Comparison

Retro vs Music Flex Player

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

Head to head
About

Retro

Relive the golden age of music players with this app that mimics early 2000s desktop interfaces. Enjoy your local music library with advanced playback features, customizable themes, and CarPlay support.

Highlights
  • Classic UI with pixel-art and scrolling titles
  • CarPlay support for in-car listening
  • Home Screen Widget for quick access
  • Lossless, gapless local playback engine
  • 10-band graphic equalizer
  • Hi-Res audio output support
  • Synced lyrics (LRCLIB) integration
  • Last.fm scrobbling
Features
Read full description

RetroAmp is a local music player for iOS that brings back the look and feel of early-2000s desktop music players. No streaming. No subscriptions. Just your music files, played on your device. === Features === ▸ Classic UI Pixel-art sprites, monospaced fonts, scrolling titles, a real-time spectrum analyzer, and a digital clock display. The desktop music player aesthetic, rebuilt for iPhone. ▸ CarPlay Support [NEW] Access your RetroAmp library in the car. Browse by Artists / Albums / Playlists / Radio with a full Now Playing screen. ▸ Home Screen Widget [NEW] View your current playlist on your home screen. The widget reflects your skin's colors and frame. Tap a track to play it. ▸ Full Local Playback Engine Lossless, gapless playback powered by AVAudioEngine. Supports FLAC / ALAC (M4A) / WAV / AAC / MP3 / OGG / AIFF. Imported files are stored at their original quality. ▸ 10-Band Graphic Equalizer 10 bands from 60Hz to 16kHz with ±12dB range and preamp. Built-in presets included. ▸ Hi-Res Output Supports up to 384kHz/32-bit. Connect a USB-C DAC to hear your files at their native quality. ▸ Media Library Quick access via sidebar to Audio / Most Played / Recently Added / Recently Modified / Recently Played / Never Played / Top Rated / Podcasts / Video. Switch between grid view and list view. ▸ Playlist Editor Add to queue, reorder with drag and drop, save as named playlists, jump to the playing track, shuffle, repeat. ▸ Synced Lyrics (LRCLIB) Fetches time-synced lyrics from the open lyrics database LRCLIB. No account required. ▸ Last.fm Scrobbling Automatically scrobble your listening history. Offline scrobbles are queued and sent when back online. ▸ Custom Themes Import .wsz skin files to change the look. One slot available for free. === In-App Purchases === Free to use. Expand your theme slots with a one-time purchase: Lite ($0.99) – 4 slots Pro ($4.99) – Unlimited One-time purchases, not subscriptions. Family Sharing supported. === Privacy === No personal data is collected. All data stays on your device. Last.fm and LRCLIB integrations are optional. Support: haruhi@icloud.com

About

Music Flex Player

Features
Read full description

Music Flex is a music player for people who own their music, and want an EASY way to put it on their iPhone. Organize your music files as you like. Your files stay exactly where you put them, in the folders you chose, and they play whether or not you have a signal. Everything lives on your device. Files view shows your organized music in the app. Organizing by folders gives you the flexibility to create your music catalog in any way you want. Of course, there are the usual Artists, Albums and Playlists views as well. Getting music on is the easy part Open Wi-Fi Connect and Music Flex shows you a web address. Open it in a browser on any computer and drag your music straight in — whole folders at a time. From that same web page, you can browse, rename, move, download, and even play your library through the browser over local network. Alternatively, you can add files through the Files app, or with a cable through Finder. Put music into the Music Flex folder and the app automatically recognizes the additions. A real player Play, shuffle and repeat, create unlimited playlists, lock-screen and headphone controls, and background playback are all here. Everything you'd expect from a music player — geared toward the person who wants to control their own music library. Plays MP3, M4A, FLAC, AAC, WAV and AIFF. No tracking. No analytics. No account. Free to try with 25 songs. One optional in-app purchase unlocks your whole library — buy once, no subscription.

Screenshots

Retro4 screens
Music Flex Player4 screens

Verdict

The call

Retro and Music Flex Player are too close to call on the numbers: across 5 compared parameters — price, ads, in-app purchases and device support among them — neither pulls far enough ahead to decide it. What separates them is feature set and interface, not measurable difference.

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. Retro sells 2 one-off in-app purchases and Music Flex Player sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ScorecardNo meaningful differences
Retro versus Music Flex Player: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterRetroMusic Flex Player
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (1 ratings) — better—
Number of ratings1 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeks—
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhoneiPhone
Requires iOS17.0 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size5 MB5 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperKIYOUMI AGEMURATom KRUK

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Retro

One-time2
  • Lite Skin Pack$0.99
  • Pro Skin Pack$4.99
1 purchases

Music Flex Player

One-time1
  • Unlimited Library$8.99

Questions

Is Retro free?
Retro is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Music Flex Player free?
Music Flex Player is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Retro or Music Flex Player have ads?
Neither Retro nor Music Flex Player shows ads.

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