Comparison

b.sides vs Flaccy

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

Head to head
About

b.sides

Features
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Track the albums you love. Remember what you listened to. Build your personal music archive. b.sides is a music discovery and listening journal for people who care about albums. Search for records, write reviews, rate your listens, and organize albums into personal lists. Whether you’re discovering something new, revisiting a classic, or trying to keep track of your favorite releases, b.sides helps you build a deeper record of your music taste over time. Use b.sides to: β€’ Search albums and artists β€’ Write personal album reviews β€’ Rate albums you’ve listened to β€’ Create and manage album lists β€’ Keep track of your listening history β€’ Organize the music that matters to you b.sides is built for music fans who want more than a playlist. It’s a place to remember what you heard, what you loved, and why it mattered. Start your listening journal with b.sides.

About

Flaccy

This app plays your owned music files in high quality, supporting various lossless formats. It offers advanced audio features like a customizable equalizer, gapless playback, and synced lyrics. Organize your library, stream from servers, and enjoy a seamless listening experience across your Apple devices.

Highlights
  • Plays FLAC, ALAC, WAV, AIFF, MP3, AAC
  • Real equalizer with 10 bands
  • Gapless playback
  • Synced lyrics with video sharing
  • Last.fm scrobbling
  • Organized library with AI cleanup
  • Standalone Apple Watch app
Features
Read full description

Flaccy plays the music you own at full quality: FLAC, ALAC, WAV, AIFF, MP3 and AAC. A real equalizer, gapless playback, synced lyrics you can share as a video, Last.fm scrobbling, a full iPad layout and a standalone Apple Watch app. No account, no ads, and your files never leave your device. SEE EXACTLY WHAT YOU'RE HEARING β€’ Codec, bit depth and sample rate on every track, from CD quality to Hi-Res β€’ Gapless playback that honors your albums (exact for lossless files), with a queue that survives relaunches β€’ A built-in Listening Guide that explains what Bluetooth, AirPods and wired DACs really deliver. No snake oil A REAL EQUALIZER β€’ Drag the curve and hear it change, or switch to Advanced for up to ten bands with bells, shelves, filters and adjustable Q β€’ 16 presets and your own. Import Equalizer APO and AutoEq profiles to tune for your headphones β€’ A separate setting for every output: AirPods, a wired DAC, the speaker. Flaccy switches when you do β€’ Automatic headroom keeps boosts from clipping, and Hold to compare is level-matched, so louder never sounds better β€’ Works with every format and keeps playback gapless. Off or flat, the signal passes through untouched YOUR LIBRARY, ORGANIZED β€’ Bring music in from the Files app, USB, a NAS or any folder; Flaccy keeps your folder structure β€’ Messy filenames and scene releases are identified and cleaned up automatically (AI cleanup is included in the trial and in Lifetime) β€’ Albums, artists, songs and playlists with fast search, flexible sorting and large artwork you can replace with your own β€’ Duplicate songs are listed once, and Flaccy builds smart playlists from your own listening MADE FOR LISTENING β€’ Home picks up where you left off, with mixes made from your own listening and what you played on this day in years past β€’ Synced lyrics that fill in word by word when a song has word timing, with tap-to-seek and a timing control for songs that run off β€’ Share Lyrics: pick the lines you love and get a short video of them over the song itself, in four looks and four formats for Stories, posts and more β€’ Full controls on the Lock Screen and in the Dynamic Island, AirPlay and a sleep timer β€’ Light and dark appearance, and a Now Playing screen worth looking at BUILT FOR IPAD β€’ A sidebar for your library and every playlist, with Now Playing and Up Next in a column beside it β€’ Lyrics and the queue spread across the screen next to the artwork β€’ Keyboard shortcuts, the menu bar, pointer support and drag and drop: songs into Up Next or onto a playlist, audio files straight from Files YOUR SERVER, TOO β€’ Play from Navidrome, Flaccy Server or any OpenSubsonic server, over your home network or Tailscale β€’ Songs stream without filling your iPhone or iPad and download for offline when you want them β€’ One purchase covers iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple Watch SCROBBLE EVERYTHING β€’ Sign in with Last.fm and every play is scrobbled, even offline, with automatic retry β€’ Listening charts, artist bios and a wantlist for the records you're hunting β€’ Year in Music: shareable story cards and a poster of your listening year APPLE WATCH, NO PHONE NEEDED β€’ Sync tracks to your watch and play them offline β€’ A true standalone player with gapless playback, shuffle, repeat and AirPods controls β€’ Storage-smart sync that knows what fits TRY IT FREE Flaccy is free for 7 days from the first time you play your own music. After that, keep everything with a one-time Lifetime purchase, or choose the yearly plan. The yearly plan renews automatically unless canceled at least 24 hours before the end of the period; manage or cancel it in your Apple Account settings. Flaccy plays FLAC, ALAC, AAC, M4A, MP3, WAV, AIFF and CAF. Terms of Use: https://mako.midgarcorp.cc/terms/flaccy Privacy Policy: https://mako.midgarcorp.cc/privacy/flaccy Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

b.sides4 screens
Flaccy4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: b.sides at none against Flaccy's 3. b.sides also leads on iOS requirement (15.1 vs 18.6). Flaccy's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and update cadence (every 2 days vs monthly). On price there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price Β· Rating Β· Positive reviews Β· Number of ratings Β· Update frequency Β· Ads Β· In-app purchases Β· Monetization Β· Best chart rank Β· Devices Β· Requires iOS

CostPrice Β· In-app purchases Β· Ads Β· Monetization

Both are free to download. Flaccy sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $7.99 per year. b.sides asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

b.sides ships an update monthly, Flaccy every 2 days. Both last shipped on November 5, 2026.

Scorecard5 real differences Β· 3 level
b.sides versus Flaccy: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
Parameterb.sidesFlaccy
PriceFreeFree
Positive reviewsβ€”66.7% of reviews
Update frequencyMonthlyEvery 2 days β€” better
AdsYesNo β€” better
In-app purchasesNo β€” betterYes
Monetizationβ€”Free with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch β€” better
Requires iOS15.1 β€” better18.6
Further details β€” not scored
Size53 MB29 MB
Age rating12+4+
DeveloperDaniel LeoMidgar Oy

In-app purchases

None

b.sides

No in-app purchases

3 purchases

Flaccy

Subscriptions1
  • Flaccy Pro Yearly$7.991 Year
One-time2
  • Flaccy Lifetime$34.99
  • Flaccy Lifetime Β· Welcome Back$34.99

Questions

Is b.sides free?
b.sides is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Flaccy free?
Flaccy is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do b.sides or Flaccy have ads?
b.sides shows ads; Flaccy does not.
Which is updated more often, b.sides or Flaccy?
b.sides ships an update monthly, and Flaccy every 2 days. Most recently, b.sides was updated on November 5, 2026 and Flaccy on November 5, 2026.

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