Now Playing Plus vs WatchCloud
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Now Playing Plus
Enhance your Apple Watch face with convenient audio controls. This app adds corner and circular complications, allowing quick access to playback functions without navigating through menus.
- Corner complications
- Circular complications
- Audio controls
- Quick access
- Customizable watch face
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Now Playing Plus provides corner and circular complications for your Apple Watch face. This gives you easy access to audio controls, without needed to hunt around in the App List or Dock.
WatchCloud
Stream music from SoundCloud directly from your Apple Watch, leaving your phone behind. Enjoy phone-free listening with native controls, digital crown scrubbing, and ad-free playback. Discover new artists and manage your music library on your wrist.
- Phone-free listening
- Watch-native controls
- Digital Crown scrubbing
- Search & discovery
- Ad-free playback
- Quick Actions
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Listen to SoundCloud on your Apple Watch. Leave your phone behind. Listen to your favorite tracks, playlists, and artists with WatchCloud. Stream directly over Wi-Fi or cellular, whether you’re out for a run, at the gym, or on your daily commute. YOUR MUSIC, WITH YOU • Listen to your liked tracks and playlists • Search for tracks, artists, and playlists • Explore artists and discover more music • Like tracks as you listen CONTROLS MADE FOR YOUR WATCH • Play, pause, skip, shuffle, and adjust playback speed • Turn the Digital Crown to jump to any moment in a track • Customize the double tap gesture to control playback on compatible watches • Open your liked tracks or search directly from watch face complications ONE PURCHASE. NO SUBSCRIPTION. Pay once for WatchCloud and enjoy ad-free playback with no WatchCloud subscription. WatchCloud grows with its community, with regular improvements inspired by listener feedback. REQUIREMENTS • A SoundCloud account • An internet connection over Wi-Fi or cellular • Apple Watch Series 4 or later, or Apple Watch SE, running watchOS 10 or later Need help? Open the About page in the iPhone app or follow the support link below. WatchCloud is an independent app that uses the official SoundCloud API in accordance with its Terms of Use.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Now Playing Plus at Free against WatchCloud's $3.99. Now Playing Plus also leads on review sentiment (71% vs 57%) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 17.0). WatchCloud's advantage is update cadence (every 2 months vs every 9 months) and chart position (#128 vs unranked). On rating, ratings volume, 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
Now Playing Plus is free to download; WatchCloud costs $3.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 3.7 for Now Playing Plus against 3.7 for WatchCloud. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 53 and 36 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 71% of Now Playing Plus's written reviews are positive against 57% of WatchCloud's.
Now Playing Plus ships an update every 9 months, WatchCloud every 2 months. Both last shipped on October 22, 2026.
| Parameter | Now Playing Plus | WatchCloud |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — better | $3.99 |
| Rating | 3.7 (53 ratings) — better | 3.7 (36 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 71.4% of reviews — better | 56.8% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 53 — better | 36 |
| Update frequency | Every 9 months | Every 2 months — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free — better | Paid |
| Best chart rank | — | #128 — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod, Apple Watch — better | iPhone, Apple Watch |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 — better | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 1 MB | 13 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 12+ |
| Developer | The Iconfactory | Ryan Forsyth |
Customer experience
Now Playing Plus
WatchCloud
Bugs and requests
Now Playing Plus
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
WatchCloud
Reported bugs
16 issues- Shuffle feature crashes app
- App closes unexpectedly during playback
- CAPTCHA checkbox invisible on watch screen
- Music stops after few minutes on long tracks
- Loading spinner appears indefinitely
Show 11 moreShow fewer
- Tracks longer than 2 hours not fetching properly
- Some songs register as 30 seconds instead of full length
- Music cuts out when watch screen turns off
- Automatic sign-out from phone app
- App won't launch on certain watch models
- Facebook login web view frozen
- Google login says browser cannot be used
- Apple ID login missing password field
- Battery indicator malfunction
- App uninstallable on some devices
- QR code appears when watch screen dims
Requested features
13 requests- Track scrubbing/seeking functionality
- Autoplay for next song
- Repeat/loop single track option
- Shuffle mode improvements
- Music download capability
Show 8 moreShow fewer
- Waveform visualization for track seeking
- Offline listening support
- Search functionality for new tracks
- Daily and weekly playlist visibility
- Fast forward/rewind controls
- Gesture controls (swipe to change songs)
- Settings management from phone app
- Sync button for playlist updates
In-app purchases
Now Playing Plus
No in-app purchases
WatchCloud
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Now Playing Plus free?
Is WatchCloud free?
Which has better reviews, Now Playing Plus or WatchCloud?
Do Now Playing Plus or WatchCloud have ads?
Which is updated more often, Now Playing Plus or WatchCloud?
Other comparisons
