Roon vs BluRemote
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Roon
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.
- 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
Read full descriptionHide full description
*** The Roon experience requires a Roon Server on your network. *** The Roon App is another controller for your Roon Server. You browse and play your music library on over 1,000 compatible audio devices, and provides a seamless in-home connection. You can install the free Roon App on as many devices as you like. What is Roon? The very best way to experience your music: Roon reshapes the way you browse and explore music. Powered by rich metadata, Roon's interface invites you on a new journey of musical discovery every time you log in. Your music library becomes the starting point on a vast map of performers, composers, influences, and genres. Follow the path emanating from the music you love to discover exciting new sounds and reconnect with long-forgotten favorites. You can delve even deeper through lyrics, artist photos, bios, reviews, and tour dates - then continue the journey with recommendations specifically tailored to your tastes and listening habits. Listen anywhere, on all your gear: Roon lets you play from your collection of music files and TIDAL, Qobuz, and KKBOX libraries on thousands of Roon Ready, Airplay, Chromecast, and USB devices from one app inside your home. Meanwhile, Roon ARC provides access, playback, and precision audio control for your entire Roon music library directly from your phone, wherever you are in the world. Flawless playback. Everywhere, every time: Roon is built to ensure your music sounds perfect every time you hit play, no matter where you are. Roon guarantees the best possible sound quality from every piece of audio gear - our MUSE sound engine delivers bit-perfect playback, exhaustive format support, and precision audio control for a fully customizable and flawless listening experience. From headphones to your home hi-fi, and everything in between.
BluRemote
Control your BluOS-enabled music players with a faster, cleaner interface. Enjoy immediate access to presets, playlists, and playback controls, with interactive widgets and Siri command support for seamless automation.
- BluOS player control
- Preset and playlist access
- Playback and volume control
- Interactive widgets
- Siri commands and automation
- Landscape support
Read full descriptionHide full description
BluRemote is a quick and easy-to-use controller for BluOS-based music players – compatible with Bluesound, NAD, DALI and other brands! It is an alternative to the official BluOS controller app, providing better usability, native app performance and several nice integrations into the Apple ecosystem. Features: - Quickly access all presets - Browse radio stations - Switch audio sources - Playback and volume control - Player search and grouping - Fast player switching - Now playing and play queue - Interactive widgets - Shortcuts and automation Next features on the roadmap: - Browse your local music library - Browse music streaming services The app plays nicely with your iPhone and iPad: - Portrait and landscape orientation - Dark and light appearance - Dynamic text size - Home Screen, Lock Screen and StandBy widgets - App Shortcuts and Siri commands Your purchase includes the app for iPhone, iPad und Mac. No ads, no tracking, no subscriptions, no nonsense. Buy once – get all upcoming features for free and use it on all your devices. Made in Berlin, Germany – by an independent developer. By buying this app, you support the independent app development. Thank you! Terms: https://goeldner.ch/terms Privacy: https://goeldner.ch/privacy Support: https://goeldner.ch/support Please note that the initial setup of your player, OS-updates and other settings still have to be done using the official BluOS Controller app. BluOS is a trademark of Lenbrook Industries Limited, a member of the Lenbrook Group of Companies. The BluRemote app uses the "BluOS Custom Integration API" according to the "API Use Policy" of Lenbrook Industries Limited, but is not endorsed or certified by Lenbrook Industries Limited.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Roon at Free against BluRemote's $3.99. Roon also leads on ratings volume (556 vs 18) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 18.4). BluRemote's advantage is review sentiment (47% vs 33%) and chart position (#180 vs unranked). On rating, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases 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
Roon is free to download; BluRemote costs $3.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 3.6 for Roon against 3.7 for BluRemote. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Roon has 556 ratings behind it against 18, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 33% of Roon's written reviews are positive against 47% of BluRemote's.
Roon ships an update every 3 weeks, BluRemote every 5 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 24, 2026 and September 26, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Roon | BluRemote |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — better | $3.99 |
| Rating | 3.6 (556 ratings) | 3.7 (18 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 32.6% of reviews | 46.9% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 556 — better | 18 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks — better | Every 5 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free — better | Paid |
| Best chart rank | — | #180 — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, Mac |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 — better | 18.4 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 616 MB | 13 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Roon Labs | Christoph Goldner |
Customer experience
Roon
BluRemote
Bugs and requests
Roon
Reported bugs
4 issues- App crashes on search
- Audio devices disappearing
- Volume issues after updates
- Inability to find Roon core
Requested features
5 requests- Dark mode option
- Offline music playback
- Better Tidal/Spotify integration
- Improved metadata editing
- Apple Watch support
BluRemote
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Roon
No in-app purchases
BluRemote
No in-app purchases








