Comparison

SparkTune vs Sortwave

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

Head to head
About

SparkTune

Features
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SparkTune is a private music player for your own audio files. Import songs and folders, organize your library, and listen without a streaming subscription. Your music stays yours, with playback controls built for everyday listening. Features: Import MP3s and other supported audio files Add songs from Files, iCloud Drive, external drives, or shared attachments Browse by songs, albums, artists, and playlists View lyrics when available Use favorites, play history, recently added, and most played collections Control playback speed, sleep timer, equalizer, and volume normalization Use CarPlay for safer listening in the car Sync your library across iPhone and iPad with SparkTune Pro SparkTune Pro unlocks unlimited imports, iCloud library sync, folder imports, backup/export tools, and advanced audio controls. SparkTune does not include a music subscription or streaming catalog. It is built for music files you own and choose to import.

About

Sortwave

Features
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Swipe music into place. Sortwave is a focused playlist-curation companion for Apple Music. Choose a playlist, listen to each full song, and decide what belongs without breaking your flow. Swipe right to keep a song. Route it up or down into playlists you already use. Mark favorites, shuffle your session, scrub through playback, undo a decision, or stop whenever you want. Sortwave queues your choices locally and applies them together when you choose Finish & Sync. Apple Music doesn’t allow third-party apps to directly delete arbitrary library songs. When you mark songs for removal, Sortwave places them in a clearly labeled Deleted Songs playlist and shows a short guide for completing deletion safely in Apple Music. Your original library stays under your control. Features: β€’ Full-song Apple Music playback β€’ Fast, gesture-first playlist decisions β€’ Two configurable quick-route playlists β€’ Favorite and unfavorite controls β€’ Interactive playback scrubber β€’ Shuffle, previous, next and undo controls β€’ Batched sync with a clear summary β€’ Session history and resilient local queueing β€’ Secure connection restoration β€’ No advertising or tracking An active Apple Music subscription may be required for full-song playback and library access. Sortwave is an independent app and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Apple.

Screenshots

SparkTune4 screens
Sortwave3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Sortwave at none against SparkTune's 1. Sortwave also leads on iOS requirement (17.0 vs 26.4). SparkTune's advantage is update cadence (every 3 days vs every 5 days) and device support (3 vs 1). On price and ads 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. SparkTune sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Sortwave asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

SparkTune ships an update every 3 days, Sortwave every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on October 5, 2026 and October 13, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences Β· 2 level
SparkTune versus Sortwave: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSparkTuneSortwave
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 3 days β€” betterEvery 5 days
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo β€” better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch β€” betteriPhone
Requires iOS26.417.0 β€” better
Further details β€” not scored
Size21 MB3 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSilestis LabsSooraj Sambasivam

In-app purchases

1 purchases

SparkTune

One-time1
  • SparkTune Pro$7.99
None

Sortwave

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is SparkTune free?
SparkTune is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Sortwave free?
Sortwave is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do SparkTune or Sortwave have ads?
Neither SparkTune nor Sortwave shows ads.
Which is updated more often, SparkTune or Sortwave?
SparkTune ships an update every 3 days, and Sortwave every 5 days. Most recently, SparkTune was updated on October 5, 2026 and Sortwave on October 13, 2026.

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