# SongOwl Music Player — Sort, stream, listen & explore

> Highly customizable music player for browsing and managing personal music libraries. (iPhone/iPad app by Mike Clay.)

- Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/songowl-music-player/id1492630850 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`)
- Developer: [Mike Clay](https://appshunter.io/developer/924491990)
- Category: Music, Entertainment
- Price: $1.99
- Rating: 4.53/5 from 113 App Store ratings · 38 written reviews indexed
- Age rating: 4+
- Requires: iOS 13.0 · 5 MB
- Languages: English, German, Japanese, Chinese
- Released: 2020-02-01
- Data updated: 2026-06-10
- Monetization: free
- User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/songowl-music-player/id1492630850/reviews.md

## What is SongOwl Music Player?

Your music collection like you've never seen it. SongOwl is specifically designed to make browsing your library fast, easy and feel great. The simple interface provides powerful flexibility: whether you are a power user or casual listener, with SongOwl you can experience your music exactly the way you want to. 


Features:

• Choose from over 100 different display options for any view. Create reusable navigation paths based on your own choices. Root paths in collections (playlists, genres, artists, etc.). No other player comes close to this level of configurability.

• Mark any group of songs a favorite, and instantly access it from the dedicated Favorites tab. It's never been easier to get to the perfect song.

• Build the perfect queue with unique sorting and randomization tools.

• View track metadata and listen to tracks in preview mode, without disrupting your playback queue.

• See all of your Loved songs in one place.

• Easily love the currently playing song by double tapping artwork in the player, miniplayer and widget.

• Show/hide songs in the cloud or marked explicit.

• Collect and sort tracks within a playlist, and browse just like your library.

• Fresh and intuitive design, including artwork-themed player.

• Custom themes, shortcuts and URL scheme.


SongOwl requires Music.app be installed.

## Key features

- Over 100 display options
- Customizable navigation paths
- Dedicated Favorites tab
- Unique sorting and randomization tools
- Track metadata and preview mode
- Artwork-themed player
- Custom themes and shortcuts

## Recent user reviews (10 of 38)

All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/songowl-music-player/id1492630850/reviews.md

### 5/5 — amazing app 5/5

*2021-08-22, version 1.1.3*

did exactly what i needed it to do. i was recently listening to my chill mix provided by apple music, and i didn't realize that the “Love” feature doesn’t actually add the songs to a smart playlist unless that song is already in your library. my chill mix updated soon after, and i thought i lost the songs forever… this app showed me every song and i e be more pleased! amazing work!

### 4/5 — nearly there

*2021-04-14, version 1.1.3*

as a longtime Cs/Cesium user, i pulled the trigger on SongOwl without hesitation. and i LIKE it! still no chance for viewing or changing the queue, but that’s on Apple and their ridiculous rules.

this is a simple, intuitive app and i feel like it’s a good path forward. that said, there are a couple features i might like to see. it would be nice if, in addition to the long press, one could get info on a track with a right swipe to expose the i button. it would also be nice if there was a way to advance to the next track when on the get info screen, rather than having to close the screen then long press on the next track.

it would also be nice if i could set SongOwl to reopen at the last view. as it is, if it has to relaunch the app it defaults to the Library view. i have my music organised in playlists, so it would be nice if i could set it to open in the playlist view. if that makes sense?

anyway, thanks for another fantastic music player! i’m looking forward to seeing where SongOwl and Cs go from here!

### 5/5 — Been looking for this for years

*2021-04-12, version 1.1.3*

The ability to sort within my playlists by Artist makes it so I can essentially make many smaller music libraries. This is so helpful I struggle to put it in words. Thank you for this app!

### 5/5 — Lyrics support

*2021-01-11, version 1.1.3*

Hi mike, Great music app, really love it. Just wondering whether lyrics will be supported in the future?

### 5/5 — Thanks SongOwl!

*2020-10-08, version 1.1.3*

I love SongOwl! Making stats-based playlists is super easy. I especially appreciate integrating playback controls.

### 5/5 — Best music app

*2020-10-06, version 1.1.3*

I have tried a number of music apps and this is the best. Much less crashes. I only wish I could delete songs directly from a playlist.

