zFuse vs nPlayer
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
zFuse
Play any video format without conversion, with advanced subtitle effects and direct media streaming from your PC or NAS. Enjoy gesture controls, folder encryption for privacy, and extensive file management features. Supports TV casting and popular media servers.
- Plays all video formats without conversion
- Supports ASS/SSA/SUP effect subtitles
- Streams media directly from PC/NAS
- Gesture controls for playback and settings
- Folder encryption for privacy
- File download and management
- TV casting and media server support
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- zFuse can play all video formats and encodings, allowing you to play video files on your mobile device without the need to convert to MP4. - zFuse supports ASS/SSA/SUP effect subtitles, enabling you to experience full subtitle effects just like on your PC/Mac. - zFuse features powerful networking technologies that allow you to play media from your PC or NAS directly, without occupying any space on your limited device storage and without needing to download anything. - zFuse also allows you to easily download files or directories directly from your PC or NAS, making it the perfect companion for your trips. - zFuse supports a variety of gestures - simply move your fingers to adjust playback position, font size, volume, and brightness. - zFuse carefully protects your privacy with folder encryption, so you no longer need to worry about privacy issues. - zFuse's detailed features include: * SMB/CIFS playback and discovery (easily play media files from your PC). * Download media files or directories from SAMBA/DLNA/WebDAV/FTP directly. * UPnP/DLNA playback and discovery. * Emby and Jellyfin media server support. * AirPlay playback. * Picture-in-Picture mode support. * iPad split-screen multitasking support. * Hardware acceleration. * HDR Tone Mapping support on non-HDR displays. * Subtitle effects support. * 0.5x-3.0x playback speed control. * 0.5x-5.0x screen zoom. * Media preview while seeking. * Built-in audio enhancement. * Multi-soundtrack selection. * Embedded/external subtitle track selection. * Subtitle synchronization. * Audio synchronization. * External subtitle font selection support. * Playlist file preview before playback. * Blu-ray directory playback. * Real-time playlist management and editing. * Screen mirroring. * File Management: - Delete, move, rename, create folders. - Wi-Fi file transfer support without USB cable connection. - Streaming media playlist creation support. - File decompression support: 7z, zip, rar, tar, bz, bz2, etc. * Gesture Controls: - Horizontal drag: adjust playback position. - Vertical drag on left side: adjust volume. - Vertical drag on right side: adjust brightness. - Pinch to zoom: adjust screen size. - Double-tap: play/pause. - Two-finger double-tap: change video aspect ratio. * External Keyboard Support: - Space: pause/play. - Left Arrow: backward seek. - Right Arrow: forward seek. - Esc: exit playback. - S: change playback speed. - B: play previous. - N: play next. - Z: change screen scale. * Supported Video Formats: MP4, MOV, MKV, AVI, WMV, FLV, RMVB, ASF, OGV, Blu-ray ISO and more. * Supported Audio Formats: MP3, WAV, WMA, FLAC, APE and more. * Supported Subtitle Formats: SRT, SSA, ASS, SUP, VTT. * Supported Image Formats: JPG, PNG, BMP, TIFF, GIF, HEIC and more. * Supported eBook Formats: EPUB, TXT, PDF. * Code Editor Supported Languages: JSON, HTML, XML, C/C++, Lua, Java, Objective-C, Swift, Python, JavaScript. * Supported Document Formats: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Numbers, Keynote, Pages, RTF, CSV.
nPlayer
Play virtually any video or audio file format without conversion. Stream media from remote devices and cloud services, and control playback with intuitive gestures. Offers extensive subtitle and audio codec support for a seamless viewing experience.
- Plays all video and audio formats without conversion
- Streams media from network devices and cloud services
- Supports DTS and Dolby audio codecs
- Advanced subtitle customization and synchronization
- Gesture-based playback controls
- Hardware acceleration for H.264, HEVC, AV1
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** nPlayer officially supports DTS (DTS HD ), DTS Headphone:X. ** nPlayer supports Dolby (AC3, E-AC3). ** nPlayer is the universal app. You can install it in any other iOS device without additional purchase. - You don't need to convert video files to MP4 to play them in your mobile device. nPlayer enable you to play all kinds of video formats and codecs without file converting efforts. - You don't need to store video files in your device with limited storage space. nPlayer's powerful and various network technologies will help you to stream them from remote devices. - With your finger tip, you can adjust playback position, move to previous and next subtitle position, adjust location and font size of subtitles, control volume and brightness. - Experience nPlayer, thousands of users recommendations. * Features - Supports officially DTS audio codec (DTS HD) - Supports Dolby audio codec (AC3, E-AC3) - Supports iXpand Drive - Supports Chromecast - Supports video cast for Smart TV - Supports HDMI output - Supports video files : MP4, MOV, MKV, AVI, WMV, ASF, FLV, OGV, RMVB, TP etc. - Supports audio files : MP3, WAV, WMA, FLAC, APE etc. - Supports subtitle files : SMI, SRT, SSA, IDX, SUB, LRC, SUP, MLP2 etc. - Supports image files : JPG, PNG, BMP, GIF, TIFF etc. - Supports playlist files : CUE, M3U, PLS - Supports WebDAV, FTP, SFTP, HTTP, SMB/CIFS, NFS - Supports UPnP/DLNA (supports subtitles if DLNA server provides subtitles information.) - Supports cloud service (Box, Dropbox, OneDrive, Yandex.Disk) - Supports in-app web browser - Supports iTunes video/audio play (except for DRM contents) - Supports videos and pictures in Album - Playback speed control : 0.5x ~ 4.0x - Resume playback - AB repeat(specific section repetition) - Screen lock - Supports AV1/HEVC/H.264/MPEG4 Hardware acceleration - Supports 3D video mode - Screen flip horizontally, vertically. brightness and saturation control - Aspect ratio : Default, 1:1, 3:2, 4:3, 5:3, 16:9, 1.85:1 etc - Supports multi-track audio - Supports audio boost - Supports audio sync - Supports lyrics display - Supports Dolby, DTS HDMI Bitstream (Passthru) - Supports embedded subtitles - Supports multi-track subtitles - Supports user’s selection of subtitle files - Supports addition of optional subtitle files while playback - Supports subtitles font, color, shadow, outline customization - Supports subtitles sync - Supports external subtitle fonts - Supports SAMI(SMI) tag - Supports SSA/ASS with full styling, embedded subtitles - File management : Delete, Move, Rename, Create a folder - Playlist management : Add, Delete, Modify - Supports recently played list - Folder lock - Supports Open-in - Supports UI theme * Gesture Features - Tap : Menu - Double tap : Pop-up play - Drag horizontally : Playback position adjustment - Drag vertically on right half of the screen : Volume control - Drag vertically on left half of the screen : Brightness control - Pinch on the screen : Screen size adjustment - Drag horizontally on subtitle text : Move to previous/next subtitle text - Drag vertically on subtitle text : Subtitle position adjustment - Pinch on subtitle text : Subtitle font size adjustment - Supports finger gesture customization
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is monetization model: zFuse at free against nPlayer's paid. zFuse also leads on review sentiment (78% vs 54%). nPlayer's advantage is rating (4.7 vs 4.4) and chart position (#27 vs unranked). On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
zFuse costs $4.99 and nPlayer $4.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
nPlayer holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: nPlayer has 1.9K ratings behind it against 220, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 78% of zFuse's written reviews are positive against 54% of nPlayer's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
zFuse ships an update every 3 weeks, nPlayer every 9 days. Both last shipped on September 24, 2026.
| Parameter | zFuse | nPlayer |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $4.99 | $4.99 |
| Rating | 4.4 (220 ratings) | 4.7 (1.9K ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 77.7% of reviews — better | 53.7% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 220 | 1.9K — better |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks | Every 9 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free — better | Paid |
| Best chart rank | — | #27 — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Apple TV | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 | 13.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 152 MB | 61 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 17+ |
| Developer | s-joys Co., Ltd. | Newin Inc. |
Customer experience
zFuse
nPlayer
User reviews
zFuse
From 220 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Fast video playback and loading speeds
- 👍 Excellent format support (various codecs and containers)
- 🎬 Strong HDR video handling
- 📁 Reliable network file access (SMB, NAS)
- 🎯 Clean and simple user interface
Room to improve
- 🎨 Outdated UI design (looks from 2010)
- 🐛 Frequent bugs introduced with updates
- 💔 Lack of customer support responsiveness
- 🔌 No Chromecast/casting support
- ⚠️ Inconsistent feature availability across platforms
nPlayer
From 1.9K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Stable and fast
- 👍 Comprehensive features
- 🔒 Secure file management
- 💡 Excellent network integration
- 👍 Customizable interface
Room to improve
- 🐛 Occasional crashes
- 🔋 Battery drain issues
- 🐛 Chromecast connectivity problems
- 🐛 Subtitle issues when casting
- 🐛 Metadata display bugs
Bugs and requests
zFuse
Reported bugs
19 issues- Playback speed switching causes audio stuttering and crackling
- Video snapshots getting lost (long-standing bug)
- Green pixel artifacts on iPad Pro M4
- Pop-out video player discoloration after updates
- Back and forward seeking stopped working
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- SMB crashes with large file counts
- DLNA/UPnP not detecting NAS devices
- SAMBA unable to read external USB drives
- Movie channel unresponsive/not clickable
- Device selection option disappeared after update
- Subtitle menu difficult to access on Apple TV
- Long filename display issues
- Slow response time on video selection
- Password error handling missing feedback
- Screen orientation settings not working
- Progress bar control difficult with remote touchpad
- Excessive volume sensitivity
- Unable to cache files from certain network sources
- App crashes on tvOS 14.5
Requested features
18 requests- Dark mode option
- Segment/A-B repeat functionality
- Persistent zoom and aspect ratio settings on loop
- System time display during playback
- Subtitle display in picture-in-picture mode
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- Seamless playback speed switching without pausing
- Batch file selection and management
- Persistent subtitle brightness settings
- Poster wall/cover art display
- WebDAV support
- Plugin support
- Ability to rename favorites
- History disable option
- Original quality streaming options for cloud services
- HDR support on Apple TV
- Automatic photo/video playback from same folder
- Custom passcode for Security Space
- Live stream source subscription support
nPlayer
Reported bugs
4 issues- Playback position not saved after app exit
- Inability to connect to some network drives
- Inconsistent behavior when playing certain video formats
- Subtitles not displayed correctly in some cases
Requested features
6 requests- Add support for Apple TV
- Improve Chromecast support
- Implement sleep timer for audio
- Allow customization of subtitle size/color
- Add option to disable metadata fetching
Show 1 moreShow fewer
- Improve file sorting and playlist management
In-app purchases
zFuse
No in-app purchases
nPlayer
No in-app purchases
