Tape vs Album Time!
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Tape
Relive the 80s with a virtual cassette player that emulates the feel of old-school music playback. Enjoy your iPhone music library with animated cassettes and intuitive touch controls. Choose from a variety of cassette designs for a nostalgic experience.
- Cassette player emulator
- Plays music from Apple Music App
- Animated cassette display
- Large selection of cassette designs
- Intuitive touch controls (play, pause, swipe)
- Pinch to zoom for original cassette size
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Do you still remember the cassettes from the 80s? Now you can have it again. You have all your songs from your iPhone or iPod Touch ready in the library. Tape is a cassette player emulator. It plays your music from Apple Music App and shows an animated cassette. There is a large selection of cassettes which you can choose from. This app bring's you back to the 80's. Very easy to use. - Touch for play or pause. - Swipe right for next song. - Swipe left for previous song. - Swipe down for next cassette. - Swipe up for cassette change. - Touch in the upper left corner to select songs. - you can zoom in to original cassette size (pinch to zoom). and because the control is very simple, This app is perfect for the car or on your iPod, iPhone docking Station, have fun with the app! THIS APP ONLY WORKS, IF YOU HAVE MUSIC IN THE APPLE MUSIC APP !!!
Album Time!
This music player focuses on rediscovering your album collection by shuffling entire albums rather than individual songs. It allows for seamless transitions between albums and offers various ways to organize and find your music.
- Shuffle albums, not songs
- No playlist creation needed
- Seamless album switching
- Pin favorite albums
- Search and sort music library
- Hands-free controls
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Rediscover your music collection—one album at a time. Album Time! is a music player built for album lovers. Shuffle your library effortlessly and enjoy full albums without interruptions. Features: • Shuffle Albums, Not Songs – Play entire albums in the right order, just like the artist intended. • No Playlists Needed – Press shuffle play or pick an album to start, and let the app queue the rest. • Seamless Album Switching – Skip a few songs using external or hands-free controls, and Album Time! will move to the next album automatically. • CarPlay Support – Enjoy your album shuffle experience safely and seamlessly on the road. • Tailor Your Shuffle – Pin your favorites for easy access or shuffle your whole library with a single switch. • Find Albums Fast – Search by keyword or sort by title, artist, or date added. Perfect for road trips, commutes, or anyone who enjoys albums as a whole.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Album Time! at none against Tape's 2. Album Time! also leads on rating (4.8 vs 4.5). Tape's advantage is ratings volume (259 vs 4) and iOS requirement (15.5 vs 26.0). On price, review sentiment, 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
Tape costs $1.99 and Album Time! $1.99 up front. Tape sells 2 one-off in-app purchases. Album Time! asks for nothing beyond the download.
Album Time! holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Tape has 259 ratings behind it against 4, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 82% of Tape's written reviews are positive against 75% of Album Time!'s, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Tape ships an update every 7 months, Album Time! every 4 months. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Tape | Album Time! |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $1.99 | $1.99 |
| Rating | 4.5 (259 ratings) | 4.8 (4 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 81.8% of reviews — better | 75.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 259 — better | 4 |
| Update frequency | Every 7 months | Every 4 months — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases — better | Paid |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 15.5 — better | 26.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 25 MB | 1 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Alexander Rutkowskij | Jiachi Wu |
Customer experience
Tape
Album Time!
Bugs and requests
Tape
Reported bugs
8 issues- App crashes when using menus
- Freezes on iPhone iOS 14.4.2 and later
- Swipe-to-close doesn't stop playback
- Playhead and capstan roller animation reversed
- App closes unexpectedly for no reason
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- Doesn't recognize hand gestures or song selections
- Won't play selected songs
- Incompatibility with newer iOS updates
Requested features
13 requests- Save and switch between custom mixed tapes
- Playlist duration limits based on cassette type
- Clicking sounds for play/stop button presses
- Support for local MP3 and M4A files
- Screen sleep toggle while music plays
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- Additional cassette designs (especially Memorex and movie-themed)
- Spotify integration
- iPad version with larger interface
- Tape malfunction/degradation simulation
- Record function for music production
- Remove 'tap to load' text overlay
- More realistic button control styling
- Classic 80s Memorex shell design
Album Time!
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Tape
- New Cassette Pack$0.99
- Cassette collection 2$1.99
Album Time!
No in-app purchases
