Discrete vs Mobile MA
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Discrete
A sleek and lightweight music player designed for Jellyfin servers. Enjoy your music library directly from your server with features like offline playback, playlist management, and CarPlay support. Optimized for minimal resource usage and a smooth user experience.
- Jellyfin server integration
- Offline playback and downloads
- CarPlay support
- Playlist creation and management
- Transcoding options
- Background playback
- Sleep timer
Read full descriptionHide full description
Discrete is a carefully crafted native music player for your Jellyfin library, made for iPhone and iPad. Enjoy a clean interface, thoughtful controls and layouts that feel at home on your device. Stability and performance are central to the design, with cached library views, progressive loading and background downloads to support everyday listening. MADE FOR IPHONE DUO Thoughtfully adapted library navigation and a dedicated player make the most of iPhone Duo. Enjoy artwork, playback controls and your queue or lyrics together on its expanded screen, with layouts that respond as you rotate or fold the device. YOUR LIBRARY, CLOSE AT HAND - Browse albums, artists, playlists and All Tracks, with artwork and useful music details. - Find songs, albums, artists and playlists in one search. - Rediscover your collection through Home suggestions, new releases and recently added music. - Keep favorites close and revisit your listening history. LISTEN YOUR WAY - Play a song next, add it to the queue, or drag upcoming tracks into the order you want. - Save your queue and playback position between app launches. - Shuffle, repeat, set a sleep timer, or start a Jellyfin Instant Mix from a song, album or playlist. - Follow synced lyrics and tap a timed line to jump to that part of the song, when lyrics are available on your server. - View audio format, bit depth and sample rate while listening. TAKE YOUR MUSIC WITH YOU - Download tracks, albums and playlists for offline listening. - Browse and search downloaded music without a connection. - Let audio downloads continue in the background and follow their progress in a Live Activity. - Stream original files or use automatic or custom Jellyfin transcoding, with separate preferences for cellular, Wi-Fi and downloads. MADE FOR IPHONE, IPAD AND CARPLAY - Enjoy player layouts for portrait and landscape, with support for iPad multitasking. - Swipe between tracks in the mini player, listen in the background, and use Lock Screen controls or AirPlay. - Browse your library, play downloaded music and manage Up Next in CarPlay. MAKE THE COLLECTION YOURS Create and rename playlists, add or remove songs, and reorder them with a drag. Playlist changes and favorites are saved to your Jellyfin server. FREE TO ENJOY. PRO TO SUPPORT. The core listening experience is free, including playback, downloads, playlists, lyrics and CarPlay. Optional Discrete Pro supports continued development and adds multiple accounts, alternate app icons and accent colors. Pro is available through monthly or yearly auto-renewing subscriptions, or a lifetime purchase. You can manage or cancel subscriptions in your App Store account settings. Requires access to a Jellyfin server with a music library. Format support and transcoding depend on your device and server. Privacy Policy: https://discrete.app/privacy/ Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Mobile MA
Control your self-hosted music server from your iPhone with real-time playback, library browsing, and lightning-fast search. Enjoy offline caching and a secure, private connection.
- Real-time multiroom audio control
- Full music library browsing
- Lightning-fast search
- Offline library cache
- Secure token storage
- Customizable appearance
Read full descriptionHide full description
Mobile MA is an unofficial Music Assistant client. It is independent and not affiliated with, developed, endorsed or reviewed by the Music Assistant project or the Open Home Foundation. Press play – in every room, on every device. Mobile MA is the music player for your home: it brings together your albums, playlists, podcasts, audiobooks and radio stations and plays them wherever you are – on your speakers, your iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Mac, Apple Watch or in the car. PLAYBACK THAT'S ACTUALLY FUN • Multiroom done right: group speakers with a tap – and everything plays in sync • Save scenes ("Dinner", "Party everywhere") and start them with one tap – from your Watch, TV and CarPlay too • A queue you fully control: play next, edit – and automatic continued playback when the queue ends • Live lyrics, a party mode for guests, per-player volume limits • Play directly on your device or on any player in the house – switch seamlessly MADE WITH LOVE • An interface that celebrates your music: artwork shapes every view – from albums to a Now Playing with rich color gradients • A spectrum analyzer that dances to your music – full-screen if you like • Full-screen artist artwork, playlist collages, thoughtful details everywhere • Fully native: fluid, fast, with fine-tuned haptics • Make it yours: themes, appearance options and alternative app icons YOUR ENTIRE LIBRARY • Artists, albums, playlists, podcasts, audiobooks, radio and genres – all in one place • Lightning-fast search across your music and your streaming providers • A customizable home screen with Continue Listening, Discover and anniversaries • Smart playlists built on your rules, favorites, radio bookmarks and Listen Later • Audiobooks and podcasts with chapter marks and remembered playback speed SOUND & AUDIO INTELLIGENCE • Audio analysis with loudness leveling for a balanced sound • Tone control with bass, mids and treble plus Smart Fades for seamless transitions • Pro DSP tools for everyone who wants to go deeper • Data-friendly on the go: automatic quality adjustment on cellular AT HOME EVERYWHERE • CarPlay: your library, scenes and Now Playing right on the dashboard • Apple Watch: remote control and scenes on your wrist, with its own complications • Apple TV: a full app with library, search, big-screen Now Playing and Top Shelf – set up conveniently from your iPhone • Mac: a full desktop app including a menu bar player • Widgets, Live Activities, Lock Screen and Siri support SMART & CONVENIENT • Music suggestions your way: privately on device or with your own AI key • Listening history with export, in-app tips for hidden features • In ten languages: English, German, Spanish, French, Italian, Dutch, Polish, Portuguese (Brazil and Portugal), Czech YOUR SERVER. YOUR DATA. Mobile MA is a native client for Music Assistant, the open-source music platform for your home. Your music runs through your own server – no forced accounts, no cloud in between. • Automatic server discovery on your network: sign in and go • Multiple connection profiles, optionally synced to all your devices via iCloud • Remote access on the go through your own secure connection • Real time: changes on the server appear in the app instantly GOOD TO KNOW Mobile MA is an independent app and requires a running Music Assistant server (free and open source, e.g. on a home server or NAS). The capabilities of your streaming providers depend on your server. The core features are free; advanced features can be unlocked with Mobile MA Unlimited via in-app purchase. Purchases are subject to Apple's standard license agreement (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Discrete at 4.7 against Mobile MA's 2.8. Discrete also leads on ratings volume (46 vs 10). Mobile MA's advantage is monetization model (free vs free with in-app purchases) and update cadence (every 5 days vs every 2 weeks). On price, ads, in-app purchases and iOS requirement 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
Both are free to download. Discrete sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month and Mobile MA sells 4 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Discrete holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 2.8. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 46 and 10 respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 91% of Discrete's written reviews are positive against 100% of Mobile MA's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Discrete ships an update every 2 weeks, Mobile MA every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on October 16, 2026 and October 13, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Discrete | Mobile MA |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (46 ratings) — better | 2.8 (10 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 91.4% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 46 — better | 10 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 weeks | Every 5 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac | iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, Apple Watch — better |
| Requires iOS | 18.0 — better | 18.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 52 MB | 44 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Aleksandr Orlov | Sven Uwe Hanold |
Customer experience
Discrete
Mobile MA
In-app purchases
Discrete
- Discrete Pro [Monthly]$0.991 Month
- Discrete Pro [Yearly]$9.991 Year
- Discrete Pro [Lifetime]$19.99
Mobile MA
- Song$2.99
- Album$3.99
- Anthology$8.99
Show 1 moreShow fewer
- Unlimited$22.99









