Comparison

Focal & Naim vs JPLAY

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

Head to head
About

Focal & Naim

This app unifies your music experience, offering seamless control over your audio devices and streaming services. Manage your entire ecosystem, set up new products, and enjoy high-resolution playback with personalized settings.

Highlights
  • Unified ecosystem control
  • Intuitive product setup
  • High-resolution streaming
  • Multi-room audio synchronization
  • Personalized EQ and settings
  • Internet radio access
  • CarPlay integration
Features
Read full description

The Focal & Naim app gives you total control of your entire Focal & Naim ecosystem. It brings streaming, radio, and your personal music library together in one beautifully simple interface. Your Focal & Naim Account Create your free account to register your products, access local Internet Radio, and receive exclusive benefits such as extended warranties and enhanced customer support. Seamless Setup Ready your new Naim & Focal devices with our intuitive product setup process. Total Control Manage every aspect of your system — speakers, streamers, and settings — all from your phone or tablet. Whole-Home Sound Stream music perfectly in sync across rooms or set a unique mood in each of your spaces with Naim Multiroom technology. Stream Without Limits Access high-resolution playback up to 24-bit/96 kHz from your favourite streaming services. Enjoy thousands of internet radio stations, including Naim Radio, now also available locally on your mobile device. Tailor Your Experience Fine-tune your speakers to your room with ADAPT™ technology, adjust EQ, lighting, and noise cancellation for Focal Bathys headphones, or personalise settings across the Naim Mu-so range. Stay Connected Anywhere Control playback from your wrist with Apple Watch support. Version 8.0 also adds CarPlay integration, bringing high-fidelity Internet Radio straight to your car. Compatible with all current Focal & Naim network-connected music players (some legacy products not supported).

About

JPLAY

This app is a high-fidelity music player designed for audiophiles. It seamlessly integrates streaming services like Qobuz and Tidal with local music files, offering a unified interface for all your audio content. Experience superior sound quality and discover new music through its intuitive design and advanced features.

Highlights
  • Plays Qobuz, Tidal, and local music files
  • Works with most streamers and network DACs
  • HQPlayer Control API integration
  • Dramatically better sound quality
  • Radio feature for music discovery
  • Extended playlist management
  • Artist bios and album reviews
Features
Read full description

JPLAY is an award winning music playback app for audiophiles. It works instantly with nearly every streamer or network DAC on the market. It combines Qobuz, Tidal and local content in a single interface allowing user to access each library separately. Main features: • Beautiful, clean and easy to use app allowing you to play music on nearly all streamers/network DACs - no core needed! (UPnP AV/DLNA) • Plays from Qobuz, Tidal and files on local libraries • HQPlayer Control API – Seamlessly integrate and remotely control HQPlayer directly from JPLAY • Dramatically better sound quality thanks to minimizing network traffic • Radio feature discovers new music for you • Single library, individual library and folder views • Extended playlists management • Advanced search, sort, focus • Artists bios, album reviews etc • Highlighted audiophile formats • My Activity, My history keep your playback stats • Native iOS controls from locked screen • Sharing your favorite music on social media • And much, much more! JPLAY requires an active subscription to access its content and features. Sign up for a JPLAY subscription in the app. New users can enjoy a 14-day free trial period that will be automatically converted into a yearly subscription. Subscription is automatically renewed and charged on a yearly basis. You can cancel it at any time up until the day before renewal and you can at any time turn off the auto renewal.

Screenshots

Focal & Naim4 screens
JPLAY4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: JPLAY at 4.2 against Focal & Naim's 2.2. JPLAY also leads on review sentiment (59% vs 23%) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 16.4). Focal & Naim's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 3) and ratings volume (254 vs 54). 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. JPLAY sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $49.99 per year. Focal & Naim asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

JPLAY holds the better App Store score, 4.2 against 2.2. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 254 and 54 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 23% of Focal & Naim's written reviews are positive against 59% of JPLAY's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Focal & Naim ships an update every 5 weeks, JPLAY every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 26, 2026 and October 27, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Focal & Naim versus JPLAY: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterFocal & NaimJPLAY
PriceFreeFree
Rating2.2 (254 ratings)4.2 (54 ratings) — better
Positive reviews23.2% of reviews58.9% of reviews — better
Number of ratings254 — better54
Update frequencyEvery 5 weeksEvery 3 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterSubscription
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Apple WatchiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS16.413.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size448 MB50 MB
Age rating9+4+
DeveloperNaim Audio LtdMarcin Ostapowicz

