Comparison

Kew vs Photon Player

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

Head to head
About

Kew

This app offers a curated video watching experience, replacing algorithmic feeds with a user-controlled queue. Watch videos one by one, on your own terms, without distractions like recommendations or autoplay. It functions as a reading list for video content.

Highlights
  • User-built video queue
  • No algorithmic recommendations
  • No autoplay or infinite scroll
  • Watch videos in order
  • Search for any video
  • Multiple queues with premium
Read full description

Watch with intention. Kew replaces algorithmic feeds with a queue you build yourself and watch in order. No recommendations, no autoplay, no infinite scroll, nothing designed to exploit your attention. Time well spent, not time spent. How Kew works Connect YouTube and Vimeo, add videos from the creators you follow, or search for something new. They go into your queue, and you watch them one at a time, on your own terms. It's a reading list for video, not a feed. Kew+ Upgrade to Kew+ for multiple queues, a private journal to reflect on what you watched, watch insights, gentle personal limits, more skips, and premium themes. By downloading Kew, you agree to Apple's standard Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Photon Player

This app unifies your media library from various servers, cloud storage, and live TV subscriptions into a single, accessible interface. Enjoy seamless playback with support for high-quality formats and offline downloads.

Highlights
  • Connects to Plex, Jellyfin, Emby, and more
  • Supports SMB, NFS, FTP, WebDAV, and UPnP shares
  • Live TV with EPG and channel lists
  • Dolby Vision and HDR playback
  • Offline downloads with Pro subscription
  • Handoff and Spotlight integration
  • Cross-platform support (iOS, iPadOS, macOS, tvOS)
Features
Read full description

Photon is a native player for the library you already own. Connect your media servers, your cloud and network storage, and your Live TV subscription, and everything you can watch appears in one place — on iPhone, iPad, Apple TV and Mac, from a single purchase. YOUR OWN LIBRARY, TOGETHER • Works with Plex, Jellyfin, Emby, Photon and Silo • Connect a server free, or as many as you like with Pro. Home and Search bring them all together; the Library tab keeps each source's own shelves separate, so you can still ask what is on one server. • Play straight from an SMB, NFS, FTP or WebDAV share, a UPnP server on your network with no media server at all • Live TV from an Xtream Codes subscription, M3U: a full programme guide, favourites, and a channel list built for thousands of channels • Open a video from Files or the Finder and it becomes a title like any other — with a resume point, artwork and a name you can match against your servers AS IT WAS MADE • Dolby Vision and HDR, with AVPlayer driving the display for real HDR output • MKV and 4K play as they are. Nothing is quietly downscaled or re-encoded behind your back. • Subtitles drawn as overlays, never burned into the picture • Standing choices for audio language, subtitle language, and when subtitles should come on at all • Skip intros and credits, and go straight into the next episode EVERYWHERE YOU WATCH • Download for offline with Pro. Transfers carry on while you are elsewhere, with a Live Activity on the Lock Screen and a notice when a title lands. • Handoff picks a film up on the next device at the frame you left it • Spotlight opens a title directly • Top Shelf on Apple TV, a real menu bar on the Mac, and one design across all four platforms BUILT FOR THE PLATFORM Written in SwiftUI for iOS, tvOS, macOS and visionOS, with full Dynamic Type, VoiceOver labels on every control, and Reduce Motion respected throughout. There is no account to create and no service of ours in the path: Photon talks to your servers and to your own iCloud, and to nothing else. PHOTON PRO The free app is the whole player: one media server and one Live TV subscription, every drive and network share, and every format — 4K, MKV, Dolby Vision, TrueHD and DTS — with browsing, search, Handoff and SharePlay, no advertising and nothing to sign up for. Pro adds: • Every source at once: as many servers and Live TV subscriptions as you like, together in Home and Search • Downloads, for watching offline • AirPlay to an Apple TV or any AirPlay screen • Your servers, settings and the way you have arranged Home, on every device you sign in on Available monthly, yearly, or as a one-off Lifetime purchase, with a free week on either subscription. One purchase covers iPhone, iPad, Apple TV and Mac. Photon plays the media you already have on servers and storage you control. It is an independent client and is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by Jellyfin, Emby or Plex. Terms of Use (EULA): https://photon.oliverwalton.uk/terms/ Privacy Policy: https://photon.oliverwalton.uk/privacy/

Screenshots

Kew4 screens
Photon Player4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Photon Player at daily against Kew's weekly. Photon Player also leads on device support (5 vs 3). Kew's advantage is ratings volume (3 vs 1) and iOS requirement (15.1 vs 26.0). On price, rating, 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. Kew sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month and Photon Player sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Kew against 5.0 for Photon Player. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 3 and 1 respectively.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Kew ships an update weekly, Photon Player daily. Both last shipped on October 31, 2026.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Kew versus Photon Player: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterKewPhoton Player
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (3 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings3 — better1
Update frequencyWeeklyDaily — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreemiumFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, Vision Pro — better
Requires iOS15.1 — better26.0
Further details — not scored
Size43 MB37 MB
Age rating12+4+
DeveloperJacob FeldOliver Walton

Customer experience

Kew

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Photon Player

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Kew

Subscriptions2
  • Kew+ Monthly$2.991 Month
  • Kew+ Annual$24.991 Year
3 purchases

Photon Player

Subscriptions2
  • Photon Pro Monthly$1.991 Month
  • Photon Pro Yearly$14.991 Year
One-time1
  • Photon Pro Lifetime$49.99

Questions

Is Kew free?
Kew is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Photon Player free?
Photon Player is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Kew or Photon Player?
Kew and Photon Player are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 3 and 1 ratings respectively.
Do Kew or Photon Player have ads?
Neither Kew nor Photon Player shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Kew or Photon Player?
Kew ships an update weekly, and Photon Player daily. Most recently, Kew was updated on October 31, 2026 and Photon Player on October 31, 2026.

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