Comparison

mconnect Player Lite vs Roon ARC

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

Head to head
About

mconnect Player Lite

Stream your videos, photos, and music to various devices like smart TVs and speakers. Enjoy gapless playback and support for high-quality audio formats. This version offers core media streaming functionalities.

Highlights
  • Stream video, photo, and music
  • Support for UPnP and Google Cast
  • Gapless playback
  • DSD and FLAC audio playback
  • Stream from cloud services
  • Send media to AirPlay devices
Features
Read full description

mconnect Player is a media player app to support UPnP/DLNA and Google Cast(Chromecast). - Send Video/Photo/Music to UPnP and Google Cast (Chromecast) devices. - Gapless Playback by App and to UPnP renderers. - DSD and FLAC music playback by App. - Play TIDAL, Qobuz and Bugs music & video to UPnP and Google Cast devices. - Send media files to Apple AirPlay compatible devices from PC, NAS and Internet. === mconnect Player Lite is a compact version of mconnect Player. This version does not have full functions of mconnect Player, such as Track Sorting, Folder Bookmarking, and Remembering Renderer. === You can play media files from any Servers to any Playback Devices with mconnect Player. [Media Servers] - Your iPhone and iPad. - UPnP compatible servers: PC and NAS. - Internet Music integrated into App: TIDAL, Qobuz and Bugs. - Cloud Server integrated into App: OneDrive and Dropbox. [Playback Devices] - Your iPhone and iPad. - UPnP compatible renderers: Smart TV, UPnP supported Audio, UPnP receivers. - Google Cast: Chromecast, Google Cast compatible Audio. - AirPlay compatible devices: Apple TV, Airport Express, AirPlay Audio. Note: If you send a media file to a remote playback device, the playable media format depends on the media decoder in the remote playback device. iPhone, iPad, AirPlay, Apple TV, and AirPort Express are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. Google Cast and Chromecast are registered trademarks of Google Inc. DLNA is a trademark of Digital Living Network Alliance. UPnP is a certification mark of the UPnP Forum in the United States and other countries. TIDAL is a trademark of ASPIRO AB. Qobuz is a trademark of XANDRIE SA. Bugs is a trademark of NHN Bugs Corp.

About

Roon ARC

Access your entire Roon music library and streaming services on the go. Enjoy personalized recommendations, offline listening, and advanced audio controls with a familiar interface.

Highlights
  • Access Roon library anywhere
  • Stream TIDAL, Qobuz, KKBOX
  • Offline music downloads
  • Personalized recommendations
  • Advanced audio controls (MUSE)
  • Car integration
Features
Read full description

*** Roon ARC requires a valid Roon subscription *** ARC puts the best possible on-the-go music experience in your pocket and lets you enjoy your Roon library and all of Roon's immersive features wherever you are in the world. ARC is a custom-built streaming service powered by your Roon system at home. Explore your complete collection of artists, albums, playlists, and personal music files, plus TIDAL, Qobuz, and KKBOX streams. Discover added content from Roon's music experts and smart features, such as staff-curated playlists, Daily Mixes, New Releases for You, personalized recommendations, and Roon Radio. You can add albums to your collection, build playlists, set favorites, create tags, and more, just as you can in Roon. Offline listening lets you download your personal music files to keep the music playing wherever your adventures take you – even if you're off the grid entirely. ARC offers remote access to Roon's captivating library of in-depth artist bios and album articles, revealing the stories that take us deep into the heart of our favorite music. And there's more… Ready to hit the road? Your Roon library is too! Roon's browsing and discovery features fully integrate into your car's controls for safe and convenient playback. With ARC within easy reach of the wheel, every road you take is a journey in sound. ARC makes the driver's seat feel like your listening chair at home. ARC is designed to look and feel just like Roon. You get the same intuitive, aesthetically rich Roon interface you know and love, fully optimized for your phone. No more switching between streaming apps; ARC compiles all your music in one place for easy access and maximum enjoyment. And now, Roon's audio shaping suite and pristine sound quality have arrived in ARC - with bold styling never before seen in a mobile app! MUSE delivers the precision audio control of Roon when you're on the go or running a streamlined mobile setup with ARC. It places radically unique EQ handling, optimized balance control, precision volume leveling, FLAC, DSD & MQA support, crossfeed, headroom management, and sample rate conversion in the palm of your hand. You can customize sonic qualities to your specific tastes with MUSE, then save or apply them with a few clicks. To top it all off, MUSE even remembers your presets and reapplies them when you reconnect to a known device. The MUSE Signal Path display provides complete audio signal transparency as the music flows through your device - from source media all the way to your speakers. ARC offers artful design, sound quality, and a music listening experience unmatched by any other music app. Best of all, it's included free with your Roon subscription.