### 5/5 — Fixed my problem with Apple Music on iOS 14

*2020-09-04, version 1.1.3*

Apple broke Apple Music with iOS 14. This app fixes that! On iOS 13 I was able to shuffle songs from specific artists (including songs they were featured in). We are unable to do that on iOS 14. This app just saved Apple Music for me! Thank you so much! I would love a toggle for the Artwork-Themed player. I would love it to be just black like on iOS 13. Other than that I love this app! Great job!

### 1/5 — Pretty, but doesn’t play

*2020-05-18, version 1.1.2*

Surprised. Finally set this up and tapping on a song doesn’t play it. Maybe I’m missing something, but if I need to lookup an online instruction manual to figure out how to start a song in a music player, it’s already dead in the water. 

Also, I have a bunch of random garbage I purchased (mostly free from Starbucks) years ago and I don’t want to see anything but the songs I sync from computer. However, even after turning off the “cloud” toggle, these cloud purchases still show up.

**Developer response:** Did you delete the stock player from your device? I know it sounds silly, but unfortunately hiding Music.app from your device disabled the playback API necessary for Apple Music support. Reinstalling should resolve the issue.

### 2/5 — Doesn’t work with Smart Playlists

*2020-04-26, version 1.1.2*

I listen to my music almost exclusively through Smart Playlists, and unfortunately SongOwl is useless for them due to a bug: as soon as I enable any sorting (e.g. by album) in such a playlist, it shows almost the entire library instead of just what’s in the original playlist. Just by looking at the number of songs in the playlist, it somehow depends on how I sort. Miximum doesn’t have this issue.

As an example, I have a playlist of the last 200 songs I’ve added to my library. When I group it by album, it suddenly contains 6304 songs. By artist, 6036. By album artist, 6021. By composer, 1817. By genre, 4236. Clearly, dark magic is at work.

**Developer response:** Thanks for the feedback! There is some dark magic to contend with in regards to smart playlists (and more so, smart playlists limited by track count or duration. “Unlimited” lists seem to behave correctly).

I can make some improvements. Stay tuned!

### 5/5 — Great!

*2020-04-23, version 1.1.2*

I like that Cs 6.0 wasn’t discontinued and continued on to this app. Any plans to add last.fm scrobbling?

## Frequently asked questions about SongOwl Music Player

### What does SongOwl Music Player do?

SongOwl is a music player designed to help you browse and manage your personal music library with a high degree of customization. It offers numerous display options, powerful sorting tools, and intuitive navigation to enhance your listening experience.

### What are the key features of SongOwl?

Key features include over 100 display options, the ability to create custom navigation paths, a dedicated Favorites tab, unique sorting and randomization tools for queues, track metadata viewing, and an artwork-themed player. It also supports custom themes and shortcuts.

### Is SongOwl Music Player free to use?

Based on the provided information, the app is free to use. There is no mention of subscription fees, paid downloads, or in-app purchases.

### What are the compatibility requirements for SongOwl?

SongOwl requires the Music.app to be installed on your device to function. This indicates it likely integrates with or relies on Apple's native music application.

### How can I use SongOwl to manage my music?

You can use SongOwl to sort your music library with over 100 display options, create personalized navigation paths, mark songs as favorites for quick access, and build custom playback queues. It also allows you to view track metadata and manage songs within playlists.

## Version history (last 1 release)

### 1.1.3 — 2020-06-16

A long overdue update including a couple little tweaks:

• The "Year" sort option has been replaced with a smarter "Release Date" option. This will take full release dates into account (when available), and default to "year" when release dates aren't tagged.

• Some miscellaneous bug fixes, including one that apparently allowed the odd podcast to sneak in.

• I'm aware of the issues some users have reported regarding unusual behavior with the "repeat" playback setting. I believe the root of this issue is small changes to the functionality at the iOS level itself. I'm collecting info to determine what might have changed and how to address it. If you notice a repeatable pattern, please let me know!

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## More apps by Mike Clay

- [Cs Music Pro](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/cs-music-pro/id924491991)
- [Ticked 2](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/ticked-2/id1411719870)
- [Miximum: Smart Playlist Maker](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/miximum-smart-playlist-maker/id1456153507)
- [PlayTally: Apple Music Stats](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/playtally-apple-music-stats/id1513271356)

All apps by Mike Clay: https://appshunter.io/developer/924491990

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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 2026-06-10.*