Comparison

CruiseCompanion Media Player vs Aether Player

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

Head to head
About

CruiseCompanion Media Player

Stream Hollywood movies and TV shows directly to your device while on a cruise. This media player requires connection to the CruiseCompanion Platform for secure, DRM-protected content delivery.

Highlights
  • Hollywood movies and TV shows
  • DRM protected content
  • Secure content delivery
  • Guest experience platform
  • Onboard ship use only
Features
Read full description

The CruiseCompanion Media Player is part of the innovative and most advanced guest experience platform for the cruise industry bringing your guests the latest Hollywood movies and TV shows, anywhere in the world. This Media Player is used in conjunction with the CruiseCompanion Platform, which connects to provide DRM protected content securely. The CruiseCompanion Media Player can only be used on board of selected ships offering the unique CruiseCompanion experience. Please contact Getslash for more information.

About

Aether Player

This media player aggregates content from Plex, Jellyfin, Emby, and local files into a unified library. It supports a wide range of formats and offers features like offline downloads, user profiles, and advanced subtitle management.

Highlights
  • Unified library from multiple sources
  • Supports various media formats (MKV, HEVC, HDR)
  • Offline downloads and Smart Downloads
  • User profiles with age restrictions
  • Advanced subtitle customization and search
  • Music playback with offline catalog
  • Live TV support with custom guides
Features
Read full description

Aether is a personal media player for Plex, Jellyfin, Emby and your own files — built natively for every Apple screen. Connect your server and your whole library appears: movies, shows, music, Continue Watching, Recently Added. Add a second server and both merge into one deduplicated view, with a picker that tells you which copy is the better file. Your media, not theirs. PLAY ANYTHING • Direct play or server-transcoded — Aether follows the best path automatically, per title. • MKV, HEVC, HDR, lossless audio: formats other players choke on play through a modern engine, GPU-accelerated for smooth 4K. • Picture in Picture, AirPlay, surround sound, lock-screen controls. • Switch audio and subtitle tracks mid-playback on every platform. • Offline downloads, including whole seasons — and Smart Downloads that keep the next unwatched episodes ready. EVERYONE IN THE HOUSE • Profiles: separate Continue Watching, watchlist, ratings, Home rails and trackers, with a PIN on the way in and per-profile library visibility. • A child's profile can be held to an age rating. • Pair a profile to your Plex Home profile, or to its own Jellyfin or Emby user, so watched state stays separate on the server too. • Two profiles are included; up to five with Supporter. SUBTITLES, DONE PROPERLY • Aether reads subtitle files itself and times them against the picture, so they sit where you put them — in the black bars or over the video, in your own style, with sync and size adjustable in the player. • Search OpenSubtitles from a title's own page in thirty-one languages, ranked against the exact file you're playing. YOUR LIBRARY, YOUR WAY • One library across every connected source, filtered by genre, year, rating, country, audio language, server or the libraries you curated on them. • Continue Watching, Up Next and a Discover tab with trending titles and Where to Watch availability in your region. • Person pages, franchise collections, and ratings from IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes, Metacritic and TMDb. • Music as its own tab — artists, albums, playlists, and a player built for it, with the catalog kept on disk so it opens offline. • Live TV from a playlist you already have, with a full guide, categories you make yourself, Xtream Codes accounts and HDHomeRun tuners. Bring-your-own: Aether provides no channels. BEAUTIFUL ON EVERY SCREEN • iPhone and iPad: cinematic hero art, a page that grows out of the poster you tapped. • Apple TV: precision focus design, and your Continue Watching in the top shelf. • Apple Vision Pro: an auditorium around the picture — raked seating, masking walls, house lights down. • Mac: a native app with a menu-bar mode, a series browser, and Apple's own decoder for what it can play. PRIVATE BY DESIGN Aether connects only to the servers you configure. No account of ours, no cloud, no ads, no cross-app tracking. Your ratings, watchlist and resume positions live on your devices and in your own iCloud. Optional anonymous usage statistics can be turned off any time. SOURCES • Plex (multi-server, multi-account) • Jellyfin (multi-server) • Emby (multi-server, Live TV, music) • Silo • SMB / network shares, with Bonjour discovery • WebDAV • Local files Optional, all bring-your-own: connect your own Seerr to request what you don't have, your own Trakt or Simkl account to track what you watch, and your own OpenSubtitles account for subtitle search. Aether requires a Plex, Jellyfin, Emby or Silo media server, an SMB or WebDAV share, or local video files. It is not a streaming service and does not provide any content. Plex, Jellyfin, Emby, Silo, Trakt, Simkl and OpenSubtitles are trademarks of their respective owners. Aether is an independent, third-party client and is not affiliated with, sponsored or endorsed by them. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://aetherplayer.com/privacy

Screenshots

CruiseCompanion Media Player2 screens
Aether Player4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: CruiseCompanion Media Player at 2.5 against Aether Player's 2.0. CruiseCompanion Media Player also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 6) and iOS requirement (15.6 vs 26.0). Aether Player's advantage is update cadence (weekly vs every 22 months) and device support (5 vs 3). On price, ratings volume 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. Aether Player sells 6 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month. CruiseCompanion Media Player asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

CruiseCompanion Media Player holds the better App Store score, 2.5 against 2.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 2 and 3 respectively.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

CruiseCompanion Media Player ships an update every 22 months, Aether Player weekly. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and November 5, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
CruiseCompanion Media Player versus Aether Player: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCruiseCompanion Media PlayerAether Player
PriceFreeFree
Rating2.5 (2 ratings) — better2.0 (3 ratings)
Positive reviews—50.0% of reviews
Number of ratings23 — better
Update frequencyEvery 22 monthsWeekly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, Vision Pro — better
Requires iOS15.6 — better26.0
Further details — not scored
Size27 MB160 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperGetslash GmbHVaclav Zmrhal

Customer experience

CruiseCompanion Media Player

All ratings2 ratings
Positive50.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative50.0%

Aether Player

All ratings3 ratings
Positive33.3%
Neutral0.0%
Negative66.7%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive50.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative50.0%

In-app purchases

None

CruiseCompanion Media Player

No in-app purchases

6 purchases

Aether Player

Subscriptions2
  • Supporter (Monthly)14 Days trial$0.991 Month
  • Supporter (Yearly)14 Days trial$9.991 Year
One-time4
  • Small Tip$0.99
  • Medium Tip$4.99
  • Large Tip$9.99
Show 1 more
  • Aether Lifetime$39.99

Questions

Is CruiseCompanion Media Player free?
CruiseCompanion Media Player is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Aether Player free?
Aether Player is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, CruiseCompanion Media Player or Aether Player?
CruiseCompanion Media Player is rated higher. CruiseCompanion Media Player averages 2.5 out of 5 from 2 ratings, while Aether Player averages 2.0 from 3 ratings.
Do CruiseCompanion Media Player or Aether Player have ads?
Neither CruiseCompanion Media Player nor Aether Player shows ads.
Which is updated more often, CruiseCompanion Media Player or Aether Player?
CruiseCompanion Media Player ships an update every 22 months, and Aether Player weekly. Most recently, CruiseCompanion Media Player was updated on November 6, 2026 and Aether Player on November 5, 2026.

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