# Play Dead: Grateful Dead App — Official Live Concerts & Music

> Official streaming app for remastered live Grateful Dead concert recordings. (iPhone/iPad app by nugs.net enterprises, LLC.)

- Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/play-dead-grateful-dead-app/id6747825801 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`)
- Developer: [nugs.net enterprises, LLC](https://appshunter.io/developer/327248667)
- Category: Music, Entertainment
- Price: Free with in-app purchases
- Rating: 4.40/5 from 74 App Store ratings · 35 written reviews indexed
- Age rating: 17+
- Requires: iOS 17.0 · 85 MB
- Languages: American English
- Released: 2026-04-15
- Data updated: 2026-08-26
- Monetization: free with in-app purchases
- User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/play-dead-grateful-dead-app/id6747825801/reviews.md

## What is Play Dead?

Play Dead is the official Grateful Dead streaming app, offering unprecedented hi-res access to the Grateful Dead Vault of live recordings.

For the first time, the band’s live legacy is brought together in a single official streaming service, with newly transferred and mastered recordings from the original sources.

Previously unreleased shows - called Dead Drops - will be available every Tuesday, augmenting the catalog of official live Grateful Dead releases, many of which have never been available on any streaming service.  

The Vault Unlocked
Exclusive Hi-Res Recordings
Access new high resolution transfers, mastered for the first time and available exclusively on Play Dead.

Dead Drops Every Tuesday
Previously unreleased recordings added, every Tuesday, curated by Grateful Dead archivist and legacy manager David Lemieux, mastered for the first time by David Glasser.

CD-Only Releases, Now Streaming
Shows previously available only on CD from box sets and Dave’s Picks are now streaming for the first time -only on Play Dead- in higher-than-CD-quality.

The Vault by Year
Live recordings are presented in order of performance date for the first time in the band’s history.
Play Dead brings together three decades of live recordings into a single, evolving app designed for both longtime Dead Heads and those who just got on the bus.

Listen Anywhere
Listen and resume listening across devices, including Apple CarPlay.

Subscription
Subscriptions available starting at $9.99/month or $99.99/year.

Official Access to the Grateful Dead Vault 
Created for Grateful Dead Productions and Rhino Entertainment, longtime stewards of the Grateful Dead catalog. Built by nugs, the leading platform for live music.

For nugs Subscribers
Play Dead is also available as an add-on to nugs.

PlayDead Payment and Auto-Renewal Terms:
Play Dead offers auto-renewing monthly and annual subscriptions to stream music from the Play Dead catalog.
Two subscription types are available, monthly (30 days) and annual (365 days). All subscriptions auto-renew.
A Play Dead monthly subscription is $9.99 per month or $99.99 per year for new users. Plans auto-renew at $9.99 per month or $99.99 per year after the first year. Payment will be charged to the iTunes Account at the time of your purchase.
Subscriptions automatically renew unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24-hours before the end of the current period.
Accounts will be charged for renewal within 24-hours prior to the end of the current period.
Subscriptions may be managed by the user and auto-renewal may be turned off by going to the users Account Settings after purchase.
Terms of Use at http://nugs.net/terms.aspx
Privacy Policy at http://nugs.net/privacy.aspx

## Key features

- Official Grateful Dead live recordings
- Hi-res remastered audio
- Exclusive 'Dead Drops' weekly
- CD-only releases now streaming
- Vault organized by year
- Cross-device listening
- Apple CarPlay support

## Pricing and in-app purchases

Base price: Free.

**Subscriptions**

| Subscription | Price | Period |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Yearly | $99.99 | per year |
| Monthly | $9.99 | per month |


## Chart rankings

- #100 in Top Grossing · Music (US App Store)

## Recent user reviews (10 of 35)

All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/play-dead-grateful-dead-app/id6747825801/reviews.md

### 3/5 — Content Great App needs work

*2026-08-09*

The content and quality are great.  The app is very buggy.  I’ve had it for five days and it has froze up six times.   Need to restart phone to get it working.  Now I get an error that says ‘Something went wrong’.  Restarted phone and it just spins.  Support is virtually non existent.

**Developer response:** Sorry for the trouble you're having. Please contact us on help.playdead.app if you continue having problems. We provide email support 365 days a year.

### 5/5 — I really love the new search options

*2026-07-25*

Endless entertainment.

**Developer response:** Thanks for taking the time to leave a review and for your feedback. Contact us on help.playdead.app if you have any questions or problems. Enjoy the tunes!

### 5/5 — Fantastic app with wonderful quality

*2026-07-22*

The latest update for mid July 2026 gave all the app UI tweaks that were missing. As a developer I love how the app is navigated. Much better than Nugs. Good job!

**Developer response:** Thanks for taking the time to leave a review and for your feedback. Contact us on help.playdead.app if you have any questions or problems. Enjoy the tunes!

### 5/5 — This is the best thing since sliced bread

*2026-07-07*

Kudos as it picked up my complex password from Password / iCloud right away.  So now I can run PlayDead and Nugs from one account on AppleTV, iPhone, iPad, MacBook whatever, they got it all to work in the garden the way it should!

### 5/5 — FINALLY

*2026-07-05*

I’ve been waiting 16 years for this since I first got on the bus after seeing Furthur at All Good 2010. My only complaint is that the chromecast option is hit or miss, 9/10 miss.

