Comparison

Play vs 4STREAM

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

Head to head
About

Play

Wirelessly stream high-fidelity audio throughout your home using Wi-Fi. Control music from various sources, including streaming services, radio, and your device's library. Easily set up and manage multiple speakers for a whole-home listening experience.

Highlights
  • Whole-home wireless audio
  • Wi-Fi streaming
  • Multiple music sources
  • Speaker group management
  • Volume control
  • DLNA server support
Features
Read full description

Breakthrough DTS Play-Fi(R) technology powers simple, great-sounding whole-home wireless audio systems for smartphones and tablets. You can stream your favorite tunes over Wi-Fi right from the Play-Fi app to speakers from DTS Play-Fi product partners. It's a huge step up from Bluetooth - the audio quality and reliability are outstanding, and you can enjoy music from your phone in one room, or all your rooms. The "Hi-Fi over Wi-Fi" listening experience is just a touch away, thanks to this handy app. Choose a speaker, choose a song, and your favorite tunes are streaming all through the house. The app offers built-in streaming options: stream from worldwide music services; use AM/FM and Internet radio, connect to DLNA servers, or play anything from your device's music library, including your iTunes playlists. The app automatically organizes and indexes the music for you. The app also handles set-up for your speakers, and gives you full control of volume and speaker selection. Choose one, set up speaker groups, or stream to all of them at once. Manage speaker groups for Spotify Connect, too. IMPORTANT NOTE: If you have a Play-Fi product from Polk Audio, Definitive Technology or Phorus, please search for and download the custom Play-Fi app for your audio brand. Please also note that the Play-Fi app is companion software to audio products enabled with Play-Fi technology. It is not intended as a stand-alone audio player.

About

4STREAM

Stream music from online services and local storage to compatible audio devices. Control playback across multiple rooms, group devices, and manage audio sources wirelessly from your smartphone or tablet.

Highlights
  • Stream from online music services
  • Play music from local storage
  • Multi-room audio sync
  • Independent room playback
  • Wireless device control
  • Group and ungroup devices
  • Volume and playback management
Read full description

The 4STREAM application can play music from the most popular online music services and local storage from smartphones, tablets or home NAS to one or multiple preamplifiers or amplifiers that are designed and produced by ourselves. The Main App Functions and Features - The 4STREAM application can control our devices, and play the same music to all rooms in sync or play different different music to different rooms within the distance that your home router can cover. -Users can wirelessly control the all the 4STREAM WiFi enabled products including the speakers, audio preamplifiers and amplifiers in the same home network . -With 4STREAM application, on the smart phones and tablets, users can manage their online audio sources like music, radio stations and preset programs. They can also group and ungroup any devices that this application supports, control the volume, change the music and so on.

Screenshots

Play4 screens
4STREAM4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Play at 4.5 against 4STREAM's 2.7. Play also leads on ratings volume (3.5K vs 56). 4STREAM's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and review sentiment (47% vs 25%). On price, update cadence, in-app purchases and device support 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Play holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 2.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Play has 3.5K ratings behind it against 56, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 25% of Play's written reviews are positive against 47% of 4STREAM's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Play ships an update every 2 months, 4STREAM every 4 months. The most recent releases landed on September 23, 2026 and August 25, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Play versus 4STREAM: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPlay4STREAM
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.5 (3.5K ratings) — better2.7 (56 ratings)
Positive reviews25.5% of reviews47.1% of reviews — better
Number of ratings3.5K — better56
Update frequencyEvery 2 months — betterEvery 4 months
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationAd-supportedFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch — betteriPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS13.010.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size285 MB150 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperDTS, Inc.小英 向

Customer experience

Play

All ratings3,465 ratings
Positive87.8%
Neutral6.6%
Negative5.6%
Written reviews208 reviews
Positive25.5%
Neutral13.5%
Negative61.1%

4STREAM

All ratings56 ratings
Positive35.7%
Neutral10.7%
Negative53.6%
Written reviews87 reviews
Positive47.1%
Neutral14.9%
Negative37.9%

Bugs and requests

Play

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Drops connections frequently
  • Fails to recognize devices
  • Resets music playback unexpectedly
  • Issues with volume control and balancing
  • Incompatible with recent firmware/software updates

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add support for Apple Music
  • Improve Spotify integration
  • Implement gapless playback
  • Provide better interface and navigation
  • Add search functionality for local music libraries

4STREAM

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Play

No in-app purchases

None

4STREAM

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Play free?
Play is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is 4STREAM free?
4STREAM is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Play or 4STREAM?
Play is rated higher. Play averages 4.5 out of 5 from 3.5K ratings, while 4STREAM averages 2.7 from 56 ratings.
Do Play or 4STREAM have ads?
Play shows ads; 4STREAM does not.
Which is updated more often, Play or 4STREAM?
Play ships an update every 2 months, and 4STREAM every 4 months. Most recently, Play was updated on September 23, 2026 and 4STREAM on August 25, 2026.

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