Comparison

PlayingAlbums vs Drift

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

Head to head
About

PlayingAlbums

This app shuffles songs within playlists by album, allowing you to listen to entire albums sequentially. It integrates with Apple Music and iTunes Match, and playlists can be shared across devices. Users can choose to use the standard Music app player or a separate mode.

Highlights
  • Shuffle songs by album
  • Integrates with Apple Music/iTunes Match
  • Cross-device playlist sharing via iCloud
  • Option to use standard Music app player
  • Separate player mode available
  • Supports multi-disc albums
Read full description

If you love music albums, you will listen to an album, then another album, then another...... All your songs or songs in the selected playlist will be shuffled by album. Songs in the selected playlist will play on devices that use iTunes Match or Apple Music, even if they are not downloaded on the device, as long as they are online. Playlists shuffled by albums can be shared with your own devices via iCloud. If you do not use either iTunes Match or Apple Music, the order of songs will be synchronized as long as playlists are synchronized between your devices. If you are a user of PlayingAlbums for macOS, you will share its settings for PlayingAlbums for iPhone. You may not want to listen to songs serially of an album with multiple discs. Disc 2 is sometimes completely different from disc 1. By default, the playing information (playback counts, etc.) will be integrated since PlayingAlbums uses the same player as the standard “Music” app. If you would not like to integrate the information, a new mode has been implemented that does not use the same player as the standard “Music” app. The application does not include any songs or other content; you must first create a playlist, either by importing from a CD or by using a subscription such as Apple Music. The screen shots shows a playlist created by subscribing to an album from Apple Music.

About

Drift

This app transforms your music library into a dynamic, animated wall of album artwork. Explore your music and discover new releases with a visually engaging interface that responds to your touch and device orientation.

Highlights
  • Animated album artwork walls
  • Horizontal shelf browsing
  • Library, artist, and album navigation
  • Personalized music discovery
  • Adjustable animation speed
  • Mini-player with controls
Features
Read full description

Your music, in motion. Drift is a visual player for Apple Music that transforms your library and music discovery into an animated wall of album artwork. Tap a cover to play, watch rows drift in alternating directions, or rotate your iPhone to browse a tactile horizontal shelf. EXPLORE YOUR LIBRARY Move between playlists, artists, and albums, then choose the collection you want without leaving the wall. DISCOVER SOMETHING NEW Browse personalized picks, new releases, and song charts from the Apple Music catalog. A PLAYER BUILT AROUND COVER ART • Seamless animated cover walls • Smooth landscape shelf with natural momentum • Original-order and shuffle playback • Focused or always-visible song titles • Adjustable wall speed • Mini-player with play, pause, previous, next, and swipe-to-skip controls • Local artwork and metadata caching for faster return visits Drift requires Apple Music authorization and an active Apple Music subscription for library access, catalog discovery, artwork, and full-song playback. Content availability may vary by country or region. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://oaky.ltd/drift/privacy/

Screenshots

PlayingAlbums2 screens
Drift4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Drift at Free against PlayingAlbums's $0.99. Drift also leads on update cadence (every 2 months vs every 9 months). PlayingAlbums's advantage is device support (3 vs 1). On ads, in-app purchases and iOS requirement 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

Drift is free to download; PlayingAlbums costs $0.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

PlayingAlbums ships an update every 9 months, Drift every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on November 2, 2026 and November 6, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
PlayingAlbums versus Drift: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPlayingAlbumsDrift
Price$0.99Free — better
Rating—5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews0.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings—1 — better
Update frequencyEvery 9 monthsEvery 2 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac — betteriPhone
Requires iOS17.617.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size6 MB2 MB
Age rating4+12+
DeveloperYuki Kuroki一晟 沈

Customer experience

PlayingAlbums

Written reviews1 reviews
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%

Drift

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

PlayingAlbums

No in-app purchases

None

Drift

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is PlayingAlbums free?
PlayingAlbums costs $0.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Drift free?
Drift is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do PlayingAlbums or Drift have ads?
Neither PlayingAlbums nor Drift shows ads.
Which is updated more often, PlayingAlbums or Drift?
PlayingAlbums ships an update every 9 months, and Drift every 2 months. Most recently, PlayingAlbums was updated on November 2, 2026 and Drift on November 6, 2026.

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