DS audio vs ListenNow+
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
DS audio
Stream your music library from your Synology NAS to your iPhone or iPad. Enjoy offline playback, organize music by various criteria, create and share playlists, and even rate your tracks. It can also function as a remote control for streaming to home stereo speakers.
- Stream music from Synology NAS
- Offline music playback
- Browse by albums, artists, genres
- Create and share playlists
- Rate music tracks
- Remote control for home speakers
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**You must own a Synology NAS to run this app, and be running the Audio Station 6.5.0 package to get the complete set of features** DS audio allows you to stream music stored on your DiskStation with an iPhone/iPad wherever an Internet connection is available. Better yet, with the offline mode you can listen to songs stored in the device’s local memory for when no network connection is available. You can browse music by albums, artists, folders or genres, create your own playlists or share them with your friends, and even rate your music! And if you have dedicated stereo speakers at home, DS audio can also become a remote control to stream music to them. Find all detailed features about the app on our website: www.synology.com > NAS > DSM 7.1 > Apps > Mobile Apps > Software Specs https://www.synology.com/en-global/dsm/7.1/software_spec/video_station#affiliated_utility__ds_video_mobile__feature
ListenNow+
Stream music from Apple Music and access your personal media library via Subsonic or Navidrome. Enjoy features like crossfading, Siri integration, HomeKit lighting control, and lyrics display. Play music in your car with CarPlay and identify songs easily.
- Stream Apple Music library
- Connect to Subsonic/Navidrome servers
- Crossfading playback
- Siri integration
- HomeKit lighting control
- Singing lyrics display
- CarPlay support
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Listen to a huge selection of songs from Apple Music. Also connect to your Subsonic media server to easily access and play content from your personal library. •Play Apple Music library and recommendations. *1 •Connect to Subsonic/Navidrome media server to easily access and play content from your personal media library. •Enjoy a continuous listening experience with crossfading. *2 •Ask Siri to play songs. •Enable lighting control to work with lights in HomeKit for audio-visual feedback. *3 •Immerse yourself in your favorite music with an excellent singing lyrics experience and a beautiful user interface. *4 •Add a widget to your home screen to easily view the lyrics of the currently playing song. •Play music in your car with CarPlay App. •Easily identify music with music recognition without manual search. •Free and ad-free; no privacy data is collected. *1. You need to subscribe to Apple Music to play music from Apple Music. Apple Music availability and features vary by country, plan, or device. For more information, please refer to https://support.apple.com/en-us/118205. *2. Not all media supports audio crossfading. *3. Not all media supports lighting control. *4. Not all media have lyrics, which need to be provided in your Subsonic server.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: ListenNow+ at 82% against DS audio's 29%. ListenNow+ also leads on rating (4.0 vs 2.8). DS audio's advantage is ratings volume (206 vs 53) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 17.0). On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases 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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
ListenNow+ holds the better App Store score, 4.0 against 2.8. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 206 and 53 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 29% of DS audio's written reviews are positive against 82% of ListenNow+'s.
Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on October 8, 2026 and October 14, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | DS audio | ListenNow+ |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 2.8 (206 ratings) | 4.0 (53 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 29.1% of reviews | 81.5% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 206 — better | 53 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months | Every 3 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch — better | iPhone, iPad, Apple TV |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 — better | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 39 MB | 74 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 12+ |
| Developer | Synology Inc. | Shanghai Yanghe Culture Media Co., Ltd. |
Customer experience
DS audio
ListenNow+
User reviews
DS audio
From 206 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Streaming music from NAS
- 👍 Allows offline playback
- 💡 Integrates with home audio systems
- 👍 Provides access to entire music library
Room to improve
- 🐛 Frequent crashes and bugs
- 🐛 Unreliable connectivity and login issues
- 🐛 Inconsistent performance and skipping songs
- 🐛 Outdated and cluttered user interface
ListenNow+
From 53 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- ✨ Beautiful UI design
- 🌟 Smooth and fluid experience
- 🎵 Excellent Apple Music companion
- 🆓 Free to use
- 🎶 Great for self-hosted servers (Navidrome, Subsonic)
Room to improve
- 🐛 Frequent crashing issues
- 🐛 Songs not playing or skipping
- 🐛 Slow response times
- 🐛 Difficult to connect to Navidrome/Subsonic
- 🐛 Certificate invalid error
Bugs and requests
DS audio
Reported bugs
4 issues- App randomly closes or stops playing
- Fails to remember playback position
- Incompatible with latest iOS versions
- Issues with downloading and caching music
Requested features
5 requests- Add support for Dolby Atmos and surround sound
- Implement gapless playback
- Improve playlist management and editing
- Add search and sorting functionality
- Provide better integration with CarPlay and Chromecast
ListenNow+
Reported bugs
17 issues- App crashes on opening
- Cannot add content to library
- Songs don't play or skip
- Playback issues on Mac
- App not working on macOS 13
Show 12 moreShow fewer
- Certificate invalid error
- Apple Music store selection not working
- No album art animation on Apple TV
- Inconsistent playback on Apple TV
- Server playback crashes
- Slow response
- Cannot favorite songs
- Cannot connect to Navidrome server
- Cannot connect to Subsonic server
- Navidrome latest version not playable
- No songs after adding server
- Apple TV video and music playback unresponsive
Requested features
22 requests- Add content to library
- Fix crashing issues
- Support KTV/karaoke function
- Add YouTube Music integration
- Add Plex support
Show 17 moreShow fewer
- Add playlist mixes
- Add support for adding artists & albums
- Add dark mode icon
- Load local music files
- Sync network disk music files
- Add CarPlay lyrics
- Solely focus on Subsonic Server content
- Add ability to add albums to Spotify
- Fix certificate invalid error
- Improve Navidrome/Subsonic connection
- Improve Apple TV playback interface
- Add ability to favorite songs
- Add more connection methods
- Add support for Navidrome
- Add ability to add albums & playlists to library
- Add ability to add artists & albums
- Add ability to add albums to library instead of Apple Music library
In-app purchases
DS audio
No in-app purchases
ListenNow+
No in-app purchases
