Comparison

LyrPlay vs Narjo

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

Head to head
About

LyrPlay

Transform your iPhone or iPad into a premium Squeezebox player. Stream your personal music collection with native FLAC support, seamless web interface integration, and high-quality audio streaming. Enjoy continuous playback with lock screen and Control Center controls.

Highlights
  • Native FLAC and Opus support
  • Material Web Interface integration
  • CarPlay support
  • Background audio playback
  • Lock screen and Control Center controls
  • Automatic server discovery
Features
Read full description

Transform your iPhone and iPad into a premium Squeezebox player with LyrPlay, the ultimate iOS companion for Lyrion Media Server (LMS). Enjoy your personal music collection with native FLAC / Opus support, seamless Material web interface integration, and high-quality audio streaming. KEY FEATURES Native FLAC Support Stream lossless audio with native decoding for 16-bit and 24-bit FLAC files. Experience your music collection with crystal-clear quality that preserves every detail. Material Web Interface and CarPlay Support Integrates with the Material Skin by CDrummond, providing full LMS control through a touch-optimized interface. Access your entire music library, playlists, and server settings with intuitive navigation. Background Audio Continuous playback with proper iOS integration including lock screen controls, Control Center access, and background audio support. Your music never stops, even when switching apps. Server Discovery Automatic LMS server detection with backup server support and failover capabilities. Connect effortlessly to your home server with robust connection management. Performance Optimized Built specifically for iOS with efficient networking, smart buffering, and bandwidth optimization options for various connection speeds. AUDIO FORMAT SUPPORT FLAC (16-bit, 24-bit) with native decoding AAC, MP3, M4A, Opus and other standard formats Configurable transcoding for bandwidth optimization Lock screen and Control Center integration Volume control through LMS and device buttons Gapless Playback Player Synchronizaton - restart track after sync REQUIREMENTS iOS 15.6 or later Lyrion Media Server (LMS) Material Skin plugin installed on your LMS server Local network connection to your LMS server TECHNICAL SETUP For advanced configuration options including transcoding optimization, visit the project documentation at github.com/mtxmiller/LyrPlay. Built with SwiftUI for iOS interface, Bass for native FLAC / Opus support, and WebKit for Material skin integration. LyrPlay delivers a quality Squeezebox experience on your iOS device. Turn your iPhone or iPad into a network audio player for your personal music server.

About

Narjo

Stream your personal music library from various servers or local storage. Enjoy lossless playback, synced lyrics, and extensive library exploration. Cast to multiple devices and customize your listening experience with a powerful equalizer and offline downloads.

Highlights
  • Connect to Navidrome, Subsonic, Jellyfin, Emby, Plex
  • Lossless playback and gapless support
  • Real-time synced lyrics with translation
  • Browse by artist, album, genre, decade, folder
  • UPnP/DLNA casting and Sonos support
  • 10-band graphic equalizer
  • Offline downloads and full offline mode
Features
Read full description

