Comparison

Soundwaves vs AVSub

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

Head to head
About

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.

Highlights
  • Subsonic music server client
  • Audio and video streaming
  • Bandwidth-limited connection support
  • CarPlay compatibility
  • FLAC, Opus, Ogg Vorbis playback
  • Plays movies from server
Features
Read full description

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.

About

AVSub

Access and stream your entire music and video library from your SubSonic server. Enjoy offline playback, multi-format support, and seamless casting to various devices. Features include playlist management, enhanced media information, and a user-friendly interface.

Highlights
  • SubSonic server integration
  • Multi-format audio and video streaming
  • Offline caching for playback
  • Playlist support
  • CarPlay and Apple Watch integration
  • Casting support (Chromecast, FireTV)
  • Enhanced media information
Features
Read full description

AVSub is a fully featured, multi-language music and video streaming (after in-app purchase) app for SubSonic. With multi-format (including FLAC) support, quick & easy browsing, caching for offline listening or viewing, playlist support and a great user interface, accessing your media is fast and simple. With full Bluetooth Audio, Apple Watch, CarPlay, AVCast/Chromecast/FireTV & Airplay support too, you can have your media with you anywhere, anytime. Connect AVSub to your licensed SubSonic server and you'll have access to your entire media collection. AVSub supports any audio format that SubSonic supports and SSL. AVSub's user interface is easy to use. Buttons are large and clear and playback can be controlled by gestures. Optimized views for both portrait & landscape orientations make the most of your device. AVSub has full Bluetooth Audio support - stream to any Bluetooth device (car stereo, amplifier, speaker, headphones) with superb quality. Bluetooth remote-control is fully supported. AVSub also fully suports CarPlay. The AVSub Apple Watch extension is the easiest way to get your Subsonic playlists onto your watch. The extension supports full background playback. You can take your music with you even without your phone! AVSub supports caching so you can listen to your music or watch video even when you're not connected to the Internet. AVSub will intelligently cache what you listen to in the background, or you can choose to download tracks, albums or videos direct to the cache for quick pre-loading. Cache size is configurable, along with options such as cache reading & writing and the ability to control direct-downloading over a mobile/cellular network. Cache management in AVSub is easy too! When browsing the cache, simple swipe right-to-left on item to reveal a delete button. See the AVSub website for details. AVSub supports Subsonic playlists and will intelligently cache tracks on your device. AVSub can be used on both WiFi or a mobile/cellular connection (3G/4G). Audio caching ensure smoother playback. AVSub shows enhanced information for your media, recognising movies, TV, artists and giving bio information, top tracks and similar artists. AVSub supports the casting app AVCast. With AVSub you can access your full media library by browsing, selecting from the most recently added, most recently played, most frequently played or highest rated tracks, or search over your entire library. AVSub also supports multiple SubSonic top-level music folders, allowing you to select an individual top-level folder, or your entire collection. You can browse by folder structure or ID3 tags. AVSub Features: - Universal app for iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch - MP3/AAC/FLAC/MP4/ALAC/Vorbis/Opus/WAV/DSD - High-resolution digital audio output via CCK up to 24bit/192kHz - CarPlay - TMDb integration for full movie & TV posters and details - VLC integration - Equaliser - Mini player - AVCast support - Google Cast & Amazon Fire TV audio and video (after in-app purchase) - Portrait and landscape - Video streaming with caching (in-app purchase) - Subsonic Jukebox (in-app purchase) - Home screen & Notification center widget with recent items - 3D Touch quick action shortcuts - Internet radio - Crossfade - SSL support, including self-signed certificates - Caching for all media - Folder & ID3 mode - Multi-disc album support - Artist Radio/Similar Songs - Intelligent Bookmarks - Podcasts - Gapless playback - Track seeking - Subsonic playlist support - Streams over 3G/4G/5G/WiFi - Maximum streaming bitrate control - Bluetooth Audio/Airplay support - Remembers your playlist from the last session - Streams from any licensed SubSonic server (v4.0 and up) - Browse/search music collection - Browse most recently added, recently played, frequently played, highest rated - Random albums/songs - Shuffle and repeat - Album cover art - Lock-screen integration - Documentation & guides available at the AVSub website - Supports iOS10+

Screenshots

Soundwaves1 screens
AVSub4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Soundwaves at 4.1 against AVSub's 3.8. AVSub's advantage is update cadence (monthly vs every 2 months) and ratings volume (65 vs 12). On price, review sentiment, ads and in-app purchases 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

Soundwaves costs $3.99 and AVSub $3.99 up front. Soundwaves sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and AVSub sells 5 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Soundwaves holds the better App Store score, 4.1 against 3.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: AVSub has 65 ratings behind it against 12, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 60% and 60% positive.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Soundwaves ships an update every 2 months, AVSub monthly. The most recent releases landed on September 24, 2026 and September 25, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Soundwaves versus AVSub: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSoundwavesAVSub
Price$3.99$3.99
Rating4.1 (12 ratings) — better3.8 (65 ratings)
Positive reviews60.4% of reviews60.5% of reviews — better
Number of ratings1265 — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsMonthly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch
Requires iOS15.6 — better16.6
Further details — not scored
Size4 MB89 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSimone TelliniRichard Levy

Customer experience

Soundwaves

All ratings12 ratings
Positive75.0%
Neutral8.3%
Negative16.7%
Written reviews48 reviews
Positive60.4%
Neutral12.5%
Negative27.1%

AVSub

All ratings65 ratings
Positive70.8%
Neutral4.6%
Negative24.6%
Written reviews81 reviews
Positive60.5%
Neutral9.9%
Negative29.6%

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Soundwaves

One-time1
  • Ads-free Edition$3.99
5 purchases

AVSub

One-time5
  • Jukebox mode$0.99
  • Video Playback$1.99
  • Chromecast Video/Audio$2.99
Show 2 more
  • Fire TV support$2.99
  • Google Cast and Fire TV Support$4.99

Questions

Is Soundwaves free?
Soundwaves costs $3.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Is AVSub free?
AVSub costs $3.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Soundwaves or AVSub?
Soundwaves is rated higher. Soundwaves averages 4.1 out of 5 from 12 ratings, while AVSub averages 3.8 from 65 ratings.
Do Soundwaves or AVSub have ads?
Neither Soundwaves nor AVSub shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Soundwaves or AVSub?
Soundwaves ships an update every 2 months, and AVSub monthly. Most recently, Soundwaves was updated on September 24, 2026 and AVSub on September 25, 2026.

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