Customer experience

Focal & Naim

All ratings253 ratings
Positive23.7%
Neutral8.3%
Negative68.0%
Written reviews681 reviews
Positive23.2%
Neutral10.0%
Negative66.8%

JPLAY

All ratings52 ratings
Positive80.8%
Neutral5.8%
Negative13.5%
Written reviews190 reviews
Positive58.9%
Neutral6.3%
Negative34.7%

User reviews

Focal & Naim

From 254 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 App works well
  • 👍 Focal app works fine
  • 👍 Naim app works well with Uniti Atom
  • 👍 Seamless Tidal integration
  • 👍 Reliable connectivity

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Frequent disconnections and crashes
  • 🐛 Unstable app, unreliable connectivity
  • 🐛 Buggy, freezes, and loses connection
  • 🐛 Constantly needs to be reset
  • 🐛 Struggles to find and connect to devices

JPLAY

From 54 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🎵 Superior sound quality compared to competitors
  • 👍 Intuitive and clean user interface
  • 🚀 Fast and responsive app performance
  • 🔌 Seamless UPnP/DLNA integration
  • 📱 Works without requiring a server

Room to improve

  • 💰 Expensive subscription pricing ($50/year, $199 lifetime)
  • ❌ No monthly subscription option available
  • 🐛 Frequent connectivity and playback issues
  • 📱 iOS-only application
  • 🔄 No cross-device synchronization

Bugs and requests

Focal & Naim

Reported bugs

6 issues
  • Frequent disconnections from devices
  • Inability to find and connect to devices
  • Crashes and freezes during use
  • Issues with firmware updates
  • Compatibility problems with iOS 16
Show 1 more
  • Metadata issues and incorrect album art

Requested features

7 requests
  • Improve volume control granularity
  • Add EQ controls and presets
  • Improve Tidal integration
  • Enhance radio station browsing
  • Implement better multi-room support
Show 2 more
  • Provide more customization options
  • Improve overall app stability and reliability

JPLAY

Reported bugs

14 issues
  • Tracks fail to render or play from Tidal
  • App crashes on startup with older iOS versions
  • Playback stuttering and lag issues
  • Renderer in transition errors
  • Device discovery failures
Show 9 more
  • Missing cover art for local files
  • Playback gets stuck at end of songs
  • Random track order despite settings
  • Skips tracks mid-playback
  • Connection drops with certain streamers
  • Metadata not syncing properly
  • Album art not loading from Synology/Plex servers
  • Qobuz favorites import not working
  • Tidal playlist suggestions missing

Requested features

16 requests
  • Monthly subscription option
  • Cross-device synchronization for playlists and favorites
  • EQ and tone adjustment controls
  • DSD file playback support
  • Multi-room audio capability
Show 11 more
  • Apple Watch control support
  • AirPlay support
  • Android version
  • Gapless playback improvement
  • Family sharing support
  • Apple Music integration
  • Internet radio support
  • Volume control in player screen
  • Automatic iCloud backup between devices
  • WebDAV support
  • Better error messages for troubleshooting

In-app purchases

None

Focal & Naim

No in-app purchases

3 purchases

JPLAY

Subscriptions1
  • JPLAY Premium14 Days trial$49.991 Year
One-time2
  • Lifetime$149.00
  • JPLAY Lifetime$199.00

Questions

Is Focal & Naim free?
Focal & Naim is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is JPLAY free?
JPLAY is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Focal & Naim or JPLAY?
JPLAY is rated higher. Focal & Naim averages 2.2 out of 5 from 254 ratings, while JPLAY averages 4.2 from 54 ratings.
Do Focal & Naim or JPLAY have ads?
Neither Focal & Naim nor JPLAY shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Focal & Naim or JPLAY?
Focal & Naim ships an update every 5 weeks, and JPLAY every 3 weeks. Most recently, Focal & Naim was updated on October 26, 2026 and JPLAY on October 27, 2026.

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