Your music. Your server. Brought to life. Narjo is a beautiful, powerful player for the music you already own. Connect directly to Navidrome, Subsonic, Jellyfin, Emby, or Plex and enjoy lossless playback, synced lyrics, deep customization, and immersive animated artwork wherever you listen. No Narjo account. No ads. No behavioral tracking. Just your collection, your way. CONNECT YOUR LIBRARY • Navidrome, Subsonic, Jellyfin, Emby, and Plex • Add multiple servers and switch between them instantly • Automatically switch between home and remote addresses as your network changes • Client certificates (mTLS), custom headers, reverse proxies, Cloudflare Tunnels, and self-signed certificates • No server? Local Library mode plays music stored directly on your device ARTWORK THAT MOVES • Bring covers to life with animated artwork in Now Playing and album views • Display animated artwork on the Lock Screen on supported devices and system versions • Play animated WebP covers from your library • Add custom video artwork to individual songs or complete albums • Dynamic interface colors inspired by the current artwork PLAYBACK, DONE RIGHT • Lossless FLAC and ALAC, plus MP3, AAC, WAV, and AIFF • Gapless playback and customizable crossfade • BPM-aware AutoMix transitions with a smooth adaptive fallback • ReplayGain normalization with clipping protection • Separate streaming and download quality for Wi-Fi and cellular • Smart pre-caching for smooth, responsive playback • 10-band equalizer with 18 presets, custom presets, Simple and Advanced modes, and Equalizer APO import LYRICS THAT KEEP UP • Synced lyrics with real-time, line-by-line highlighting • Lyrics from your server, embedded tags, LRC files, and LRCLIB • On-device translation into your preferred language • Adjustable timing, text size, and alignment REDISCOVER YOUR COLLECTION • Browse artists, albums, songs, genres, decades, and folders • Recently Played, Recently Added, Most Played, and Time Capsule • Song, Artist, and Album Radio • Smart playlists, favorites, hearts, and 5-star ratings • Fast library-wide search • Optional AudioMuse-AI for similar songs and Song Path • Optional Lidarr integration for discovering and adding music OFFLINE AND AROUND THE HOME • Download songs, albums, and playlists • Auto-download and smart playlist downloads • Full Offline Mode when no connection is available • Favorites, ratings, play counts, and scrobbles sync when you reconnect • AirPlay, Sonos, and speaker groups • Bit-perfect UPnP/DLNA casting with native DSD passthrough on compatible renderers • Navidrome Jukebox mode MAKE NARJO YOURS • Dark, Light, and System themes with customizable accent colors • Personalize the player, Home screen, tab bar, and artwork presentation • Sleep timer and configurable swipe gestures • Sport Mode can match playback to your target running BPM EVERYWHERE YOU LISTEN • iPhone and iPad • Apple TV for big-screen listening • Apple Watch with volume and playback controls, library browsing, Up Next, and offline playback • CarPlay • Home Screen and Lock Screen widgets • Siri and Shortcuts • Available in 11 languages PRIVATE BY DESIGN Narjo connects directly to your server. Your credentials stay securely stored in the Keychain. Narjo contains no advertising and does not use your activity for cross-app behavioral tracking. A compatible server account is required for server features. Availability may vary by server, configuration, device, operating system, and audio renderer. Your collection deserves a player as expressive as the music itself. Download Narjo and hear—and see—your music in a new way. TERMS & PRIVACY Terms of Use: https://narjomusic.com/terms Privacy Policy: https://narjomusic.com/privacy

Screenshots

LyrPlay4 screens
Narjo4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Narjo at 82% against LyrPlay's 50%. Narjo also leads on update cadence (every 11 days vs monthly). LyrPlay's advantage is monetization model (free vs freemium) and rating (4.5 vs 4.3). On price, 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. LyrPlay sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Narjo sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

LyrPlay holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 4.3. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 19 and 34 respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 50% of LyrPlay's written reviews are positive against 82% of Narjo's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

LyrPlay ships an update monthly, Narjo every 11 days. The most recent releases landed on October 3, 2026 and October 17, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
LyrPlay versus Narjo: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterLyrPlayNarjo
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.5 (19 ratings) — better4.3 (34 ratings)
Positive reviews50.0% of reviews81.6% of reviews — better
Number of ratings1934 — better
Update frequencyMonthlyEvery 11 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree — betterFreemium
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple TV — betteriPhone, iPad, Apple Watch
Requires iOS15.6 — better16.0
Further details — not scored
Size7 MB79 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperEric MillerArturo Yumpo

Customer experience

LyrPlay

All ratings19 ratings
Positive84.2%
Neutral5.3%
Negative10.5%
Written reviews4 reviews
Positive50.0%
Neutral25.0%
Negative25.0%

Narjo

All ratings34 ratings
Positive82.4%
Neutral0.0%
Negative17.6%
Written reviews38 reviews
Positive81.6%
Neutral5.3%
Negative13.2%

In-app purchases

1 purchases

LyrPlay

One-time1
  • Icon Pack$2.99
2 purchases

Narjo

Subscriptions1
  • Narjo Pro Monthly7 Days trial$1.991 Month
One-time1
  • Narjo Lifetime$29.99

Questions

Is LyrPlay free?
LyrPlay is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Narjo free?
Narjo is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, LyrPlay or Narjo?
LyrPlay is rated higher. LyrPlay averages 4.5 out of 5 from 19 ratings, while Narjo averages 4.3 from 34 ratings.
Do LyrPlay or Narjo have ads?
Neither LyrPlay nor Narjo shows ads.
Which is updated more often, LyrPlay or Narjo?
LyrPlay ships an update monthly, and Narjo every 11 days. Most recently, LyrPlay was updated on October 3, 2026 and Narjo on October 17, 2026.

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