Penta vs Pocket Disk
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Penta
This app recreates the experience of a vintage five-disc CD changer on your Apple devices. It meticulously simulates the sounds and visual details of a classic hi-fi component, allowing you to browse your Apple Music library as if it were a physical CD collection.
- Five-disc carousel simulation
- Realistic sound effects
- Jewel-case browser
- Apple Music library integration
- Customizable display options
- iCloud sync for saved discs
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Penta turns your iPhone, iPad or iPhone Duo into a five-disc CD changer — the hi-fi component you grew up with, rebuilt for your Apple Music library. Open a jewel case, drop the disc into the carousel, and play. Every detail is here: the fluorescent display, the motorized carousel, the power-on self-test, a disc winding up to speed before it plays, and the clunk as it comes to a stop. ON IPHONE DUO The phone is the jewel case. Close it and you're holding the album; open it and the case opens with it. Open flat for the whole deck, or fold it like a laptop for your CD wallet above the tray. FEATURES • A real five-disc carousel — load, spin, and swap discs by hand • Real sounds, recorded from a five-disc changer: key clicks, the tray, the platter turning and a disc set down • A different deck each way up: the full carousel sideways, a CD wallet over the tray upright • Jewel-case browser — open the case and drag the disc out, or drop it straight into any of the five slots • Plays your Apple Music library in full, with real album art on every disc • Keys you can feel — on iPhone every key clicks under your thumb • Magazines — save a set of five discs and reload the whole cartridge later • Favorites, whole-library search, and Apple Music catalog search • A vacuum-fluorescent display with track, time, and format readouts • Any way up on iPad, and in resizable windows • Favorites and saved magazines sync across your devices via iCloud PENTA PRO A one-time unlock: Real CD Artwork (beta) shows the actual printed disc instead of the album cover, plus the full phosphor-colour set, the analog needle and VU meters, a gentle readable spin, the minimal readout, and unlimited saved magazines. The free deck plays your whole library with no limits. Albums you own play without a subscription. Streaming from the Apple Music catalog needs an Apple Music subscription.
Pocket Disk
Experience your Apple Music library with the nostalgic feel of a portable CD player. Browse albums as jewel cases, select a disc, and enjoy a retro listening experience with tactile controls and a spinning disc animation. It adapts to various display sizes and accessibility features.
- Classic portable CD player interface
- Album artwork on jewel cases
- Spinning disc animation
- Tactile-style controls
- Cover-flow album browsing
- Background playback
- Adaptive layout for iPhone/iPad
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Your music. A little more hands-on. Pocket Disk brings the feel of a classic portable CD player to your Apple Music library. Browse your albums as jewel cases, choose a favorite, and watch the case open as the disc moves into the player. Close the lid, press play, and enjoy the album. A PLAYER WITH PERSONALITY Metallic black finishes, an amber track display, tactile-style controls, and a spinning disc bring a little of the ’90s to your listening routine. YOUR LIBRARY, ON DISC Flip through your album collection in a cover-flow view. Album artwork stays on the jewel case, while the disc carries a clean album-and-artist label. Add albums to your library in Apple Music to browse them in Pocket Disk. THE SMALL DETAILS MATTER Open the player to change discs. Pick up browsing where you left off when you open it again. Play, pause, or skip tracks with familiar controls, and keep listening in the background. MADE TO FIT Enjoy room for the player and your album collection on larger displays. Browse with the disc above your library in portrait, or side by side in landscape. Pocket Disk adapts to iPhone and iPad displays, with VoiceOver, larger text layouts, and Reduce Motion support. APPLE MUSIC REQUIRED Pocket Disk connects to your Apple Music library and requires permission to access your music. An eligible Apple Music subscription is required for catalog playback. Pocket Disk does not include a music subscription or a collection of songs. No separate Pocket Disk account is required.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Pocket Disk at none against Penta's 1. Pocket Disk also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.6). Penta's advantage is ratings volume (11 vs 1). 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
Both are free to download. Penta sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Pocket Disk asks for nothing beyond the download.
Pocket Disk holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Penta has 11 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.
| Parameter | Penta | Pocket Disk |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.6 (11 ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 11 — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Weekly | — |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 6 MB | 9 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | John Seubert | Jozsef Ritter |
In-app purchases
Penta
- Penta Pro$2.99
Pocket Disk
No in-app purchases









