MP3 Folders vs MusicFolder 2
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
MP3 Folders
Organize and play your music library using a folder-based system. This app offers powerful playback controls, multiple file transfer options, and customizable display modes. Enjoy your audio without ads or tracking.
- Folder-based music navigation
- Powerful playback controls
- Multiple file transfer methods (WiFi, WebDAV, Files app)
- Customizable themes and display modes
- Background audio playback
- Lock screen and Control Center integration
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Play your music, your way. MP3 Folders is a folder-based music player that lets you organize and play audio files exactly how you want — no cloud, no subscription, no account required. FOLDER NAVIGATION Browse your music library organized in folders, just like on your computer. Navigate freely through your folder structure and play entire folders with one tap. POWERFUL PLAYBACK • Play, pause, skip, and seek with intuitive controls • Shuffle that mixes the playlist itself, so you always see what plays next • Repeat off / repeat one / repeat all • Playlist — see the play order at a glance and tap to jump to any song • Playback speed from 0.5x to 2x, per song • Hold forward to fast-seek at 3x speed • Hold rewind to seek backward smoothly • Album artwork display from file metadata TRANSFER FILES YOUR WAY • Files app — import from iCloud Drive, Dropbox, and more • iTunes / Finder file sharing CUSTOMIZABLE • Choose your theme color • Visualizer: a ring, or bars that move with the pitch of the music • Tapping a song plays just that song or the whole folder — your choice • 5 display modes for long filenames: auto shrink, truncate tail, truncate middle, scroll left, scroll left-right • Sort files by name (A-Z, Z-A) or default order PLAYS EVERYWHERE • Background audio — keeps playing when you leave the app • Lock screen and Control Center playback controls • Headphone and Bluetooth remote support SUPPORTED FORMATS MP3, M4A, AAC, FLAC, WAV, OGG, and more — any format recognized by iOS. No ads. No tracking. Just your music.
MusicFolder 2
A straightforward music player designed for users who organize their music by folders, not tags. It offers gapless playback, gesture controls, and simple library management via the Files app.
- Folder-based music library organization
- Gapless playback
- Gesture-based controls
- Interactive playlist search
- Smart folders
- WAV to AAC/ALAC conversion
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Simple, no-frills music player for "oldschool" users who have a music library based on a folder structure instead of tags / metadata. This app is SIMPLISTIC BY DESIGN and does NOT HAVE A LOT OF FEATURES! However, those features that it DOES have work GREAT! IMPORTANT: You cannot use MusicFolder to play music from the regular "Music" app. Instead, you use the iPhone's "Files" app to copy your folder-based music library from your computer (or anywhere else) into MusicFolder. - Supported file formats: mp3, mp4, m4a, aac, alac, wav, adts, ac3, aiff, aifc, caf, snd, au, sd2. - GAPLESS PLAYBACK for all file formats. - Straightforward playlist concept: the playlist always simply consists of all songs in the current folder and its subfolders. - Fast interactive PLAYLIST SEARCH. - Smart folders that show your most listened to or most recently played songs. - GESTURE-BASED CONTROL, no need to look at the screen: swipe up/down to shuffle, swipe left/right to skip, double-tap to play/stop, hold and slide up/down for volume control. - Interactive SCRUBBING through the current song with the realtime seek bar, including waveform preview. - Configurable behavior at the end of a song and on remote control events (headphones / Control Center): skip, shuffle, stop, repeat. - Simple music library transfer and management using the iPhone's Files app. - Optional AUTOMATIC CONVERSION of newly added WAV files to AAC (various quality levels available) or ALAC (Apple Lossless). - Full remote control support for headphones and Control Center. - Full AIRPLAY support. - Supports portrait and landscape orientation. - Selecting a photo from your photo library will auto-generate a theme based on the photo's color structure. IMPORTANT: The app is STRICTLY for FOLDER-BASED libraries and does NOT support ANY kind of tags, cover art, or other metadata inside files. However, for people keeping their music library organized in folders "the oldschool way" and seeking a simple, stable, gapless-capable, no-frills portable player, this app is a godsend! Let us know if you have any suggesions or issues via our support page!
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: MusicFolder 2 at 4.1 against MP3 Folders's 2.0. MusicFolder 2 also leads on review sentiment (65% vs 33%) and ratings volume (11 vs 2). MP3 Folders's advantage is update cadence (every 6 weeks vs every 5 months) and price ($0.99 vs $1.99). On ads, in-app purchases, monetization model 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
MP3 Folders costs $0.99 and MusicFolder 2 $1.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
MusicFolder 2 holds the better App Store score, 4.1 against 2.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: MusicFolder 2 has 11 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 33% of MP3 Folders's written reviews are positive against 65% of MusicFolder 2's.
MP3 Folders ships an update every 6 weeks, MusicFolder 2 every 5 months. Both last shipped on November 6, 2026.
| Parameter | MP3 Folders | MusicFolder 2 |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $0.99 — better | $1.99 |
| Rating | 2.0 (2 ratings) | 4.1 (11 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 33.3% of reviews | 65.4% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 2 | 11 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 6 weeks — better | Every 5 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Paid |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 18.5 | 16.6 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 47 MB | 2 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | hmhv | Alexander Ewering |
Customer experience
MP3 Folders
MusicFolder 2
In-app purchases
MP3 Folders
No in-app purchases
MusicFolder 2
No in-app purchases









