# Roon vs HiByMusic

The clearest difference is update cadence: Roon at every 3 weeks against HiByMusic's every 3 months. Roon also leads on rating (3.6 vs 3.4) and ratings volume (556 vs 140). HiByMusic's advantage is review sentiment (42% vs 33%) and iOS requirement (12.0 vs 15.0). 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.

Roon holds the better App Store score, 3.6 against 3.4. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 556 and 140 respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 33% of Roon's written reviews are positive against 42% of HiByMusic's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

Roon ships an update every 3 weeks, HiByMusic every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on October 20, 2026 and October 19, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Roon | HiByMusic |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | **[3.6 (556 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/roon/id1014764083/reviews)** | [3.4 (140 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/hibymusic/id1048838844/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | **556** | 140 |
| Positive reviews | 32.6% of reviews | **42.0% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | **Every 3 weeks** | Every 3 months |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Size | 616 MB | 48 MB |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | **12.0** |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Roon Labs](https://appshunter.io/developer/1014764082) | [Dongguan Hiby Music Technology Co., Ltd.](https://appshunter.io/developer/1048838843) |

## What reviewers say

### Roon

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/roon/id1014764083)

This app serves as a controller for a Roon Server, enabling users to browse and play their music library. It offers a rich metadata-driven interface for musical discovery, connecting to over 1,000 compatible audio devices for seamless playback.

**Highlights:** Music library browsing and playback, Rich metadata for musical discovery, Connects to 1,000+ audio devices, Seamless in-home audio connection, Access music library remotely via Roon ARC, Bit-perfect playback and format support

**Features:** Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none

**What reviewers like**

- 🚀 Great when it works
- 🎨 Fantastic app
- 🎧 Best way to experience music
- 🤖 Powerful music management
- 🔍 Excellent music discovery

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Crashes frequently
- 🔌 Unstable connection
- 🕰️ Slow performance
- 🤯 Confusing interface
- 🚫 Lack of accessibility

**Reported bugs**

- App crashes on search
- Audio devices disappearing
- Volume issues after updates
- Inability to find Roon core

**Requested features**

- Dark mode option
- Offline music playback
- Better Tidal/Spotify integration
- Improved metadata editing
- Apple Watch support


### HiByMusic

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/hibymusic/id1048838844)

A free, high-fidelity audio player for audiophiles and music lovers. It supports a wide range of lossless and lossy formats, offering high-precision decoding and advanced audio features for a premium listening experience.

**Highlights:** Wide lossless/lossy audio format support, CUE sheets and ISO image support, High precision decoding (32-bit output, 64-bit float), External USB DAC support, Gapless playback, 10 band graphic EQ, MSEB support

**In-app purchases:** none

**What reviewers like**

- 🎵 Excellent hi-res audio support (DSD, FLAC, WAV, APE)
- 🆓 Free app without ads or hidden fees
- 🎨 Clean and intuitive user interface
- 🔗 HibyLink functionality for controlling compatible devices
- ⚙️ Effective equalizer and DSP effects

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Frequent crashes and stability issues
- 📱 Poor iOS optimization compared to Android version
- 🔌 Unreliable Bluetooth and WiFi connectivity
- 🎯 Clunky and unintuitive user experience
- 🚫 CarPlay support removed in recent updates

**Reported bugs**

- App crashes during music library scanning (around 3,000 files)
- HibyLink connection drops repeatedly
- Music playback stops when app is backgrounded
- Rewind button behavior inconsistent (goes to previous song instead of replaying)
- Album shuffle mixing with existing playlist songs

**Requested features**

- Manual playlist reordering
- ID3 tag editing capability
- Folder-based music library scanning
- Album artist sorting (not just track artist)
- Album favorites/bookmarking


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Roon free?

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

### Is HiByMusic free?

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

### Which has better reviews, Roon or HiByMusic?

Roon is rated higher. Roon averages 3.6 out of 5 from 556 ratings, while HiByMusic averages 3.4 from 140 ratings.

### Do Roon or HiByMusic have ads?

Neither Roon nor HiByMusic shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Roon or HiByMusic?

Roon ships an update every 3 weeks, and HiByMusic every 3 months. Most recently, Roon was updated on October 20, 2026 and HiByMusic on October 19, 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.*