Comparison

Album Time! vs LumiWave

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

Head to head
About

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.

Highlights
  • Shuffle albums, not songs
  • No playlist creation needed
  • Seamless album switching
  • Pin favorite albums
  • Search and sort music library
  • Hands-free controls
Features
Read full description

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.

About

LumiWave

Features
Read full description

LumiWave is a music player that lets you see your music, no matter where it comes from. ■ One playlist across every source Files on iCloud Drive, Google Drive and other cloud services, local audio on your iPhone, and Apple Music (including tracks in your library imported from CDs) — LumiWave brings them together into a single playlist built around your mood, not around where each track came from. ■ Visualizers that react to sound The playback screen is more than artwork and a play button. Five visualizers move in real time with your music: - CG: reactive particles and waveforms - Bottle: liquid fills as playback progresses - Creature: little creatures gather when you tap - Slide: your chosen photos or playlist artwork slowly pan and zoom - Aquarium: a school of fish swims to the music and gathers when you tap to drop food Pinch out for full-screen mode: nothing but the visualizer and minimal controls, so you can sink into the music. For late-night listening, focus sessions, or just changing the mood of a room. ■ Honest about audio The more striking the visuals, the more the sound has to be trustworthy. LumiWave treats the audio path with care. - Supports WAV, AIFF, FLAC, ALAC, AAC and MP3 (up to 192kHz / 24-bit) - Plays imported files at their original quality - Lossless and Hi-Res tracks are clearly badged, with format, sample rate and bit depth shown - Playback comes first: under load, rendering quality drops automatically to protect the sound ■ Privacy No account, no servers. Imported audio, playlists, photos and settings stay on your device, and audio analysis runs locally. Nothing is collected. ■ Visualizer Pro (one-time purchase) All playback features, the CG and Slide visualizers, playlists and quality display are free. A one-time Pro purchase — not a subscription — unlocks the Bottle, Creature and Aquarium visualizers and any Pro features added later. You can preview the Pro visualizers for free before buying. Music, set free.

Screenshots

Album Time!4 screens
LumiWave4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: LumiWave at Free against Album Time!'s $1.99. LumiWave also leads on update cadence (every 4 days vs every 4 months) and iOS requirement (17.0 vs 26.0). Album Time!'s advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1). On 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

LumiWave is free to download; Album Time! costs $1.99 up front. LumiWave sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Album Time! asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Album Time! ships an update every 4 months, LumiWave every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on November 3, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Album Time! versus LumiWave: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterAlbum Time!LumiWave
Price$1.99Free — better
Rating4.8 (4 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews75.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings4 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 4 monthsEvery 4 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaid—
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad — better
Requires iOS26.017.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size1 MB28 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperJiachi WuPAOSystem

In-app purchases

None

Album Time!

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

LumiWave

One-time1
  • Visualizer Pro$4.99

Questions

Is Album Time! free?
Album Time! costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is LumiWave free?
LumiWave is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Album Time! or LumiWave have ads?
Neither Album Time! nor LumiWave shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Album Time! or LumiWave?
Album Time! ships an update every 4 months, and LumiWave every 4 days. Most recently, Album Time! was updated on November 3, 2026 and LumiWave on October 31, 2026.

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