Radio Unit vs Sitala
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Radio Unit
Stream over 35,000 internet radio stations with this app. Enhance your audio experience by using it as an AUv3 plugin with other compatible music apps. Discover new music and save your favorites.
- Access 35,000+ radio stations
- Enhance audio with AUv3 plugins
- Intuitive interface
- Song discovery and saving
- Favorites sync across devices
- MIDI control for AUv3 plugin
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Discover a world of music with Radio Unit, a sleek and powerful Internet radio player with a built-in Audio Unit (AUv3) plugin. Elevate your listening experience by enhancing streaming audio in real time using your favorite third-party audio processing plugins (not included) within AUv3-compatible hosts like Drambo or GarageBand. Features: • Intuitive Interface: Enjoy a clean, user-friendly design for effortless navigation. • Song Discovery: Tap to add the currently playing song to your favorites, then open it in the Apple Music app or search for it on Google. • Massive Station Library: Access over 35,000 radio stations—search by name, browse by genre or location, and sort by popularity. • Favorites Sync: Save stations and songs to your favorites list, seamlessly synced across your devices. • AUv3 Integration: Use Radio Unit as a standalone app or as an AUv3 plugin in hosts like Drambo, GarageBand, and more, with support for multiple plugin instances. • MIDI Mapping: Control buttons can be triggered by MIDI Note events (C3 to F3). (AUv3 only) • Battery Efficient: Stream music without draining your device. The app requires internet connection.
Sitala
This app is a versatile drum sampler for music creators, allowing you to add percussion sounds to various music software or use it standalone for finger drumming. It features 16 pads, a sample browser, and tools to sculpt your sounds.
- 16 velocity-sensitive drum pads
- Sample browser with folder swiping
- Automatic drum loop slicing
- AudioUnit v3 plugin support
- Editable sample start/end points
- Sample shaping and tone controls
- Multi-output support
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Sitala is a drum sampler for music creators that can add percussion sounds to Garage Band, Cubasis, AUM or any music software that supports Apple's AudioUnits. It can also be used on its own for finger-drumming or driven by a controller like a keyboard or drum pad. It has 16 slots that start off with our factory kits, but you can load your own sounds using our sample browser or drop in a drum loop and have Sitala slice it automatically. Sitala features: • 16 drum pads, each of which can play a user-assigned sample • Sample browser that lets you quickly swipe through all samples in a folder without importing each individual sample • 3 built-in drum kits: 808, retro and hip-hop • AudioUnit v3 plugin • Beat-slicer that automatically slices loops into individual drum sounds • Velocity sensitive, MIDI mappable pads • Special finger drumming mode with 4 giant pads for often used samples • Editable start and end points for each sample • A separate output for each pad (in multi-out mode) for hosts that support such (e.g. AUM and Cubasis) • Sitala for iOS can load kits created by Sitala for the desktop (macOS, Windows and Linux) and vice versa Six controls to sculpt each sample: • Shape: adjust the attack, length and sustain of your sounds while the overall volume remains constant • Compression: make your sounds punchier with more sustain Automatic gain makeup maintains the overall volume while chainging dynamics • Tuning: pitch sounds up or down by up to one octave while showing you exactly where the current sound falls in the frequency spectrum • Tone: emphasizes the highs or lows in a sound. Accentuate or scoop the midrange to position the sound in the mix. Adapts based on the pitch content of each sound • Volume • Pan
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Sitala at 4.8 against Radio Unit's 4.6. Radio Unit's advantage is price ($6.99 vs $9.99). On review sentiment, 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
Radio Unit costs $6.99 and Sitala $9.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Sitala holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.6. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 59 and 57 respectively. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 81% and 81% positive.
Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 15, 2026 and October 16, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Radio Unit | Sitala |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $6.99 — better | $9.99 |
| Rating | 4.6 (59 ratings) | 4.8 (57 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 81.5% of reviews — better | 80.6% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 59 — better | 57 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Every 2 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free — better | Paid |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — better | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.6 | 14 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 2 MB | 28 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | BeepStreet | Decomposer |
Customer experience
Radio Unit
Sitala
Bugs and requests
Radio Unit
Reported bugs
17 issues- Cannot remove recognized songs
- Cannot remove favorite saved songs (Mac)
- Last update ruined experience with loading times and connection issues
- Sadé channel frequently disconnects
- Some stations don’t connect at all
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- Cannot see song title/artist
- Seamless integration with GarageBand and Logic Pro doesn't work
- Cannot change station with MIDI, LFOs etc. after update
- Cubasis 3 can’t find app
- BBC streams no longer play
- Cannot edit user slots after adding of link
- Links not working
- Cannot add user slots ('see the developer to unlock slots')
- Adding stations near impossible
- Failed URL slot flashes red and is inaccessible
- Cannot paste other URLs
- Cannot record and sample the feed into DAW
Requested features
13 requests- Option to remove or filter hostile nations
- Add more stations (Golha radio, IRIB radio)
- Ability to organize, tag, and edit stream specifications
- Ability to use with CarPlay
- Pitch slider within the app to slow down radio in real time
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- More user presets/slots
- iCloud sync for recently played stations and discovered pieces
- Ability to change station with MIDI, LFOs etc. (post-update issue)
- More exposed parameters for tweaking
- Greater resources for slots (folders/sections)
- Import/export presets list
- Assign MIDI CC to volume knob and channel switch buttons
- Support for streams in OGG container format
Sitala
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Radio Unit
No in-app purchases
Sitala
No in-app purchases









