# SubStreamer vs xTune

The clearest difference is price: SubStreamer at Free against xTune's $8.99. SubStreamer also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 1) and ratings volume (144 vs 7). xTune's advantage is rating (5.0 vs 4.0) and review sentiment (90% vs 72%). On update cadence, ads, device support and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.

SubStreamer is free to download; xTune costs $8.99 up front. xTune sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. SubStreamer asks for nothing beyond the download.

xTune holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: SubStreamer has 144 ratings behind it against 7, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 72% of SubStreamer's written reviews are positive against 90% of xTune's.

SubStreamer ships an update every 2 weeks, xTune fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 29, 2026 and October 30, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | SubStreamer | xTune |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | **Free** | $8.99 |
| Rating | [4.0 (144 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/substreamer/id1012991665/reviews) | **[5.0 (7 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/xtune-lyrion-remote-and-player/id6744552136/reviews)** |
| Number of ratings | **144** | 7 |
| Positive reviews | 72.2% of reviews | **90.0% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | **No** | Yes |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | **Every 2 weeks** | Fortnightly |
| Monetization | **Free** | Paid |
| Size | 55 MB | 90 MB |
| Requires iOS | 16.4 | **15.6** |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | **iPhone, iPad, iPod** |
| Age rating | +4 | 17+ |
| Developer | [Gaven Henry](https://appshunter.io/developer/925249622) | [斌 胡](https://appshunter.io/developer/1808139239) |

## 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


### xTune

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/xtune-lyrion-remote-and-player/id6744552136)

Control your Lyrion Music Server and play music directly on your device. Browse your library by various categories, stream from popular services, and enjoy features like gapless playback and lyrics.

**Highlights:** LMS remote control, Built-in music player, Streaming service integration, Flexible music browsing, Gapless playback, Online lyrics display

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

**In-app purchases (1)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| xTune Built-in Player | $4.99 | one-time |


## Frequently asked questions

### Is SubStreamer free?

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

### Is xTune free?

xTune costs $8.99, and also offers in-app purchases.

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

xTune is rated higher. SubStreamer averages 4.0 out of 5 from 144 ratings, while xTune averages 5.0 from 7 ratings.

### Do SubStreamer or xTune have ads?

Neither SubStreamer nor xTune shows ads.

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

SubStreamer ships an update every 2 weeks, and xTune fortnightly. Most recently, SubStreamer was updated on October 29, 2026 and xTune on October 30, 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.*