Ferric vs Spinwax
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Ferric
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Ferric brings back the cassette tape as a real music player for your iPhone. Not a gimmick, not just a skin over your library. A full cassette experience where you build the tapes, curate the tracks, and watch the reels spin while your music plays. MAKE YOUR TAPES Start by picking a shell. Chrome, midnight black, amber, clear, oxide brown, electric blue, or retro. Each one has its own look and feel. Give your cassette a name, then fill both sides with songs from your music library or Apple Music. Side A and Side B are real. Flip the tape during playback just like you would with a physical cassette. The progress carries over correctly, the reels spin the right direction, and the tape fills up as you listen. DECORATE THEM Every cassette has a drawing surface you can paint on. Use the pen tool to write labels, draw art, or scribble whatever feels right. Swap between colors, adjust the brush size, drop in stickers, or grab the eraser. You can decorate the front, the back, and the top spine. It is your tape. PLAY YOUR MUSIC The player shows your cassette up close with both reels animating in real time. The supply reel shrinks and the takeup reel grows as the tape runs, using the same physics as a physical cassette. The reels spin faster near the end of the tape and slower near the start. Tap forward or back to skip tracks. Hold to seek. The speed ramps up the longer you hold, so scrubbing through a long tape stays quick. Lock screen controls and background playback work the same as any music app. BUILT-IN WEAR Every cassette accumulates wear as you listen. Scratches and surface marks appear gradually, placed deterministically based on each cassette's own wear pattern. No two tapes age the same way. Heavy-use tapes start to show it. YOUR LIBRARY All your cassettes live in a grid view. Tap any one to see its track listing in a style that mirrors the J-cards that used to come inside cassette cases. From there you can flip to the other side, launch the player, or open the drawing editor. WHAT FERRIC IS NOT It is not a streaming service. It does not generate playlists or make recommendations. It is a deliberate, analog-feeling way to organize and play music you already own or have access to through Apple Music. Building a cassette takes a minute. That is the point.
Spinwax
Effortlessly identify vinyl records from a photo, even without a barcode. Get pricing estimates, track your collection, and avoid buying duplicates. Organize your records by condition, value, and more.
- Identify vinyl from photos
- Scan covers, labels, and runout codes
- Get market value estimates
- Flag duplicate records
- Grade disc and sleeve separately
- Organize records into collections
- Export collection data
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Stop scanning records one by one. SpinWax identifies vinyl from a photo — no barcode, no typing. Point the camera at a crate and keep shooting: covers, labels, runout codes. Every record comes back identified, priced and filed in your collection while you keep digging. WHY COLLECTORS USE IT • No barcode needed. A pressing from the sixties never had one. SpinWax reads the cover art, the label and the matrix/runout code in the dead wax. • The exact pressing, not just the album. An original and a reissue can be worth ten times apart. SpinWax matches catalog number, year, country and label, and shows the other pressings with their prices so you can pick the right one. • Market value on the spot. Every record comes back with an estimate based on what copies are actually listed for, so you know before you reach for your wallet. • Duplicates flagged as you shoot. The app tells you when a record is already on your shelf, so you never buy the same one twice. • Condition done properly. Disc and sleeve are graded separately on the Goldmine scale, and the value follows the grade. YOUR COLLECTION, ORGANIZED • File records into collections that match your real crates and boxes. • A wall of covers or a detailed list — whichever you prefer. • A dashboard for the whole shelf: what it is worth today, what leads it, how it moved over the last 30 days. • Collection health: what needs a second look, what is missing photos, what is ungraded, where the duplicates are. • Search, filter and sort by artist, year, genre, label, country, grade or value. • Export to a spreadsheet any time. It is your collection and your data. BUILT FOR THE FLEA MARKET Bulk scanning was made for the floor: shoot record after record and let the queue price them in the background while the box total climbs. Rare finds are called out the moment they turn up, and everything is saved even if you walk out of signal. TEN FREE SCANS Start with ten free scans — no account needed. SpinWax Pro unlocks unlimited scanning, bulk mode, the cover wall and smart collections. SPINWAX PRO SUBSCRIPTION Payment is charged to your Apple Account at confirmation of purchase. The subscription renews automatically unless it is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. You can manage or cancel it any time in your Apple Account settings. Privacy Policy: https://spinwaxs.com/privacy.html Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: Spinwax at every 4 days against Ferric's every 5 weeks. On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support 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
Both are free to download. Ferric sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Spinwax sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Ferric ships an update every 5 weeks, Spinwax every 4 days. Both last shipped on October 31, 2026.
| Parameter | Ferric | Spinwax |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | — | 5.0 (2 ratings) — better |
| Number of ratings | — | 2 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 5 weeks | Every 4 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | — | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 28 MB | 35 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Faith Branch Software LLC | Artem Osetrov |
In-app purchases
Ferric
- Ferric Premium$4.99
Spinwax
- Spinwax Pro (Monthly)7 Days trial$9.991 Month
- Spinwax Pro (Yearly)7 Days trial$59.991 Year









