Comparison

Shelv Player vs Dromify

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

Head to head
About

Shelv Player

Stream and download your personal music library from a compatible server. Enjoy features like synced lyrics, smart mixes, and offline listening across multiple Apple devices.

Highlights
  • Stream personal music library
  • Offline downloads
  • Synced lyrics
  • Smart mixes
  • Gapless playback
  • Cross-device queue sync
  • CarPlay and AirPlay support
Features
Read full description

Shelv is a native music player for Navidrome and Subsonic-compatible servers, on iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple TV. Stream your own music library, download it for offline listening, add radio stations, and enjoy smooth playback with gapless, transcoding and smart pre-cache. Shelv is built around albums and artists, with smart mixes, synced lyrics, listening insights and optional Last.fm. Features: - Album and artist focused library - Artist pages with Top Songs, Albums, Singles & EPs and Live albums - Smart Mixes, Instant Mix and Infinity Mix - Random Albums and Shuffle All - Last.fm for mixes and Top Songs (optional) - Offline Downloads - Radio Stations - Listening Insights - Synced Lyrics with LRCLIB - Gapless Playback - Transcoding - ReplayGain - Smart Pre-cache - Queue Sync across devices - Scrobbling - Multiple Servers - CarPlay, Siri and Shortcuts - AirPlay - iCloud Sync Shelv requires your own Navidrome or Subsonic-compatible music server.

About

Dromify

This native music player connects to your self-hosted Navidrome or Subsonic server, allowing you to stream and manage your entire music library across all your Apple devices. Enjoy a beautiful browsing experience, robust playback features, and Siri integration without ads or subscriptions.

Highlights
  • Connects to Navidrome/Subsonic servers
  • Browse albums, artists, genres, playlists
  • Create and edit playlists
  • Supports lossless FLAC playback
  • CarPlay and Siri integration
  • Available on all Apple devices
  • Customizable themes
Features
Read full description

Dromify is a fast, native music player for your own music collection. Connect it to your Navidrome server (or any Subsonic-compatible server) and play your whole library on every Apple device you own. No subscriptions. No ads. No tracking. Just your music. YOUR LIBRARY, BEAUTIFULLY BROWSABLE • Albums, artists, genres, playlists and favourites • Fast search across your whole collection • Create and edit playlists that sync back to your server • Sort and filter your library, with pull-to-refresh to pick up anything new PLAYBACK THAT JUST WORKS • Streams the formats your server supports, including lossless FLAC, with a format and bitrate badge on Now Playing • Separate streaming quality for Wi-Fi and mobile data • Optional stream cache to ride out patchy connections • Queue management: Play Next, Add to Queue, reorder, shuffle and repeat • Lock Screen, Control Centre and AirPlay support CARPLAY Browse Recent, Playlists, Library, Favourites and Search from your dashboard, with full Now Playing controls, Up Next and one-tap Siri. SIRI AND SHORTCUTS Say "Play [album or artist] on Dromify", or use your voice to play and pause, skip, go back, shuffle, change repeat, play random songs or favourite the song that's playing. EVERY APPLE DEVICE • iPhone and iPad • Mac: a proper Mac app, with a sidebar, song tables, keyboard shortcuts and a resizable Now Playing window • Apple TV: your library on the big screen, controlled with the Siri Remote • Apple Vision Pro • Apple Watch (with Dromify Pro) MAKE IT YOURS Choose from seven colour themes (Electric, Evergreen, Purple Rain, Jazz, Soul, Midnight and Neon), in light or dark mode. PRIVATE AND SECURE Dromify talks only to your server. Passwords are stored in the Keychain and never leave your device. HTTPS is preferred, and if you do use plain HTTP, Dromify tells you clearly. DROMIFY PRO A single one-off purchase unlocks everything, on all your Apple devices, for good. Family Sharing is supported. • Offline downloads: keep tracks, albums and playlists on your device, including for CarPlay • Standalone Apple Watch: download music to your watch and leave your phone at home • Multiple servers: save several servers and switch between them • iCloud server sync: servers you add on one device show up on your others (passwords stay on each device) • Gapless playback: seamless transitions for live albums and DJ mixes • Sleep timer: playback stops after a time you set • Seasonal filters: keep genres like Christmas music hidden until their season comes round WHAT YOU NEED Dromify is a player. It doesn't come with any music. You'll need access to a Navidrome server or another Subsonic API–compatible music server. Navidrome is free and open source, and runs on a NAS, a Raspberry Pi or almost anything else. Dromify isn't affiliated with or endorsed by the Navidrome or Subsonic projects.

Screenshots

Shelv Player4 screens
Dromify4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Shelv Player at 100% against Dromify's 0%. Shelv Player also leads on rating (5.0 vs 1.0) and in-app purchases (none vs 4). Dromify's advantage is device support (6 vs 4). On price and ads 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. Dromify sells 4 one-off in-app purchases. Shelv Player asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Shelv Player holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 1.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Shelv Player has 7 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 100% of Shelv Player's written reviews are positive against 0% of Dromify's.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
Shelv Player versus Dromify: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterShelv PlayerDromify
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (7 ratings) — better1.0 (1 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews — better0.0% of reviews
Number of ratings7 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeks—
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TViPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, Apple Watch, Vision Pro — better
Requires iOS18.0 — better26.1
Further details — not scored
Size25 MB11 MB
Age rating+44+
DeveloperVasco KuglerTallahootie Ltd

Customer experience

Shelv Player

All ratings7 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews3 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Dromify

All ratings1 ratings
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%

In-app purchases

None

Shelv Player

No in-app purchases

4 purchases

Dromify

One-time4
  • Small Tip$0.99
  • Medium Tip$2.99
  • Large Tip$4.99
Show 1 more
  • Dromify Pro$6.99

Questions

Is Shelv Player free?
Shelv Player is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Dromify free?
Dromify is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Shelv Player or Dromify?
Shelv Player is rated higher. Shelv Player averages 5.0 out of 5 from 7 ratings, while Dromify averages 1.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Shelv Player or Dromify have ads?
Neither Shelv Player nor Dromify shows ads.

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