Comparison

SubStreamer vs Sonora

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

SubStreamer

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
Read full description

Your music. Your server. Everywhere you go. Substreamer turns your Subsonic-compatible server into a personal streaming service. Browse, play, and download your entire music library on iPhone and iPad — free, with no ads, no subscriptions, and no data collection. Verified with Navidrome, Subsonic, Gonic, Nextcloud Music, and Ampache. Also compatible with Airsonic-Advanced, Funkwhale, Supysonic, and other Subsonic API servers. STREAM & DOWNLOAD Stream in full quality or choose a bitrate that suits your connection. Download albums and playlists for offline listening with background queue processing and automatic recovery. Substreamer switches to offline mode automatically when your server is unreachable. TUNED IN — SMART MIXES Personalised playlists powered by your listening history. Time-of-day mixes, deep cuts from similar artists, decade time machines, genre blends, favorites radio, and a custom mix builder — all generated from your own library, not an algorithm trained on someone else's taste. LISTENING ANALYTICS See your play history, top artists, albums, and songs, most active listening hours, activity heatmaps, and listening streaks. Scrobbles queue locally when you're offline and sync automatically when you reconnect. Exclude specific albums or artists so one-off plays don't skew your stats. LIBRARY MANAGEMENT Browse by album, artist, or playlist. List and grid views with alphabetical quick-scroll for large libraries. 5-star ratings and favorites sync with your server. Create and manage playlists, reorder tracks, or save your current queue as a new playlist. PLAYBACK Background playback with full lock screen and notification controls. Adjustable playback speed, shuffle, and repeat. Share albums or playlists with configurable links. BEAUTIFUL & PRIVATE Light, dark, and system themes with custom accent colors. Album art color extraction for immersive detail views. No tracking, no analytics, no account required — your music stays between you and your server. OPEN SOURCE Substreamer is open source under the GPL-3.0 license. Browse the code, report issues, or contribute at github.com/ghenry22/substreamer.

About

Sonora

This app provides a smooth and native mobile interface for accessing and streaming your self-hosted music library. Browse artists, albums, and playlists with a fast search and enjoy your personal collection anywhere.

Highlights
  • Browse artists, albums, songs, and playlists
  • Fast and clean interface
  • Search personal music collection
  • Stream music on the go
  • Native iPhone experience
Features
Read full description

Sonora is a polished Navidrome client for iPhone that brings your self-hosted music library anywhere. Browse artists, albums, songs, and playlists with a fast, clean interface built for everyday listening.  Search your collection in seconds, stream your personal library on the go, and enjoy a music experience designed to feel simple, smooth, and native on iPhone. Sonora is built for self-hosted music lovers who want their own library without giving up a great mobile experience. Your music. Your server. Your way.

Screenshots

SubStreamer4 screens
Sonora4 screens

Verdict

The call

SubStreamer and Sonora both sit at 4.0 stars, but that hides the real split: 100% of Sonora's written reviews are positive against 72% of SubStreamer's. SubStreamer's advantage is ratings volume (141 vs 4). On price, rating, update cadence and ads 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

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

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.0 for SubStreamer against 4.0 for Sonora. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: SubStreamer has 141 ratings behind it against 4, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 72% of SubStreamer's written reviews are positive against 100% of Sonora's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 10, 2026 and October 5, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
SubStreamer versus Sonora: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSubStreamerSonora
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.0 (141 ratings)4.0 (4 ratings)
Positive reviews72.2% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings141 — better4
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeksEvery 2 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPad — betteriPhone
Requires iOS16.4 — better17.6
Further details — not scored
Size55 MB6 MB
Age rating+44+
DeveloperGaven HenryGRANT JAMES MADISON

Customer experience

SubStreamer

All ratings141 ratings
Positive73.8%
Neutral10.6%
Negative15.6%
Written reviews205 reviews
Positive72.2%
Neutral10.2%
Negative17.6%

Sonora

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

SubStreamer

Reported bugs

18 issues
  • 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
Show 13 more
  • AirPlay to Apple TV doesn't work
  • Time display incorrect for songs over 1 hour
  • Metadata loads too frequently, causing lag
  • App freezes when pulling down menu on player screen
  • Radio tab causes app freeze
  • Occasional non-responsive behavior
  • Crashes when switching between songs on cellular
  • Image optimization never completes on large libraries
  • Duplicate songs appear in multi-disc albums
  • Offline folder structure doesn't match server
  • Bluetooth playback sometimes plays two songs simultaneously
  • SSL support issues in older versions
  • Slow metadata loading from server

Requested features

18 requests
  • 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
Show 13 more
  • Replay gain support
  • Smart playlists for yearly recaps
  • Batch download for offline music
  • Display codec and bitrate information
  • Better shuffle/random playback options
  • Improved pull-down gesture for minimizing player
  • Unified offline music view with filters
  • Song sorting options in playlists
  • Album art display in more views
  • Radio station support visibility fix
  • Genre sorting capability
  • Lock screen playback controls
  • Queue clearing functionality

Sonora

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

SubStreamer

No in-app purchases

None

Sonora

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is SubStreamer free?
SubStreamer is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Sonora free?
Sonora is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, SubStreamer or Sonora?
SubStreamer and Sonora are both rated 4.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 141 and 4 ratings respectively.
Do SubStreamer or Sonora have ads?
Neither SubStreamer nor Sonora shows ads.
Which is updated more often, SubStreamer or Sonora?
SubStreamer ships an update every 2 weeks, and Sonora every 2 weeks. Most recently, SubStreamer was updated on October 10, 2026 and Sonora on October 5, 2026.

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