Comparison

Amarra Play vs JPLAY

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

Head to head
About

Amarra Play

Experience superior audio quality on your iOS device. Enjoy local music files and stream from Qobuz and TIDAL. Unlock advanced features like MQA decoding and customizable EQ with an in-app purchase or Amarra Luxe license.

Highlights
  • High-resolution audio playback
  • Qobuz and TIDAL streaming
  • MQA decoding (with purchase)
  • Customizable EQ
  • Support for FLAC, AIFF, WAV, and more
  • Remote control for Amarra Luxe
Features
Read full description

Amarra Play brings the highest quality playback to your IOS device. Now providing access to your Qobuz account and soon your TIDAL account, Amarra Play is the app that brings you the tools to get the music you love right at your fingertips. As a stand-alone app you'll enjoy: • A free version to get superior sound for your audio files copied to your mobile device including FLAC files as well as your local Apple Music library. Spice it all up with a set of powerful EQ presets. • Upgrade with the in-app purchase for MQA decoding, expand to a professional grade, customizable EQ and add access to your Qobuz and TIDAL accounts as well! When used with Amarra Luxe, unlock the following features: • Remote control of Amarra Luxe and Amarra sQ+ from Amarra Play. Relax, sit back and enjoy! • Use Amarra Play to play your music on your IOS device Download files to your IOS device (local files only) Stream files to your IOS device (local, Qobuz and TIDAL files) • Formats Supported MQA Decode up to 96 kHz (Amarra Luxe license required) AIFF, AIFC, MP3, ALAC, FLAC, WAV, AAC, DSD->PCM real-time conversion NOTE: Amarra Play must be running on same wireless network as computer. Visit www.sonicstudio.com to get your free 15 day free trial of Amarra Luxe

About

JPLAY

This app is a high-fidelity music player designed for audiophiles. It seamlessly integrates streaming services like Qobuz and Tidal with local music files, offering a unified interface for all your audio content. Experience superior sound quality and discover new music through its intuitive design and advanced features.

Highlights
  • Plays Qobuz, Tidal, and local music files
  • Works with most streamers and network DACs
  • HQPlayer Control API integration
  • Dramatically better sound quality
  • Radio feature for music discovery
  • Extended playlist management
  • Artist bios and album reviews
Features
Read full description

JPLAY is an award winning music playback app for audiophiles. It works instantly with nearly every streamer or network DAC on the market. It combines Qobuz, Tidal and local content in a single interface allowing user to access each library separately. Main features: • Beautiful, clean and easy to use app allowing you to play music on nearly all streamers/network DACs - no core needed! (UPnP AV/DLNA) • Plays from Qobuz, Tidal and files on local libraries • HQPlayer Control API – Seamlessly integrate and remotely control HQPlayer directly from JPLAY • Dramatically better sound quality thanks to minimizing network traffic • Radio feature discovers new music for you • Single library, individual library and folder views • Extended playlists management • Advanced search, sort, focus • Artists bios, album reviews etc • Highlighted audiophile formats • My Activity, My history keep your playback stats • Native iOS controls from locked screen • Sharing your favorite music on social media • And much, much more! JPLAY requires an active subscription to access its content and features. Sign up for a JPLAY subscription in the app. New users can enjoy a 14-day free trial period that will be automatically converted into a yearly subscription. Subscription is automatically renewed and charged on a yearly basis. You can cancel it at any time up until the day before renewal and you can at any time turn off the auto renewal.

Screenshots

Amarra Play4 screens
JPLAY4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: JPLAY at 4.2 against Amarra Play's 2.9. JPLAY also leads on review sentiment (59% vs 22%). Amarra Play's advantage is monetization model (free with in-app purchases vs subscription). On price, ratings volume, 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. Amarra Play sells 5 one-off in-app purchases and JPLAY sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $49.99 per year. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

JPLAY holds the better App Store score, 4.2 against 2.9. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 31 and 55 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 22% of Amarra Play's written reviews are positive against 59% of JPLAY's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 26, 2026 and October 25, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Amarra Play versus JPLAY: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterAmarra PlayJPLAY
PriceFreeFree
Rating2.9 (31 ratings)4.2 (55 ratings) — better
Positive reviews21.6% of reviews58.9% of reviews — better
Number of ratings3155 — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksEvery 3 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases — betterSubscription
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch — betteriPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS12.0 — better13.0
Further details — not scored
Size77 MB50 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSonic StudioMarcin Ostapowicz

Customer experience

Amarra Play

All ratings31 ratings
Positive45.2%
Neutral6.5%
Negative48.4%
Written reviews222 reviews
Positive21.6%
Neutral14.0%
Negative64.4%

JPLAY

All ratings52 ratings
Positive80.8%
Neutral5.8%
Negative13.5%
Written reviews190 reviews
Positive58.9%
Neutral6.3%
Negative34.7%

