Shwssh vs JBL Portable
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Shwssh
Create personalized sleep soundscapes by mixing included sounds or recording your own. Features a gentle fade-out timer and an interactive animated night scene. Plays in the background, offline, and without ads or tracking.
- Mix and match 19 included sleep sounds
- Record and add your own custom sounds
- Adjustable fade-out timer
- Interactive animated night scene
- Plays in background and offline
- Lock screen and control center integration
Read full descriptionHide full description
Shwssh is a sleep sound app for the small hours. Pick one sound or build a mix. Thirty-five are included, sixteen sounds and nineteen songs, and each keeps its own level, so the rain can sit under the lullaby instead of on top of it. Four starter mixes are there for when you would rather not decide at 3am. RECORD YOUR OWN Hold the microphone, or tap once to start and again to stop, and shush, hum or sing. Whatever settles your baby lands at the top of My Sounds, plays straight away and mixes with everything else exactly the same way. A TIMER THAT FADES Set it and the mix winds down rather than cutting off. Add ten more minutes without getting up. A PASTURE THAT LISTENS Behind it all is a hand-felted night scene, animated and slow. Play the rain and it rains. Play the storm and it rolls in over the hills. Play the train and one crosses the viaduct. Sheep jump the fence and count themselves. Turn the whole scene off and the app uses noticeably less battery overnight. WHAT IS INCLUDED White noise: shwssh, light rain, thunderstorm, ocean waves, ocean storm, lake waves, whale song, winding stream, windy night, forest walk, jungle safari, warm fireplace, heartbeat, train ride, vacuum cleaner, sailboat Songs: Wool and Lamplight, The Long Field, Milk and Moon, Down the Lane, The Little Boat, Counting Slowly, Under the Hill at Dusk, Sailor's Call Home, Siren's Song, Brahms Lullaby, Für Elise, Greensleeves, Moonlight Sonata, Ode to Joy; and for October: The Friendly Dark, Tiptoe, Pumpkin Light, The Cobweb Waltz, Something in the Hedgerow Your own recordings, as many as you like BUILT FOR HOW IT GETS USED Plays in the background and all night Lock screen and Control Center controls Works with the screen off and with no connection at all Your recordings on every iPhone and iPad through iCloud Sounds that come back on for a cry, if you want them to A dim night light for feeds One price, no subscription No account, no ads, no tracking and nothing collected Siri, Shortcuts and a Control Center button Widgets, StandBy and Apple Watch Spooky Time through October, only if you want it A nursery volume limit that keeps every sound at half volume iPhone, iPad and iPhone Duo
JBL Portable
Enhance your JBL portable speaker experience with this app. Connect, control, and personalize your audio device to amplify sound, create a party atmosphere, or receive software updates and support.
- Connect to compatible JBL speakers
- Stereo and Party modes
- Personalize speaker settings
- Control speaker functions
- Software updates
- Product support
Read full descriptionHide full description
Download the JBL Portable app to get the most out of your JBL portable speakers and unlock more features. Compatible with the following speakers: - Clip 5 - Go 4, Go 4 DUO - Grip - Flip 7, Flip 6, Flip 5, Flip 4, Flip 3 - Charge 6, Charge 5, Charge 4, Charge 3 - Pulse 5, Pulse 4, Pulse 3, Pulse 2 - Tuner 3 - Xtreme 4, Xtreme 3, Xtreme 2, Xtreme - Boombox 4, Boombox 3, Boombox 2, Boombox App features: - Connect to compatible JBL portable speakers for Stereo to amplify sound or Party mode for a bigger party - Personalize and control your speaker straight from the app - Get additional software updates and product support
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Shwssh at 100% against JBL Portable's 39%. Shwssh also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.7) and update cadence (fortnightly vs every 5 weeks). JBL Portable's advantage is price (Free vs $4.99) and ratings volume (63K vs 4). On ads, 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
JBL Portable is free to download; Shwssh costs $4.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Shwssh holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: JBL Portable has 63K ratings behind it against 4, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 100% of Shwssh's written reviews are positive against 39% of JBL Portable's.
Shwssh ships an update fortnightly, JBL Portable every 5 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and November 6, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Shwssh | JBL Portable |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $4.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 5.0 (4 ratings) — better | 4.7 (63K ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better | 39.5% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 4 | 63K — better |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly — better | Every 5 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Free — better |
| Best chart rank | — | #32 — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — better | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 18.0 | 14.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 251 MB | 159 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Joey Chappel | Harman International Industries |
Customer experience
Shwssh
JBL Portable
Bugs and requests
Shwssh
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
JBL Portable
Reported bugs
5 issues- App unable to detect connected speakers
- Stereo mode disconnects unexpectedly
- Firmware update process causes speaker issues
- Equalizer settings not saving properly
- Party Boost feature unreliable
Requested features
5 requests- Add remote power on/off
- Improve stereo mode stability
- Expand EQ customization options
- Provide better battery life reporting
- Support for older speaker models
In-app purchases
Shwssh
No in-app purchases
JBL Portable
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Shwssh free?
Is JBL Portable free?
Which has better reviews, Shwssh or JBL Portable?
Do Shwssh or JBL Portable have ads?
Which is updated more often, Shwssh or JBL Portable?
Other comparisons















