Comparison

SubStreamer vs Play2Glow

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

Play2Glow

Features
Read full description

Play2Glow is a guitar practice app from ToneBEYOND. It supports everyday practice with a tuner, practice recording, and stage-style rehearsal for getting used to playing in front of listeners. What you can do: - Support guitar tuning - Record practice takes - Practice with a warm virtual audience - Try AR-style stage presence when available PITCH appears as a visual practice companion, but Play2Glow does not score, rank, or grade your performance. Use it as a small, supportive practice space for preparing your sound and building confidence before playing for others.

Screenshots

SubStreamer4 screens
Play2Glow4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Play2Glow at every 2 days against SubStreamer's every 2 weeks. On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support 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.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

SubStreamer ships an update every 2 weeks, Play2Glow every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on September 27, 2026 and September 18, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard1 real difference · 9 level
SubStreamer versus Play2Glow: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSubStreamerPlay2Glow
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.0 (131 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews72.4% of reviews—
Number of ratings131 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeksEvery 2 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS16.4 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size54 MB6 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperGaven HenryTomonori Kowatari

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

Play2Glow

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

SubStreamer

No in-app purchases

None

Play2Glow

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is SubStreamer free?
SubStreamer is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Play2Glow free?
Play2Glow is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do SubStreamer or Play2Glow have ads?
Neither SubStreamer nor Play2Glow shows ads.
Which is updated more often, SubStreamer or Play2Glow?
SubStreamer ships an update every 2 weeks, and Play2Glow every 2 days. Most recently, SubStreamer was updated on September 27, 2026 and Play2Glow on September 18, 2026.

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