Smart Shuffle vs CanTunes
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Smart Shuffle
This music player brings back the classic album shuffle experience, playing songs in their intended order within randomly selected albums. It offers extensive customization for album selection and playback control, including CarPlay and Apple Watch integration.
- Album shuffle playback
- CarPlay integration
- Siri Shortcuts
- Cloud album access
- Enhanced album selection & filtering
- Apple Watch interface
- Sleep mode timer
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Do you miss the old "Album Shuffle" on your Apple device? Here at Spudfish Software, we did, so we did something about it! Smart Shuffle: The Album-Centric Music Player Smart Shuffle brings album shuffle back to you, randomly shuffling your music and playing it back one album at a time with songs selected in the order that the artist intended. If you love albums, Smart Shuffle is the only music player you need! Version 4.0 also includes a host of new features to help you further take charge of your album collection! CARPLAY COMPATIBLE!!! - Tell Smart Shuffle to re-shuffle, play next album, play previous album, or view the next albums in your queue from our new CarPlay interface! SIRI SHORTCUTS - train Siri to tell Smart Shuffle to Shuffle Albums, Play Next Album or Play Previous Album PLAY ALBUMS FROM THE CLOUD - Smart Shuffle can now access your albums in the cloud, seamlessly adding them to your selection list. Have a bad data plan or spotty internet connectivity? Just turn off this feature from the Settings app for Smart Shuffle. ENHANCED ALBUM SELECTION - Sort your albums by Title, Artist, Genre, Composer, or Release Date - Filter the selection list to refine your selections. You can create an album playlist to match your mood by filtering on any combination of: - Artist - Genre - Grouping - Composer - Rating - Play Count - Date Added - Decade Released - Minimum Song Count - Inclusion in one of your Playlists - Cloud Availability - Filter by Selected to see only the albums you have currently selected for shuffling, or those that you haven't selected yet. - Start Album: Select the first album to play, then pick random albums thereafter. - Split Multi-Disc Albums: treat each volume of a multi-disc set individually APPLE WATCH INTERFACE - Control the playback of your album selections on your Apple Watch. Play or pause the current album, skip to the next album, or re-play the previous album. SLEEP MODE - Touch and hold the play/pause button for a second to request Sleep Mode - Smart Shuffle will automatically pause after 30 minutes, an hour, or after the current album. You'll get lulled to sleep listening to your favorite albums without missing a bunch of them while asleep! ANNOUNCEMENT AND DELAY - Smart Shuffle now comes with settings to announce each new album before it is played, and to delay for up to 30 seconds between albums to let you cleanse your musical palate. RESPONSIVE TO TOUCH EVENTS - Double tap the screen to play/pause music - Swipe left/right on the album art to skip to the next/previous album - Swipe left/right on the now playing information to skip to the next/previous song - Swipe down in the pull-tab to show your entire shuffled album queue. Swipe up to view the currently playing album art. - Touch the progress bar to change songs - Touch the time remaining to show the time of day that the currently playing album will end. Touch again to return to time remaining. - Touch and hold the progress bar to get a list of songs to choose from - From the Selection Screen, touch and hold an album to play it first in your shuffled list REMOTE CONTROL EVENTS - In addition to the usual remote control events (play/pause, next song, previous song), Smart Shuffle can now skip to the next/previous album using the "skimming" remote control events. Double-click and hold the remote control on headphones, or touch and hold the forward arrow on the remote control panel on your lock screen. If you quit the application, your music keeps playing. Open the Music app, and your Smart Shuffle mix is retained. Pop right back into Smart Shuffle to skip albums or select new albums to mix. Happy Shuffling! See our website for additional information, FAQ's and contact us to report bugs or request new features. http://spudfish.com/smartshuffle
CanTunes
This app offers a simplified music player designed for individuals with cognitive disabilities. It allows users to independently select and play music from their iPad library through a highly visual and customizable interface, reducing reliance on complex controls.
- Extremely simple interface
- Visual interface with minimal text
- Customizable album display
- Optional on-screen controls
- Sleep mode for timed shutoff
- VoiceOver and switch compatible
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CanTunes is now free. Spread the word! CanTunes provides an extremely simplified way for people with a range of cognitive disabilities to select and play music on an iPad. CanTunes promotes independence, builds confidence and reduces the need for caregiver interaction by enabling people with disabilities to control and enjoy their own music. CanTunes plays the music that is on your iPad. Once you have downloaded your favourite music to your iPad and installed CanTunes, you can easily choose an album to play by simply tapping on the album cover. *** WHO IS IT FOR? *** CanTunes is especially beneficial to people who have difficulty operating CD players or standard music software. *** KEY FEATURES *** - Extremely simple: does not require understanding of traditional music player buttons (such as play, pause, skip, and so on) - Visual interface with minimal use of text - Completely customizable interface: - Display 1,2,4,12 or 16 album covers per screen - Add or remove on-screen controls such as volume control, page buttons, access to settings - Sleep mode to shut off the music after a specified time - VoiceOver compatible: also compatible with switches using VoiceOver *** TESTIMONIALS *** “Our daughter took to the iPad wonderfully. It was amazing seeing her do something that she can do independently. It is going to be great for our summer holidays this weekend. This opens a whole new world for her.” - Parent “It allows him a great deal more satisfaction knowing he is taking a more active part in his life.” - Group home manager *** SUPPORT *** Technical support for CanAssist apps is provided by email only. Please email your enquiries and requests to appsupport@canassist.ca. *** CANASSIST at the UNIVERSITY OF VICTORIA *** CanAssist at the University of Victoria is dedicated to developing customized technologies and services for people with disabilities, with a focus on clients in British Columbia, Canada.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: CanTunes at Free against Smart Shuffle's $1.99. CanTunes also leads on rating (5.0 vs 3.8) and review sentiment (100% vs 68%). Smart Shuffle's advantage is ratings volume (36 vs 1) and device support (3 vs 1). On 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
CanTunes is free to download; Smart Shuffle costs $1.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
CanTunes holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 3.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Smart Shuffle has 36 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 68% of Smart Shuffle's written reviews are positive against 100% of CanTunes's.
Smart Shuffle ships an update every 2 months, CanTunes every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on October 13, 2026 and October 7, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Smart Shuffle | CanTunes |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $1.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 3.8 (36 ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 67.8% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 36 — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Every 2 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — better | iPad |
| Requires iOS | 17.6 | 7.1 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 16 MB | 5 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Spudfish Software | University of Victoria |
Customer experience
Smart Shuffle
CanTunes
In-app purchases
Smart Shuffle
No in-app purchases
CanTunes
No in-app purchases









