Comparison

BeatPlay vs aud

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

Head to head
About

BeatPlay

Features
Read full description

Your music is yours. BeatPlay puts it on your iPhone and Apple Watch — without streaming, without the cloud, without a subscription. Import audio files on your Mac. BeatPlay Bridge converts them to compact AAC and sends them to your iPhone over Wi-Fi. Open the app and press play. It's that simple. Going for a run? Sync songs to your Apple Watch and leave the phone behind. BeatPlay plays directly from your wrist — no connection needed. HOW IT WORKS 1. Import — Drag audio files into BeatPlay Bridge on Mac. Any format works. 2. Convert — Bridge compresses everything to AAC automatically. 3. Transfer — Send songs to iPhone over local Wi-Fi. No cables. No iTunes. 4. Listen — Full offline library on iPhone with every control you need. 5. Sync — Push songs to Apple Watch and play music from your wrist. WHAT YOU GET • Offline playback — no internet connection required, ever • Apple Watch player — music straight from your wrist • Play, pause, skip, loop, shuffle — full controls, minimal interface • Manual reorder — arrange your list however you like • Wi-Fi transfer from Mac — fast, cable-free, painless • Local-only library — your music never leaves your devices • Zero account — no login, no cloud, no tracking WHY BEATPLAY Streaming services are great for discovery. But when you own your music — ripped CDs, purchased albums, your own productions — you shouldn't need a monthly fee to play it on your own devices. BeatPlay is built for people who want their music in their pocket. Not locked behind a subscription. Not dependent on a signal. BEATPLAY PRO The free version supports up to 25 tracks. Upgrade to Pro for an unlimited library, playlists, and more. • Pro Annual — €9.99/year • Pro Lifetime — €39.99 (one-time) WHAT YOU NEED • iPhone with iOS 16+ • BeatPlay Bridge for Mac — free download at beatplay.app (macOS 13+) • Apple Watch — optional, for watch playback BeatPlay Bridge is the starting point. Download it for free, import your music, and carry your library everywhere. Privacy Policy: https://beatplay.app/privacy Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

aud

This app combines your local music files with your Apple Music library into a single, beautifully organized interface. It offers advanced playback features and seamless import options from various sources, all while respecting your existing library structure.

Highlights
  • Combines local files and Apple Music
  • Organized library browsing
  • Multiple import methods
  • Supports various audio formats
  • Advanced playback controls
  • Offline functionality
Features
Read full description

Your music. On your devices. Beautifully. aud-io is a local-first music player for the music you actually own, with the option of adding your Apple Music library alongside it. Two libraries, one beautiful app, never merged and never overwritten. EVERYONE ELSE MAKES YOU CHOOSE Local players cannot touch Apple Music. Apple Music players cannot touch your files. aud-io does both, and keeps a hard line between them, so your collection stays exactly as you built it. MEET THE SHELF Cover Flow, rebuilt. Scroll through your own artwork, from your own files, and tap to play. Browse by artist, album, song, playlist or genre when you know what you want, and use The Shelf when you do not. BRING YOUR LIBRARY IN, YOUR WAY Import from Files, share or AirDrop from anywhere, watch a folder, open a ZIP, or send your library straight from your Mac over local Wi-Fi. Peer to peer, device to device, no cloud in between. aud-io reads your existing metadata and artwork. FLAC, ALAC, M4A, MP3, AAC, WAV, AIFF, Opus, Ogg Vorbis and CAF. BUILT FOR PEOPLE WHO LISTEN CAREFULLY The free player handles your whole library, in every format, at up to 256 kbps. Pro removes the ceiling: every file at its native resolution, bit-perfect to your DAC, with automatic source rate matching, true gapless, crossfade, a 10-band EQ and EBU R128 loudness normalisation. EVERYWHERE YOU ACTUALLY LISTEN iPhone and iPad, with a native Mac app available separately. Apple Watch as a remote. CarPlay for your library and playlists on the road. AirPlay to your speakers. Home screen widgets for Now Playing, Recently Added and The Shelf. Use aud-io on iPhone as a remote for the Mac from anywhere in the house. BRING IN A WHOLE COLLECTION Import CDs. Connect a NAS. Point aud-io at the library you already have, wherever it lives, without running server software. DISCOVER MORE IN THE MUSIC YOU ALREADY HAVE Find deep cuts. Surface recently added music. Group by genre. Build mixes from the files on your device, generated on your device. OPTIONAL, AND ONLY IF YOU WANT IT Add your own Google Gemini key and aud-io can curate mixes, suggest radio-style listening and enrich music details. The key lives in your device Keychain. Your audio is never uploaded. Without a key, it is simply off. Apple Music, if you connect it, uses your own subscription through Apple's system permission. NO ACCOUNT. NO SUBSCRIPTION. The free player is a capable local music player. One Pro purchase unlocks advanced listening. There is no recurring fee, and there never will be. Pro on iPhone and iPad is a separate purchase from Pro on Mac. Works fully offline. No aud-io server. No third-party analytics or advertising SDKs. Made in Sydney by DIGITAL x DESIGN, for people who still care about their music library.

Screenshots

BeatPlay4 screens
aud4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is iOS requirement: BeatPlay at 17.0 against aud's 26.5. On price, update cadence, 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. BeatPlay sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $8.99 per year and aud sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

BeatPlay ships an update every 10 days, aud weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 13, 2026 and October 8, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard1 real difference · 9 level
BeatPlay versus aud: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBeatPlayaud
PriceFreeFree
Rating—5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews—100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings—1 — better
Update frequencyEvery 10 daysWeekly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
Monetization—Freemium
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Apple WatchiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch
Requires iOS17.0 — better26.5
Further details — not scored
Size11 MB128 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAnthony SychevSanjiv Sathiah

In-app purchases

2 purchases

BeatPlay

Subscriptions1
  • BeatPlay Pro$8.991 Year
One-time1
  • BeatPlay Pro Lifetime$34.99
1 purchases

aud

One-time1
  • aud-io Pro$14.99

Questions

Is BeatPlay free?
BeatPlay is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is aud free?
aud is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do BeatPlay or aud have ads?
Neither BeatPlay nor aud shows ads.
Which is updated more often, BeatPlay or aud?
BeatPlay ships an update every 10 days, and aud weekly. Most recently, BeatPlay was updated on October 13, 2026 and aud on October 8, 2026.

Other comparisons