# SubStreamer vs BlackCandy

The clearest difference is rating: BlackCandy at 5.0 against SubStreamer's 4.0. SubStreamer's advantage is update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 24 months) and ratings volume (131 vs 1). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

BlackCandy holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: SubStreamer has 131 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.

SubStreamer ships an update every 2 weeks, BlackCandy every 24 months. The most recent releases landed on September 22, 2026 and July 5, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | SubStreamer | BlackCandy |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | [4.0 (131 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/substreamer/id1012991665/reviews) | **[5.0 (1 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/blackcandy/id6444304071/reviews)** |
| Number of ratings | **131** | 1 |
| Positive reviews | 72.4% of reviews | — |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | **Every 2 weeks** | Every 24 months |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Size | 54 MB | 15 MB |
| Requires iOS | **16.4** | 16.6 |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | **iPhone, iPad, iPod** |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Gaven Henry](https://appshunter.io/developer/925249622) | [文冬 赵](https://appshunter.io/developer/1576325628) |

## What reviewers say

### SubStreamer

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/substreamer/id1012991665)

Access and stream your personal music library from a Subsonic-compatible server on your mobile device. Enjoy offline playback, personalized mixes, and detailed listening analytics without ads or subscriptions.

**Highlights:** Stream and download music library, Offline listening with background processing, Personalized smart mixes, Listening analytics and scrobbling, Playlist and library management, Background playback with lock screen controls, Open source

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Siri integration, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none

**What reviewers like**

- 🎨 Beautiful and modern UI design
- ⚡ Clean, intuitive interface
- 🎵 Excellent Navidrome server compatibility
- 📱 Works seamlessly with self-hosted music servers
- 🔄 Reliable background playback functionality

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Frequent playback failures and stalling
- 🐛 Random crashes during playback
- 🐛 Scrobbling not working reliably
- 🐛 Large file playback issues (10MB+)
- 🐛 AirPlay/Apple TV streaming broken

**Reported bugs**

- Songs fail to play without double-pressing play button
- Playback stops with 4 seconds remaining in track
- Skipping back crashes the app
- Large files (10MB+) require pause-then-play to start
- Scrobbling fails despite server support

**Requested features**

- CarPlay support for in-car use
- Traditional Chinese language support
- Simplified Chinese language support
- All-songs library view (not just albums/artists)
- Lyrics API integration


### BlackCandy

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/blackcandy/id6444304071)

This application serves as a personal music center, requiring a pre-configured Black Candy server to function. It provides access to your music library through a dedicated iOS interface. More information on server setup is available via the developer's GitHub page.

**Highlights:** Personal music center, Requires Black Candy server, iOS interface, Music library access, GitHub for setup info

**In-app purchases:** none


## Frequently asked questions

### Is SubStreamer free?

SubStreamer is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Is BlackCandy free?

BlackCandy is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Which has better reviews, SubStreamer or BlackCandy?

BlackCandy is rated higher. SubStreamer averages 4.0 out of 5 from 131 ratings, while BlackCandy averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.

### Do SubStreamer or BlackCandy have ads?

Neither SubStreamer nor BlackCandy shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, SubStreamer or BlackCandy?

SubStreamer ships an update every 2 weeks, and BlackCandy every 24 months. Most recently, SubStreamer was updated on September 22, 2026 and BlackCandy on July 5, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*