User reviews

Amarra Play

From 31 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🎧 Great sound quality
  • 🎶 Plays various file types (FLAC, DSD, MQA)
  • 🎚️ Useful EQ presets
  • 💻 Remote control capability (when working)
  • 🔊 Good with external DACs

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Frequent crashes
  • 🐌 Slow performance and loading
  • ❌ Unreliable remote connection
  • ❓ Poor UI/UX and navigation
  • 🚫 Lack of updates/abandoned app

JPLAY

From 55 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🎵 Superior sound quality compared to competitors
  • 👍 Intuitive and clean user interface
  • 🚀 Fast and responsive app performance
  • 🔌 Seamless UPnP/DLNA integration
  • 📱 Works without requiring a server

Room to improve

  • 💰 Expensive subscription pricing ($50/year, $199 lifetime)
  • ❌ No monthly subscription option available
  • 🐛 Frequent connectivity and playback issues
  • 📱 iOS-only application
  • 🔄 No cross-device synchronization

Bugs and requests

Amarra Play

Reported bugs

32 issues
  • App crashes on launch or during playback
  • Remote app doesn't pair or loses connection
  • Playback controls are unresponsive
  • Album art is missing or corrupted
  • MQA decoding is slow or outputs PCM
Show 27 more
  • Gapless playback not supported
  • App doesn't open on iPhone 15
  • Music files load very slowly or not at all
  • EQ distorts audio
  • Remote app loses connection frequently
  • App crashes when trying to use Tidal add-on
  • Music shows as 00:00
  • Remote app doesn't wake laptop from sleep
  • Remote app requires constant re-pairing
  • Desktop app crashes after scanning library
  • Remote app doesn't display album art
  • Remote app doesn't control music playback properly
  • Remote app is slow to respond
  • Remote app loses connection to computer
  • App stops after two songs
  • iTunes library sync issues
  • File sharing removes cover art
  • App crashes when adding more albums
  • Tidal add-on doesn't work
  • MQA not working on m12
  • Remote app doesn't pair after upgrade
  • Playlists don't show all tracks
  • No search index
  • EQ settings don't stick
  • User presets not accessible
  • Remote app doesn't open
  • App crashes when loading library

Requested features

13 requests
  • Add more equalizer settings from MacBook version
  • Timeline for updates
  • Ability to add more EQ presets
  • Improved album art handling
  • Fix gapless playback
Show 8 more
  • Native MQA output
  • Amazon Music EQ support
  • Improved UI/UX
  • Search functionality
  • Now Playing button in remote
  • Wake laptop from sleep via remote
  • Persistent login for remote
  • More sophisticated EQ with frequency, gain, and Q settings

JPLAY

Reported bugs

14 issues
  • Tracks fail to render or play from Tidal
  • App crashes on startup with older iOS versions
  • Playback stuttering and lag issues
  • Renderer in transition errors
  • Device discovery failures
Show 9 more
  • Missing cover art for local files
  • Playback gets stuck at end of songs
  • Random track order despite settings
  • Skips tracks mid-playback
  • Connection drops with certain streamers
  • Metadata not syncing properly
  • Album art not loading from Synology/Plex servers
  • Qobuz favorites import not working
  • Tidal playlist suggestions missing

Requested features

16 requests
  • Monthly subscription option
  • Cross-device synchronization for playlists and favorites
  • EQ and tone adjustment controls
  • DSD file playback support
  • Multi-room audio capability
Show 11 more
  • Apple Watch control support
  • AirPlay support
  • Android version
  • Gapless playback improvement
  • Family sharing support
  • Apple Music integration
  • Internet radio support
  • Volume control in player screen
  • Automatic iCloud backup between devices
  • WebDAV support
  • Better error messages for troubleshooting

In-app purchases

5 purchases

Amarra Play

One-time5
  • EQ support$2.99
  • Adds support for MQA decoding$3.99
  • TIDAL Streaming$4.99
Show 2 more
  • Qobuz streaming support$4.99
  • Adds Qobuz, TIDAL, MQA and EQ$12.99
3 purchases

JPLAY

Subscriptions1
  • JPLAY Premium14 Days trial$49.991 Year
One-time2
  • Lifetime$149.00
  • JPLAY Lifetime$199.00

Questions

Is Amarra Play free?
Amarra Play is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is JPLAY free?
JPLAY is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Amarra Play or JPLAY?
JPLAY is rated higher. Amarra Play averages 2.9 out of 5 from 31 ratings, while JPLAY averages 4.2 from 55 ratings.
Do Amarra Play or JPLAY have ads?
Neither Amarra Play nor JPLAY shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Amarra Play or JPLAY?
Amarra Play ships an update every 3 weeks, and JPLAY every 3 weeks. Most recently, Amarra Play was updated on October 26, 2026 and JPLAY on October 25, 2026.

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