Comparison

Lume vs Caviar Media Client

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

Head to head
About

Lume

This app is a native IPTV player for Apple devices that transforms your existing playlists into a cinematic library. It supports live TV, movies, and series with detailed program guides, artwork, and ratings. Customize your viewing experience with profiles, favorites, and parental controls.

Highlights
  • Native Apple device design
  • Multiple playback engines
  • 4K HDR support
  • Full program guide
  • Season/episode tracking
  • Multiple user profiles
  • Parental controls
Features
Read full description

Lume is a beautiful, native IPTV player for iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, and Apple Vision Pro. Connect your Xtream Codes provider, add a Stalker portal, or import any M3U / M3U8 playlist, and Lume turns it into a fast, cinematic library of Live TV, Movies, and Series — with artwork, ratings, and a full program guide. Lume ships with no channels or content of its own. You bring your own subscription or playlist; Lume just makes it look and feel incredible. WHY LUME • Native on every Apple device — one app, designed for each screen • Four playback engines — KSPlayer, VLC, AVPlayer, and Lume Engine (beta) — with automatic fallback for maximum codec support • 4K HDR, hardware-accelerated, with Picture in Picture and AirPlay LIVE TV • Browse channels by category with logos and now / next EPG • Full program guide with a scrollable timeline • Multi-View — watch up to four channels at once, with a spotlight layout and switchable tiles • Custom XMLTV EPG sources on their own refresh schedule • Catch-up / time-shift and recently-watched zapping MOVIES & SERIES • Poster grids and cinematic detail pages • Ratings from IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes & Metacritic • Season / episode tracking with per-episode progress • Artwork, trailers, and cast from TMDB DOWNLOAD & WATCH OFFLINE • Save movies and episodes to your device for flights, trains, and dead zones • Downloads keep running while you use other apps • One Downloads screen to manage everything SUBTITLES & AUDIO • Search and load subtitles from OpenSubtitles without leaving the player • Switch audio and subtitle tracks per stream • Deinterlacing options for older SD channels (Lume Engine) MADE PERSONAL • Continue Watching, Favorites, Trending, and a For You rail tuned to your taste • Choose which rows appear on Home, and in what order • Hide and reorder categories and channels — in bulk, with search • Multiple profiles, each with its own history — synced across devices via iCloud • Parental controls with child profiles and PIN protection • Global search across everything, plus Skip Intro / Recap and Next Up auto-play WATCH YOUR WAY • Resume across devices; auto mark-as-watched • Optional Trakt scrobbling and history import • Hand off to Infuse, VLC, or VidHub — for movies, live TV, or both LUME PRO Lume is free to download. Lume Pro — a monthly subscription or a one-time lifetime unlock — adds unlimited playlists, offline downloads, Multi-View, multiple profiles, Trakt scrobbling, Next Up / Skip Intro, and the For You row. Bring your own legal IPTV subscription or playlist — Lume does not provide, sell, host, or recommend any content or providers.

About

Caviar Media Client

Read full description

Caviar is a modern media client for browsing and enjoying your personal media collection across iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, and Apple Vision Pro. Connect your compatible Jellyfin and Seerr servers to: - Browse movies, shows, seasons, and episodes - Search across your selected media libraries - Stream compatible content from your own server - Resume playback and track watched progress - Manage media requests - Download supported content for offline viewing - Customize playback, subtitles, quality, and library layouts Caviar does not provide media, subscriptions, or streaming services. A compatible user-configured server and authorized access to its content are required. Availability of features depends on your server configuration and media formats.

Screenshots

Lume4 screens
Caviar Media Client4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Caviar Media Client at none against Lume's 2. Lume's advantage is update cadence (every 5 days vs fortnightly) and iOS requirement (18.0 vs 26.0). On price, ads 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Lume sells 2 one-off in-app purchases. Caviar Media Client asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Lume ships an update every 5 days, Caviar Media Client fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 25, 2026 and October 11, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Lume versus Caviar Media Client: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterLumeCaviar Media Client
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.9 (43 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews85.7% of reviews—
Number of ratings43 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 5 days — betterFortnightly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TViPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, Vision Pro — better
Requires iOS18.0 — better26.0
Further details — not scored
Size120 MB30 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperPhilipp BischoffFionn Murphy

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Lume

One-time2
  • Lume Pro (Monthly)$0.99
  • Lume Pro (Lifetime)$9.99
None

Caviar Media Client

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Lume free?
Lume is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Caviar Media Client free?
Caviar Media Client is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Lume or Caviar Media Client have ads?
Neither Lume nor Caviar Media Client shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Lume or Caviar Media Client?
Lume ships an update every 5 days, and Caviar Media Client fortnightly. Most recently, Lume was updated on October 25, 2026 and Caviar Media Client on October 11, 2026.

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