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
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Discrete — lightweight, yet powerful and sleek music player for Jellyfin server. Use any Jellyfin instance you want to listen to your music directly from your server. Minimal RAM and storage usage, fast and smooth UI built with great attention to details, proper layouts for all your devices. Built with love for music, tech and UX. - astonishing, fully fledged support for CarPlay - downloads and transparent offline mode - works even in background - fast an reliable on unstable networks - original files or transcoded - displays progress on lock screen - playlists: - create, rename and delete playlists - add, remove and reorder items - transcoding options - off (stream original files) - auto - customized (fine tune yourself) - [paid, with lifetime available] multiple accounts - add as many accounts / servers as you want - build your playback queue with tracks from any account / server - seamless work throughout whole app - home page with discovery sections - glorious pages for your playlists, albums and artists - search in single view for any type of items - built-in sleep timer - lyrics 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
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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 seven languages: English, German, Spanish, French, Italian, Dutch, Polish YOUR SERVER. YOUR DATA. Mobile MA is the 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). Mobile MA is not an official product of the Music Assistant project. 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 4.6 against Mobile MA's 2.8. Discrete also leads on ratings volume (39 vs 9). 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 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
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, 4.6 against 2.8. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 39 and 9 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 September 14, 2026 and September 20, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Discrete | Mobile MA |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.6 (39 ratings) — better | 2.8 (9 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 90.9% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 39 — better | 9 |
| 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, Apple TV, Apple Watch — better |
| Requires iOS | 18.0 — better | 18.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 18 MB | 33 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
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- Unlimited$22.99









