Comparison

Rigelian vs rooWatch

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

Head to head
About

Rigelian

Control your music library on MPD, OpenHome, or Kodi-based players with a modern interface on your iPhone or iPad. Effortlessly browse, search, and manage your music, playlists, and radio stations.

Highlights
  • Browse music by Artist, Album, Genre, Folder
  • Qobuz integration for select players
  • Thousands of radio stations
  • Playlist creation and editing
  • Cue file support
  • Powerful search and queue management
  • Automatic player detection
Features
Read full description

Rigelian turns your iPhone and iPad into a refined, powerful controller for music players based on OpenHome (BubbleUPnP & upmpcli) and MPD (MPD, moOde, Volumio, Bryston, Chord Poly). Built specifically for iOS, it combines speed, clarity, and precision in a clean, modern interface designed for serious music lovers. Browse your collection effortlessly by artist, album, genre, folder, composer, or performer (MPD), and find anything instantly with fast, responsive search across your entire library. Create and manage playlists, control your play queue exactly the way you want, jump directly from the queue to related albums or artists, and quickly access recently added music or rediscover your collection with random playback. Rigelian integrates seamlessly with Qobuz on BubbleUPnP and upmpdcli players, gives you access to thousands of radio stations via radio-browser.info for MPD and displays track quality during playback and browsing. It automatically discovers compatible players on your network — including Bryston, Volumio, Rune, moOde, and standard MPD — and makes switching between them effortless. Enjoy high-quality album artwork, artist biographies and related artists. Subscription information The free version of Rigelian for iOS lets you add items to your playlist up-to 10 times per month. For unlimited access monthly and annual options are available, both including a 2-week free trial. A single subscription will work on all your devices, for all your family members. Cancel anytime during the trial period and you will not be charged. Payment is charged to your App Store account after the trial ends. Subscriptions renew automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. You can manage or cancel your subscription in your App Store account settings. Terms of Service https://www.rigelian.net/terms-of-service/ Privacy Policy https://www.rigelian.net/privacy/

About

rooWatch

Control your Roon music server directly from your Apple Watch. Browse playlists, control playback, adjust volume with the digital crown, and even use Siri for hands-free commands. It works independently of your iPhone or iPad.

Highlights
  • Full cover art display
  • Independent operation (no iPhone/iPad needed)
  • Digital crown volume control
  • Siri integration for playback and search
  • Browse playlists and library
  • Zone selection and control
  • Shuffle and repeat mode management
Features
Read full description

rooWatch is part of rooExtend, an extension platform and software for the Roon music server based on Raspberry Pi. rooWatch offers: - Full cover art with track and artist name - Always works: The Roon app does not need to run on iPhone or iPad - Use the digital crown to control the volume - Play/Pause music (tap screen) - Swipe ot next and previous track (swipe left/right) - Seek by tapping on the seek bar - Use Siri to control playback, play songs, artists, bands and albums, playlists and radio stations - Use Siri to search the Roon library - Browse Roon playlist and select tracks (swipe up) - Use Siri to search your library and select albums/artists/songs - Browse Roon, i.e. radio stations, playlists, library etc. (double tap) - Select and control different zones on Apple Watch (swipe down) - Full Roon zone control, including the transfer music to other zones (actions menu using long tap) - Enable shuffle and repeat modes (actions menu using long tap) - Shutdown playback devices (actions menu using long tap)

Screenshots

Rigelian4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Rigelian at 4.2 against rooWatch's 3.4. Rigelian also leads on ratings volume (33 vs 5) and review sentiment (76% vs 67%). rooWatch's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 2) and iOS requirement (15.6 vs 18.0). On price, update cadence, ads 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Rigelian sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $0.69 per month. rooWatch asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Rigelian holds the better App Store score, 4.2 against 3.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Rigelian has 33 ratings behind it against 5, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 76% of Rigelian's written reviews are positive against 67% of rooWatch's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Rigelian ships an update every 6 weeks, rooWatch monthly. The most recent releases landed on September 23, 2026 and August 13, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Rigelian versus rooWatch: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterRigelianrooWatch
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.2 (33 ratings) — better3.4 (5 ratings)
Positive reviews75.8% of reviews — better66.7% of reviews
Number of ratings33 — better5
Update frequencyEvery 6 weeksMonthly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationSubscriptionFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch — betteriPhone, iPod, Apple Watch
Requires iOS18.015.6 — better
Further details — not scored
Size61 MB4 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperLcw KremersAngisoft

Customer experience

Rigelian

All ratings33 ratings
Positive78.8%
Neutral6.1%
Negative15.2%
Written reviews62 reviews
Positive75.8%
Neutral4.8%
Negative19.4%

rooWatch

All ratings5 ratings
Positive60.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative40.0%
Written reviews3 reviews
Positive66.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative33.3%

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Rigelian

Subscriptions2
  • 1 Month Access - Auto Renew14 Days trial$0.691 Month
  • 1 Year Access - Auto Renew14 Days trial$4.291 Year
None

rooWatch

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Rigelian free?
Rigelian is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is rooWatch free?
rooWatch is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Rigelian or rooWatch?
Rigelian is rated higher. Rigelian averages 4.2 out of 5 from 33 ratings, while rooWatch averages 3.4 from 5 ratings.
Do Rigelian or rooWatch have ads?
Neither Rigelian nor rooWatch shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Rigelian or rooWatch?
Rigelian ships an update every 6 weeks, and rooWatch monthly. Most recently, Rigelian was updated on September 23, 2026 and rooWatch on August 13, 2026.

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