Comparison

AO vs Playlist Maker

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

Head to head
About

AO

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AO-ringo Player is a music player designed specifically for continuously playing albums from your Apple Music library. [Key Features] ・Continuous Album Playback: When the last track of an album ends, the app automatically transitions to the next album and continues playing. ・Seamless Transitions: Preloading minimizes wait time when switching between albums. ・Offline Mode: Automatically detects tracks saved on your device and keeps playing without interruption even without a network connection. ・Library Integration: Works directly with your Apple Music library and playlists. ・Favorites: Add artists and playlists to your favorites and quickly access them sorted by play count. ・Custom Themes: Choose from Auto (follows OS settings), fixed Light/Dark, or custom color themes from the appearance settings (※ options other than Auto require an in-app purchase).

About

Playlist Maker

Features
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Tell it a moment. It makes the playlist. Type what you want to hear, in your own words. "Monsoon evening on the balcony." "Shoegaze, but gentle." "Like Fleetwood Mac." "90s Bollywood drive." Mixtape builds a playlist for it and saves it to your Apple Music library, where it stays. MADE FROM WHAT YOU ACTUALLY LISTEN TO Mixtape reads your Apple Music listening and builds around it. Ask for a rainy evening and you get the artists you already love, not a generic mood playlist that could belong to anybody. Ask for something new and it stretches, but it stretches from you. SAY ANYTHING A moment. A mood. An artist you want more of. A genre. A decade. A language. A thing you are about to do. If you can describe it, it is a valid request. HEAR IT BEFORE YOU KEEP IT Every playlist arrives complete, and you can play any song from it right there, thirty seconds at a time. Remove what does not fit. Drag songs into the order you want. Keep it only when it is right. IT IS A REAL PLAYLIST Saved mixtapes go into your Apple Music library as proper playlists, with their own artwork. They play on your phone, your Mac, your car, your speaker, your watch. They work when Mixtape is not open and they stay if you delete it. YOUR SHELF Every mixtape you keep stays in Mixtape too, as a cassette you can start with one tap. Put them in folders once there are enough to sort. ASK SIRI "Make a playlist with Mixtape." Siri asks what you want to hear, builds it, and starts playing, without opening the app. ON YOUR HOME SCREEN One small widget holding one mixtape: the latest one you made, or a particular one you pin there. Tap it and the music starts. NO SUBSCRIPTION Mixtape does not charge a monthly or yearly fee. Making playlists is free and unlimited. Keeping one costs a tape, tapes are bought once, and they never expire. Nothing renews, and nothing is taken away if you stop. An Apple Music subscription is required to save playlists to your library. Terms of Use: https://playlistmaker.app/terms/ Privacy Policy: https://playlistmaker.app/privacy/

Screenshots

AO4 screens
Playlist Maker4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Playlist Maker at daily against AO's weekly. AO's advantage is iOS requirement (17.6 vs 26.0). 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. AO sells 3 one-off in-app purchases and Playlist Maker sells 3 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

AO ships an update weekly, Playlist Maker daily. The most recent releases landed on October 20, 2026 and October 14, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 4 level
AO versus Playlist Maker: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterAOPlaylist Maker
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyWeeklyDaily — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad — better
Requires iOS17.6 — better26.0
Further details — not scored
Size13 MB18 MB
Age rating4+12+
DeveloperFujishima TomokazuMohit Nandwani

In-app purchases

3 purchases

AO

One-time3
  • Coffee Support$0.99
  • Premium Coffee Support$1.99
  • Coffee & Cake Support$3.99
3 purchases

Playlist Maker

One-time3
  • 10 Tapes$2.99
  • 25 Tapes$5.99
  • 50 Tapes$9.99

Questions

Is AO free?
AO is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Playlist Maker free?
Playlist Maker is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do AO or Playlist Maker have ads?
Neither AO nor Playlist Maker shows ads.
Which is updated more often, AO or Playlist Maker?
AO ships an update weekly, and Playlist Maker daily. Most recently, AO was updated on October 20, 2026 and Playlist Maker on October 14, 2026.

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