Screenshots

mconnect Player Lite4 screens
Roon ARC4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Roon ARC at none against mconnect Player Lite's shown. Roon ARC also leads on monetization model (free vs free with in-app purchases) and ratings volume (196 vs 41). mconnect Player Lite's advantage is review sentiment (62% vs 36%) and rating (3.5 vs 3.3). On price, update cadence, in-app purchases 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

mconnect Player Lite holds the better App Store score, 3.5 against 3.3. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 41 and 196 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 62% of mconnect Player Lite's written reviews are positive against 36% of Roon ARC's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

mconnect Player Lite ships an update every 3 weeks, Roon ARC monthly. The most recent releases landed on August 20, 2026 and September 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
mconnect Player Lite versus Roon ARC: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
Parametermconnect Player LiteRoon ARC
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.5 (41 ratings) — better3.3 (196 ratings)
Positive reviews61.7% of reviews — better35.7% of reviews
Number of ratings41196 — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeks — betterMonthly
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPod
Requires iOS12.0 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size89 MB122 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperConversDigital Co., Ltd.Roon Labs

Customer experience

mconnect Player Lite

All ratings41 ratings
Positive58.5%
Neutral9.8%
Negative31.7%
Written reviews256 reviews
Positive61.7%
Neutral9.8%
Negative28.5%

Roon ARC

All ratings196 ratings
Positive54.6%
Neutral8.7%
Negative36.7%
Written reviews221 reviews
Positive35.7%
Neutral11.3%
Negative52.9%

User reviews

mconnect Player Lite

From 41 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Easy to use
  • 🚀 Fast and responsive
  • 💡 Supports DLNA and UPnP streaming
  • 👍 Clean and intuitive interface
  • 🚀 Quickly finds media servers

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Playback issues after app updates
  • 🐛 Crashes and freezes on some devices
  • 🐛 Compatibility problems with certain devices/renderers
  • 🐛 Tidal playback not working for some users
  • 🐛 DSD file playback not supported

Roon ARC

From 196 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Seamless integration with Roon
  • 🌍 Access music library anywhere
  • 🔊 High-quality audio playback
  • 👍 Intuitive and user-friendly
  • 💡 Useful feature additions like EQ presets

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Frequent crashes and connection issues
  • 🔋 Drains battery quickly
  • 🤖 Unreliable performance, especially on mobile networks
  • 📱 Lack of iPad-optimized interface
  • 🔌 Requires complex network setup for remote access

Bugs and requests

mconnect Player Lite

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Tracks not playing in correct order
  • Unable to connect to some NAS devices
  • Album art not displaying properly
  • Streaming issues after long periods of use

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add gapless playback
  • Implement playlist/queue management features
  • Add support for landscape mode on iPad
  • Integrate Spotify support
  • Improve Chromecast video casting

Roon ARC

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Corrupted media files
  • Disappearing playlists
  • Inability to select external storage for downloads
  • Inconsistent connectivity to Roon server

Requested features

5 requests
  • Native iPad app
  • Siri integration for voice control
  • Improved browsing and search capabilities
  • Automatic offline downloads
  • MQA decoding support

In-app purchases

None

mconnect Player Lite

No in-app purchases

None

Roon ARC

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is mconnect Player Lite free?
mconnect Player Lite is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Roon ARC free?
Roon ARC is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, mconnect Player Lite or Roon ARC?
mconnect Player Lite is rated higher. mconnect Player Lite averages 3.5 out of 5 from 41 ratings, while Roon ARC averages 3.3 from 196 ratings.
Do mconnect Player Lite or Roon ARC have ads?
mconnect Player Lite shows ads; Roon ARC does not.
Which is updated more often, mconnect Player Lite or Roon ARC?
mconnect Player Lite ships an update every 3 weeks, and Roon ARC monthly. Most recently, mconnect Player Lite was updated on August 20, 2026 and Roon ARC on September 24, 2026.

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