### 3/5 — I want to love this app

*2026-07-04, version 1.0.2*

The Grateful Dead have been arguably the biggest influence in my life. I saw Jerry play 290 times between GD & JGB. I’ve actually fought p people for talking smack about the band. I was really excited to hear about this app coming out. I was a little reluctant to get it just because I’ve had Apple Music for a long time and really don’t need anything else. I could get any GD release there and for any bootlegs go to archive.org. I got it anyway just because it’s an official GD release and I always want to support GD. 

So, I open the app and see that I can search by year and download everything. I’m immediately disappointed to find some years are nowhere near complete. For instance ‘94 only has 9 shows. Also some shows are incomplete. The final show 7-9-85 only has Standing On The Moon. Very disappointing. Then a really big disappointment was that they don’t include the lyrics with any song. Apple Music gives the option of scrolling lyricswith every song so it can’t be that hard, especially when they’re your songs and lyrics. I’m gonna keep it for a few months and I’ll update my review monthly. Hopefully it’ll get better.

### 5/5 — Loving Playdead but…

*2026-06-30*

When will blusound and other streaming services add natively so we can enjoy the high rez in all its glory.  I assume not entirely in your control but how about a nudge

### 5/5 — Rewind

*2026-06-25*

Amazing app! It would help to have a 5 second rewind feature so musicians can listen back to specific parts.

The tuesday drops are godsend! Latest releases have been focused a lot on 89. More mid 80s please! 85!!! Would

### 5/5 — Excellent app!

*2026-06-11, version 1.0.2*

Great App! When is the iPadOS version coming out?

### 5/5 — Got To Get It

*2026-06-04, version 1.0.1*

Its just awesome to be able to hear so many great concerts, in very good resolution- if your a Dead fan just get it

## Frequently asked questions about Play Dead

### What is Play Dead?

Play Dead is the official streaming app for the Grateful Dead, offering access to their live concert recordings. It provides high-resolution remastered audio and previously unreleased shows.

### How much does Play Dead cost?

Play Dead is free to download and offers subscriptions starting at $9.99 per month or $99.99 per year. These subscriptions grant access to the full catalog of live recordings.

### Does Play Dead have ads?

Yes, Play Dead contains advertisements. As a free app with in-app purchases, advertisements are part of the user experience.

### When are new shows added to Play Dead?

Previously unreleased shows, called 'Dead Drops', are added every Tuesday. These are curated and mastered for the first time, augmenting the existing catalog.

### Can I listen to Play Dead on multiple devices?

Yes, you can listen and resume listening across different devices. The app also supports listening via Apple CarPlay for in-car entertainment.

### What is the age rating for Play Dead?

Play Dead has an age rating of 17+. This is due to the nature of the music content and potential lyrical themes.

### How often is Play Dead updated?

The latest version of Play Dead is 1.0.2, last updated on June 8, 2026. Updates typically include new content and app improvements.

### Are CD-only releases available on Play Dead?

Yes, shows previously only available on CD from box sets and Dave's Picks are now streaming on Play Dead. They are offered in higher-than-CD-quality audio.

## Version history (last 5 releases)

### 1.1.1 — 2026-08-04

Bug fixes and performance improvements.

### 1.1 — 2026-07-22

Browse albums your way
• Filter albums by category.
• Sort albums chronologically for easier discovery.

Browse Box Sets
• Added a new Box Sets filter to Browse By, making it easier to find complete collections.

Discover "Today in Grateful Dead History"
• Explore iconic moments from music history with a new Today in Grateful Dead History section on the Home screen.

Choose your preferred view
•Switch between Grid and List views in Browse, Search, View All, and My Library for a more personalized browsing experience.

Dead Drops enhancements
• Enjoy an updated Dead Drops experience with richer content information and an improved browsing experience.

Shuffle on the go
• Added Shuffle support in CarPlay making it easier to jump into your music hands-free.

Hi-Res audio indicator
• See the quality of your current playback with a new audio quality indicator in the full-screen player.

### 1.0.2 — 2026-06-08

• Fixes an issue where selecting a track within a playlist would start playback from the first track instead of the selected track.

### 1.0.1 — 2026-05-04

• General maintenance and bug fixes

### 1.0 — 2026-04-16

No release notes.

## More apps by nugs.net enterprises, LLC

- [LivePhish](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/livephish/id374048661)
- [nugs: Live Music Lives Here](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/nugs-live-music-lives-here/id1032794422)

All apps by nugs.net enterprises, LLC: https://appshunter.io/developer/327248667

## Related topics

[play dead](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/play-dead) · [grateful dead](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/grateful-dead) · [grateful dead radio](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/grateful-dead-radio) · [play dead nugs](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/play-dead-nugs) · [grateful dead vault](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/grateful-dead-vault) · [grateful dead archive](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/grateful-dead-archive) · [play dead grateful](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/play-dead-grateful) · [nugs dead](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/nugs-dead) · [nugs](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/nugs) · [the deadly](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/the-deadly) · [deadly](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/deadly) · [deadhead archives](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/deadhead-archives) · [coterie live](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/coterie-live) · [shore excursions](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/shore-excursions)

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*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 2026-08-26.*