Comparison

iOSamp vs Playlist Maker

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

Head to head
About

iOSamp

A local music player for audiophiles and collectors, offering advanced playback features and extensive library management. It supports various audio formats and allows easy music import via Wi-Fi, Files app, USB, or direct download. No subscriptions, accounts, or ads are required.

Highlights
  • True gapless playback
  • 10-band EQ with saveable presets
  • ReplayGain normalization
  • Smart playlists
  • Tag editor
  • Wi-Fi transfer
  • WebDAV and Subsonic streaming
Features
Read full description

iOSamp is a local music player for collectors, audiophiles, and anyone who trusts their own taste over an algorithm. Your files on your device. No subscription necessary, no account creation needed, no ads, ever. Built by a guy who grew up on Hotline servers, oth.net, hoarding FLACs, and caring way too much about ID3 tags. Playback • True gapless playback • 10-band EQ with saveable presets • ReplayGain normalization, track or album level • Crossfade, A/B repeat, independent speed control • Waveform scrubber, pre-generated for every track • Real-time spectrum analyzer • Bookmarks and chapter support • Format, bitrate, and sample rate display • CarPlay, AirPlay, sleep timer • Synced lyrics Library • MP3, FLAC, AAC, ALAC, OGG, OPUS, WAV, AIFF, WMA, APE • Smart playlists built from rules: rating, play count, date added, genre, year, duration, and more • Build Session: shuffle any part of your library, keep or skip each track, save the keepers as a playlist • Collections: group whole albums, box sets, label catalogs, numbered series • Tag editor, duplicate detection, artist name normalization • Genre and artwork fetching via MusicBrainz and Discogs • Format and bitrate badges so you can tell FLAC from MP3 at a glance Getting music in • Wi-Fi transfer: start the built-in server and drag files in from any browser on your network • Files app and iCloud Drive imports, single files or whole folders • USB cable transfer from Finder or iTunes • Direct download from any audio URL Your servers • Stream from WebDAV shares • Full Subsonic API support: Navidrome, Airsonic, and friends • SMB shares through the Files app • Everything stays on-device; no analytics, no tracking

About

Playlist Maker

Features
Read full description

Tell it a moment. It makes the playlist. Type what you want to hear, in your own words. "Monsoon evening on the balcony." "Shoegaze, but gentle." "Like Fleetwood Mac." "90s Bollywood drive." Mixtape builds a playlist for it and saves it to your Apple Music library, where it stays. MADE FROM WHAT YOU ACTUALLY LISTEN TO Mixtape reads your Apple Music listening and builds around it. Ask for a rainy evening and you get the artists you already love, not a generic mood playlist that could belong to anybody. Ask for something new and it stretches, but it stretches from you. SAY ANYTHING A moment. A mood. An artist you want more of. A genre. A decade. A language. A thing you are about to do. If you can describe it, it is a valid request. HEAR IT BEFORE YOU KEEP IT Every playlist arrives complete, and you can play any song from it right there, thirty seconds at a time. Remove what does not fit. Drag songs into the order you want. Keep it only when it is right. IT IS A REAL PLAYLIST Saved mixtapes go into your Apple Music library as proper playlists, with their own artwork. They play on your phone, your Mac, your car, your speaker, your watch. They work when Mixtape is not open and they stay if you delete it. YOUR SHELF Every mixtape you keep stays in Mixtape too, as a cassette you can start with one tap. Put them in folders once there are enough to sort. ASK SIRI "Make a playlist with Mixtape." Siri asks what you want to hear, builds it, and starts playing, without opening the app. ON YOUR HOME SCREEN One small widget holding one mixtape: the latest one you made, or a particular one you pin there. Tap it and the music starts. NO SUBSCRIPTION Mixtape does not charge a monthly or yearly fee. Making playlists is free and unlimited. Keeping one costs a tape, tapes are bought once, and they never expire. Nothing renews, and nothing is taken away if you stop. An Apple Music subscription is required to save playlists to your library. Terms of Use: https://playlistmaker.app/terms/ Privacy Policy: https://playlistmaker.app/privacy/

Screenshots

iOSamp4 screens
Playlist Maker4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: iOSamp at none against Playlist Maker's 3. Playlist Maker's advantage is update cadence (daily vs every 2 weeks). On price, ads, device support and iOS requirement 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. Playlist Maker sells 3 one-off in-app purchases. iOSamp asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

iOSamp ships an update every 2 weeks, Playlist Maker daily. The most recent releases landed on October 19, 2026 and October 14, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 7 level
iOSamp versus Playlist Maker: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameteriOSampPlaylist Maker
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.0 (1 ratings) — better—
Number of ratings1 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeksDaily — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad — better
Requires iOS26.026.0
Further details — not scored
Size8 MB18 MB
Age rating4+12+
DeveloperDAVID B RASTMohit Nandwani

In-app purchases

None

iOSamp

No in-app purchases

3 purchases

Playlist Maker

One-time3
  • 10 Tapes$2.99
  • 25 Tapes$5.99
  • 50 Tapes$9.99

Questions

Is iOSamp free?
iOSamp is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Playlist Maker free?
Playlist Maker is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do iOSamp or Playlist Maker have ads?
Neither iOSamp nor Playlist Maker shows ads.
Which is updated more often, iOSamp or Playlist Maker?
iOSamp ships an update every 2 weeks, and Playlist Maker daily. Most recently, iOSamp was updated on October 19, 2026 and Playlist Maker on October 14, 2026.

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