# SubStreamer vs HVR Radio

The clearest difference is update cadence: SubStreamer at every 2 weeks against HVR Radio's every 4 months. On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.

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

SubStreamer ships an update every 2 weeks, HVR Radio every 4 months. The most recent releases landed on October 18, 2026 and October 10, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | SubStreamer | HVR Radio |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | **[4.0 (141 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/substreamer/id1012991665/reviews)** | — |
| Number of ratings | **141** | — |
| Positive reviews | 72.2% of reviews | — |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | **Every 2 weeks** | Every 4 months |
| Monetization | Free | — |
| Size | 55 MB | 78 MB |
| Requires iOS | 16.4 | **15.6** |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | **iPhone, iPad, iPod** |
| Age rating | +4 | 4+ |
| Developer | [Gaven Henry](https://appshunter.io/developer/925249622) | [Eric Pink](https://appshunter.io/developer/1076684662) |

## 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


### HVR Radio

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/hvr-radio/id6475352721)

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

**In-app purchases:** none


## Frequently asked questions

### Is SubStreamer free?

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

### Is HVR Radio free?

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

### Do SubStreamer or HVR Radio have ads?

Neither SubStreamer nor HVR Radio shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, SubStreamer or HVR Radio?

SubStreamer ships an update every 2 weeks, and HVR Radio every 4 months. Most recently, SubStreamer was updated on October 18, 2026 and HVR Radio on October 10, 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.*