Comparison

Continuous Player vs Flashback

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

Head to head
About

Continuous Player

This app automatically plays videos and photos from your selected album or custom playlist. It offers extensive playback customization, offline viewing, and a child-lock feature. Enjoy background playback and live captions with no ads or tracking.

Highlights
  • Automatic album playback
  • Custom playlist creation
  • Playback speed and timing control
  • Offline viewing
  • Child lock feature
  • Background playback
  • Live captions
Features
Read full description

Pick an album in your Photos library. Everything inside plays, one after another, without stopping. No tapping every clip to start it again, no black screen the moment a video ends. Made for showing your kids only the videos in one folder, looking back at a trip with its photos and videos together, or leaving your footage running while you work. PICK AN ALBUM, THAT'S IT - Play an album from Photos as it is. No importing, no converting - Videos and photos mixed together play as one queue (photos stay on screen for as long as you set) - Or build a playlist of just the items you want, in the order you want TUNE THE PLAYBACK - Sort: date taken (oldest or newest first), duration (longest or shortest first), random - Filter: everything, videos only, or photos only - Filter by date taken: today, the last 3, 7 or 30 days, or an exact range you pick - Timing: how long a photo stays on screen (1-30 sec), and when to move on from a video (play in full, or 3-60 sec) - Repeat: off, the whole album or playlist, or just the video you're on - Speed: 0.5x to 2.0x in 0.25 steps, plus 3x, 5x and 10x PLAY IT OFFLINE - Copy videos and photos onto the device and they play where there's no signal - Filter to "downloaded only" to play just what you saved, back to back - Keep it running on the move or on a plane, without watching your data A LOCK FOR HANDING IT TO A CHILD - Lock the playback screen so taps and swipes no longer interrupt anything - Unlocking takes a long press, so it won't come undone by accident - To keep them from leaving the app entirely, pair it with Guided Access in iOS Settings FIND YOUR WAY BACK - Pin favorite albums to the top of the list - The last video or photo you played is marked, so you know where you left off - Show the date taken on thumbnails and during playback (optional) - Calendar view: thumbnails sit on the days they were taken. Tap a day to play from there, jump to any month, or tap Today to come back WHILE IT PLAYS - Press and hold either edge of the screen to fast-forward at twice your chosen speed, only while held - Double-tap the right or left side to skip 10 seconds forward or back - Background playback: sound keeps going with the screen off, with controls on the Lock Screen and in Control Center - Picture in Picture: keep it running in a small window while you use other apps LIVE CAPTIONS - The audio is recognized as it plays and shown as captions over the video - Switch the language it listens for without stopping playback - it doesn't have to match the app's language - Recognition happens entirely on your device. No audio is sent anywhere - When it can't make anything out, it tells you why NO ADS, NO IN-APP PURCHASES, NO TRACKING Buy it once and it's yours. No ads. No in-app purchases. Nothing about you is collected or sent anywhere. Your videos and photos are read and played on your device. LANGUAGES Japanese, English, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Korean, Spanish, German, French, Italian, Portuguese (Brazil), Dutch, Polish. You can set the app's language separately from your device language. BEFORE YOU START - Access to your photo library is required. Limited access (selected photos only) works fine - Live captions need permission for speech recognition - Items kept in iCloud but not on your device are downloaded as they play, which uses data

About

Flashback

Features
Read full description

See the photos you already have, again. Flashback turns the iPhone photo library you allow access to into a full-screen, vertical feed. Swipe to discover a random photo, video or Live Photo. No dates to choose and no albums to prepare. SHUFFLE YOUR MEMORIES Videos and Live Photos can play automatically. Tap to pause or resume, and choose whether to turn on sound. See the date and place when that information is available. BOOKMARKS AND PRIVATE NOTES Double-tap to bookmark a moment, then organize it into collections. Write multiple notes on a photo or video, and edit or delete them later. When you revisit a moment, its notes appear one at a time, in chronological order. A FAMILIAR LIBRARY Browse by date, filter photos, videos and Live Photos, or open an existing Photos album. Choose full or limited Photos access and manage your permission at any time. FLASHBACK PRO: A ONE-TIME PURCHASE Combine a year range, album, media type and map area to shuffle within a theme. Save themes to return to them later. You can also exclude individual photos or videos, screenshots and screen recordings from shuffle. Restore them at any time; originals, bookmarks and notes are unchanged. Pro is a one-time in-app purchase with no recurring subscription. Full-library shuffle, bookmarks, collections and text notes remain free. The price is shown in the app. FOR YOUR OWN USE No app account, public feed, ads or third-party analytics SDKs. Bookmarks, notes and themes are stored in this app on your device, without changing your original photos. Cross-device syncing and record export are not currently supported. Deleting the app removes its local records. iCloud originals may be downloaded by the system; place names and maps use Apple services. Supports English, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Japanese, Spanish and French, with Dark Mode support. Questions or feedback: ichzx04@outlook.com

Screenshots

Continuous Player4 screens
Flashback4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Flashback at Free against Continuous Player's $4.99. Continuous Player's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1) and chart position (#179 vs unranked). On update cadence, 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

Flashback is free to download; Continuous Player costs $4.99 up front. Flashback sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Continuous Player asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Continuous Player ships an update weekly, Flashback every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on October 31, 2026 and October 26, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Continuous Player versus Flashback: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterContinuous PlayerFlashback
Price$4.99Free — better
Rating5.0 (1 ratings) — better—
Number of ratings1 — better—
Update frequencyWeeklyEvery 5 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaid—
Best chart rank#179 — better—
DevicesiPhoneiPhone
Requires iOS18.618.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size2 MB7 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSuguru Yamada子鑫 陈

In-app purchases

None

Continuous Player

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

Flashback

One-time1
  • Flashback Pro — Lifetime$4.99

Questions

Is Continuous Player free?
Continuous Player costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Flashback free?
Flashback is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Continuous Player or Flashback have ads?
Neither Continuous Player nor Flashback shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Continuous Player or Flashback?
Continuous Player ships an update weekly, and Flashback every 5 days. Most recently, Continuous Player was updated on October 31, 2026 and Flashback on October 26, 2026.

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