Soundwaves vs Ample.fm
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Soundwaves
Connect your iOS device to your Subsonic music server for a simple and seamless audio and video streaming experience. Enjoy your media library at home or on the go, even with limited bandwidth. Supports various audio and video formats, and compatible with other Subsonic API servers.
- Subsonic music server client
- Audio and video streaming
- Bandwidth-limited connection support
- CarPlay compatibility
- FLAC, Opus, Ogg Vorbis playback
- Plays movies from server
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Soundwaves is a client for the Subsonic music server. Soundwaves focuses on simplicity, making it the ideal client to connect your iPad or iPhone to your home theater setup. Optionally setting a suitable max bit rate, enables Soundwaves to work well even over a bandwidth limited connection (e.g. a mobile connection). It will also play nicely with your car radio, connected via USB, Bluetooth or CarPlay. In addition to audio formats natively supported by iOS (e.g. mp3, AAC), Soundwaves can also play FLAC, Opus and Ogg Vorbis content. Soundwaves can also play movies from your Subsonic server, as long as they are in a supported format (.mov, .mp4, .mpv, .3gp) or a proper transcoding has been configured on the server. Soundwaves works with other media servers which implement the same Subsonic API's, such as Madsonic, Airsonic, Supysonic, LMS or Ampache. Note about privacy: tracking only happens when using the free, ad-supported version. Removing ads via the in-app purchase also stops tracking and data collection.
Ample.fm
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* Local cache support * 5 star rating * Smart autoplay when nearing end of the queue * Dark & light mode with adaptive interface colors
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Ample.fm at Free against Soundwaves's $3.99. Ample.fm also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 1) and update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 2 months). On 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
Ample.fm is free to download; Soundwaves costs $3.99 up front. Soundwaves sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Ample.fm asks for nothing beyond the download.
Soundwaves ships an update every 2 months, Ample.fm every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 24, 2026 and September 9, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Soundwaves | Ample.fm |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $3.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 4.1 (12 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 60.4% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 12 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Every 3 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.6 | 15.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 4 MB | 1 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Simone Tellini | Roman Stefko |
In-app purchases
Soundwaves
- Ads-free Edition$3.99
Ample.fm
No in-app purchases
