for each slot. It’s be great to have some customisation of icon/colour/design/etc. ## Most critical reviews (10 lowest-rated) ### 1/5 — App never showed up as a complication *2024-06-26* I followed support directions about deleting the app from the watch, turning phone and watch off and restarting. Now the app doesn’t show up at all on the Watch and I can’t re-download it. **Developer response:** Try downloading the app from the App Store on your watch. Only the initial purchase/download works on the iPhone, re-downloads do not. We have filed a bug with Apple about this several years ago - you are not the first person to be confused by this. ### 1/5 — Scam do not download *2023-06-08* This app does not do anything and does not allow you to uninstall. App Store shows the app as purchased but this app does not show up on my Apple Watch, in my apps, or even in purchased from the App Store. This app does not do anything. ### 1/5 — Cannot use *2022-12-17, version 1.0.1* Installed app, no where to be found on my Apple Watch. Please help! ### 1/5 — Beware/sloppy coding *2022-12-14* Even after multiple watchOS and iOS updates this app does not uninstall completely, leaving unusable complications littering your watch face options. It’s crap. Even though (somewhat) deleted from watch there is STILL a grayed-out “Purchased” next to it on the App Store—it can’t be downloaded again (to delete again—hopefully fully)! **Developer response:** It's an Apple bug. We have reported it to them and are waiting to hear back. You can send your own feedback at apple.com/feedback ### 1/5 — Installed but can’t find it? *2022-10-02, version 1.0* Not sure what’s going on. It’s installed, I verified it’s installed, but I can’t select it on my watch face. ### 1/5 — Wish I could use it *2022-10-01* Since I added it my watch face has just stayed solid black. ### 2/5 — Missing AirPlay & Volume Control *2023-09-26* This app would be better if it just launched the stock Now Playing app. As it stands, it works okay but is missing functionality - namely AirPlay controls and adjusting volume. (The volume sorta works, but doesn’t use the crown’s haptics and doesn’t always adjust volume properly.) ### 2/5 — App is missing *2023-06-27* I used this on my Apple Watch 6 for a year and loved it. But when I upgraded to an Apple Watch Ultra it disappeared! There is now way to find and add it to my new watch ### 2/5 — Redundant *2022-12-26* The only way this app would be useful would be if it became the first non apple music complication to actually show the name of the song playing on the watch face. Otherwise it's nothing more than an unnecessary splash page and icon on your watch face. Surely this is possible to make better? ### 2/5 — I don’t see the time saving… *2022-10-06* Downloaded this app due to a recommendation heard on MacBreak Weekly. Was hoping the complication would bring me to the stock Apple Now Playing app, but it doesn’t. Instead the first tap brings up an unnecessary splash screen; a second tap brings up the Now Playing+ screen which isn’t as good as the stock Apple app. So that’s two taps to get a so-so useful UI. Contrast that to my default action: (1) press the crown to bring up App View (2) tap icon, which I purposely place near dead center, for stock Apple Now Playing app. So, yes, still two steps, but result is a more powerful result, imo. ## Most praised reviews (10 highest-rated) ### 5/5 — Can’t be without it! *2026-05-08* This is by far the most used complication on my watch face. Thank you for fixing what Apple have broken and allowing me to control the currently playing audio regardless of whether that’s playing from the watch or the phone. ### 5/5 — Perfect *2026-01-19* Just what I wanted for my Apple Watch Ultra 3 bottom middle complication. Works great for Overcast and Apple Music. ### 5/5 — Exactly what I wanted *2025-06-15* All it takes is one tap from the complication and it opens the app and quickly automatically (about half a second) goes to the now playing view for what’s playing on my iPhone. Very useful and nice to have. Should be rated highly for the missing feature it adds. ### 5/5 — Did know I needed it but cool *2025-05-08* This nice quick way to replace the now playing app that has been soft nerfed on latest iPhone models watch faces. ### 5/5 — Très bien. *2025-03-21* Exactement se que je chercher. À l’écoute sur n’importe quel cadran ! 🌝 ### 5/5 — Bravo *2024-12-04* Congratulations on a great app, this is exactly what I’ve wanted to fill the empty complication spot on each of my watches, now I’ve upgraded to an ultra it works just as well as before, many thanks! ### 5/5 — Wish it could be a middle complication *2024-09-27* I wish this could be set as a middle complication as well so I could use it as a replacement for Apple’s new nonfunctional Now Playing in watchOS 11 ### 5/5 — For me, a must-have app *2024-05-09* I have experienced zero issues with this app. But more than that, it is precisely what it claims to be, “Plus”—more than the standard Apple offering. I was more than disappointed with Audible for providing NO control for their app (unlike Spotify, for example, whose app is excellent). I found Apple’s generic media playing controls not great (sometimes not there, not able to be added as a complication). Enter the FREE (I would pay 10s of $ for this app, just from the release from frustration with Audible alone) Now Playing Plus. I now have a permanent pride of place complication and can always control all media. And the page that is presented for controlling the media is an excellent UX. I’m not paid or affiliated with Iconfactory. I just value good design and dislike bad design. ### 5/5 — A godsend *2024-01-27* With Watch OS 10 totally ruining the experience of controlling Tidal playing on my phone on my watch - this is a godsend. It’s pretty much fixed it. Thank you!!! ### 5/5 — No frills *2024-01-19* This app does just what I wanted with absolutely no hullabaloo so I can't complain. I'd love to see the option to see what's playing on the complication, or remove the text altogether and have only the icon. Better yet, custom icons would be killer. I'd happily pay a few dollars for those features. --- *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.*