Comparison

Mobile MA vs aud

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

Head to head
About

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.

Highlights
  • Real-time multiroom audio control
  • Full music library browsing
  • Lightning-fast search
  • Offline library cache
  • Secure token storage
  • Customizable appearance
Features
Read 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/

About

aud

This app combines your local music files with your Apple Music library into a single, beautifully organized interface. It offers advanced playback features and seamless import options from various sources, all while respecting your existing library structure.

Highlights
  • Combines local files and Apple Music
  • Organized library browsing
  • Multiple import methods
  • Supports various audio formats
  • Advanced playback controls
  • Offline functionality
Features
Read full description

Your music. On your devices. Beautifully. aud-io is a local-first music player for the music you actually own, with the option of adding your Apple Music library alongside it. Two libraries, one beautiful app, never merged and never overwritten. EVERYONE ELSE MAKES YOU CHOOSE Local players cannot touch Apple Music. Apple Music players cannot touch your files. aud-io does both, and keeps a hard line between them, so your collection stays exactly as you built it. MEET THE SHELF Cover Flow, rebuilt. Scroll through your own artwork, from your own files, and tap to play. Browse by artist, album, song, playlist or genre when you know what you want, and use The Shelf when you do not. BRING YOUR LIBRARY IN, YOUR WAY Import from Files, share or AirDrop from anywhere, watch a folder, open a ZIP, or send your library straight from your Mac over local Wi-Fi. Peer to peer, device to device, no cloud in between. aud-io reads your existing metadata and artwork. FLAC, ALAC, M4A, MP3, AAC, WAV, AIFF, Opus, Ogg Vorbis and CAF. BUILT FOR PEOPLE WHO LISTEN CAREFULLY The free player handles your whole library, in every format, at up to 256 kbps. Pro removes the ceiling: every file at its native resolution, bit-perfect to your DAC, with automatic source rate matching, true gapless, crossfade, a 10-band EQ and EBU R128 loudness normalisation. EVERYWHERE YOU ACTUALLY LISTEN iPhone and iPad, with a native Mac app available separately. Apple Watch as a remote. CarPlay for your library and playlists on the road. AirPlay to your speakers. Home screen widgets for Now Playing, Recently Added and The Shelf. Use aud-io on iPhone as a remote for the Mac from anywhere in the house. BRING IN A WHOLE COLLECTION Import CDs. Connect a NAS. Point aud-io at the library you already have, wherever it lives, without running server software. DISCOVER MORE IN THE MUSIC YOU ALREADY HAVE Find deep cuts. Surface recently added music. Group by genre. Build mixes from the files on your device, generated on your device. OPTIONAL, AND ONLY IF YOU WANT IT Add your own Google Gemini key and aud-io can curate mixes, suggest radio-style listening and enrich music details. The key lives in your device Keychain. Your audio is never uploaded. Without a key, it is simply off. Apple Music, if you connect it, uses your own subscription through Apple's system permission. NO ACCOUNT. NO SUBSCRIPTION. The free player is a capable local music player. One Pro purchase unlocks advanced listening. There is no recurring fee, and there never will be. Pro on iPhone and iPad is a separate purchase from Pro on Mac. Works fully offline. No aud-io server. No third-party analytics or advertising SDKs. Made in Sydney by DIGITAL x DESIGN, for people who still care about their music library.

Screenshots

Mobile MA4 screens
aud4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: aud at 5.0 against Mobile MA's 2.8. aud also leads on review sentiment (100% vs 67%). Mobile MA's advantage is monetization model (free vs freemium) and ratings volume (10 vs 2). On price, update cadence, 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. Mobile MA sells 4 one-off in-app purchases and aud sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

aud holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 2.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Mobile MA has 10 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 67% of Mobile MA's written reviews are positive against 100% of aud's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Mobile MA ships an update every 5 days, aud every 9 days. Both last shipped on October 25, 2026.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Mobile MA versus aud: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMobile MAaud
PriceFreeFree
Rating2.8 (10 ratings)5.0 (2 ratings) — better
Positive reviews66.7% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings10 — better2
Update frequencyEvery 5 days — betterEvery 9 days
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree — betterFreemium
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, Apple Watch — betteriPhone, iPad, Apple Watch
Requires iOS18.6 — better26.5
Further details — not scored
Size45 MB129 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSven Uwe HanoldSanjiv Sathiah

Customer experience

Mobile MA

All ratings10 ratings
Positive40.0%
Neutral10.0%
Negative50.0%
Written reviews3 reviews
Positive66.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative33.3%

aud

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

4 purchases

Mobile MA

One-time4
  • Song$2.99
  • Album$3.99
  • Anthology$8.99
Show 1 more
  • Unlimited$22.99
1 purchases

aud

One-time1
  • aud-io Pro$4.99

Questions

Is Mobile MA free?
Mobile MA is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is aud free?
aud is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Mobile MA or aud?
aud is rated higher. Mobile MA averages 2.8 out of 5 from 10 ratings, while aud averages 5.0 from 2 ratings.
Do Mobile MA or aud have ads?
Neither Mobile MA nor aud shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Mobile MA or aud?
Mobile MA ships an update every 5 days, and aud every 9 days. Most recently, Mobile MA was updated on October 25, 2026 and aud on October 25, 2026.

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