aud vs Setto Studio
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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 multiple ways to import your music without merging your collections.
- Combines local and Apple Music libraries
- Organized by artwork, artist, album, song, playlist, genre
- Multiple import options: Files, AirDrop, Wi-Fi, folder watch
- Supports FLAC, ALAC, MP3, AAC, WAV, and more
- Advanced Pro features: native resolution, gapless playback, EQ
- Cross-platform: iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, CarPlay
- Offline playback
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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.
Setto Studio
This app enhances your music listening experience by creating dynamic, evolving "Sets" from your existing library. It intelligently curates personalized music collections based on your listening habits and preferences, offering a unique way to rediscover your favorite tunes.
- Build Sets from artists, genres, or playlists
- Auto-curated personalized music Sets
- Time-traveling Set creation
- Supports Lossless, Hi-Res Lossless, Dolby Atmos
- Full song playback, no previews
- Export Sets as Apple Music playlists
- iCloud sync across devices
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Want some great music? Setto is a very, very smart Apple Music player that builds Sets. A cooler and more epic version of a playlist that evolves and reacts as you listen. AN APPLE MUSIC SUBSCRIPTION IS REQUIRED. START WITH TASTE Build Sets from the music you already love. Artists, genres, playlists, or your entire Apple Music library. AUTO SETS Let Setto build Sets you didn't know you needed. Auto Sets are personalized Sets curated from your existing Apple Music habits, or new patterns from how you use Setto Studio. YOUR PERSONAL TIME MACHINE Auto Sets can also travel back in time and curate Sets from a long long time ago. BUILT FOR APPLE MUSIC • Quality Audio: Lossless, Hi-Res Lossless, Dolby Atmos, and Spatial Audio • Full songs: No 30 second previews • Export: Sets become real Apple Music playlists • Import: Your playlists become Sets • Library: Save songs directly to your library or a preexisting playlist • iCloud sync: Your Sets on Mac, iPad, and iPhone ON YOUR DEVICE All learning happens locally, meaning your music taste is yours and yours alone. Cross device sync is powered by YOUR iCloud account. CRAFTED BY DJ NAFÉ Setto is made by one music nerd who's an occasional Disc Jockey. Not a team. Not a startup. Just someone who wanted a better way to find music.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is monetization model: Setto Studio at free against aud's freemium. Setto Studio also leads on update cadence (every 3 days vs weekly) and iOS requirement (18.0 vs 26.5). On price, rating, ratings volume and ads 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. aud sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Setto Studio sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for aud against 5.0 for Setto Studio. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 2 and 1 respectively.
aud ships an update weekly, Setto Studio every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on October 31, 2026 and November 5, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | aud | Setto Studio |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (2 ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 2 — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Weekly | Every 3 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Freemium | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch | iPhone, iPad, Mac |
| Requires iOS | 26.5 | 18.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 129 MB | 39 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 12+ |
| Developer | Sanjiv Sathiah | Carlos Mbendera |
Customer experience
aud
Setto Studio
In-app purchases
aud
- aud-io Pro$14.99
Setto Studio
- Super Setto - Lifetime Upgrade$24.99









