Harman Kardon Controller vs HiByMusic
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Harman Kardon Controller
Stream high-definition audio throughout your home with this app. It allows you to set up and customize compatible wireless speakers, create surround sound systems, and control audio playback from local or cloud sources.
- Stream HD audio wirelessly
- Set up and customize speakers
- Create 5.1 surround sound
- Control multi-room audio
- Stream local and cloud content
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The Harman Kardon Controller app works seamlessly with the Harman Kardon Omni 10+, Omni 20+, Omni 50+, Omni Bar+, Omni Adapt+, and Omni Adapt+Amp speakers to let you stream HD audio around your home. Use the Controller app to set up and customize your speakers, setup a true wireless 5.1 surround system, control audio in your house and stream local or cloud content in glorious HD audio.
HiByMusic
A free, high-fidelity audio player for audiophiles and music lovers. It supports a wide range of lossless and lossy formats, offering high-precision decoding and advanced audio features for a premium listening experience.
- Wide lossless/lossy audio format support
- CUE sheets and ISO image support
- High precision decoding (32-bit output, 64-bit float)
- External USB DAC support
- Gapless playback
- 10 band graphic EQ
- MSEB support
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HiByMusic Free lossless HiFi audio player. Easy to use, clean and clear. HiByMusic Player is a free lossless HiFi audio player designed for audiophiles and music fans, giving you a first-class music experience wherever you go. Features: 1. Wide lossless/lossy audio format support, including DSD(DSF,DFF), ISO(DSF,DFF,DST), WAV, FLAC, APE, AIFF, M4A, AAC, WMA, MP3, Ogg Vorbis; 2. CUE sheets and ISO images are also directly supported; 3. High precision decoding with 32 bits output, 64 bits floating point decoding and 128 bits internal precision, all for the best quality audio; 4. External USB DAC is supported, Output Native DSD with DoP, Direct output DxD and 384kHz@32bits audio streams easily; 5. Gapless playback; 6. 10 band graphic EQ; 7. MSEB support; Stay tuned, more professional function will be added continually! email: service@hiby.com website: www.hiby.com
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: HiByMusic at 3.4 against Harman Kardon Controller's 1.8. HiByMusic also leads on review sentiment (42% vs 9%) and iOS requirement (12.0 vs 14.0). On price, ratings volume, update cadence and ads 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
HiByMusic holds the better App Store score, 3.4 against 1.8. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 100 and 140 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 9% of Harman Kardon Controller's written reviews are positive against 42% of HiByMusic's.
Harman Kardon Controller ships an update every 2 months, HiByMusic every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on August 13, 2026 and September 22, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Harman Kardon Controller | HiByMusic |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 1.8 (100 ratings) | 3.4 (140 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 9.2% of reviews | 42.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 100 | 140 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months — better | Every 3 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch — better | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 14.0 | 12.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 64 MB | 48 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Harman International Industries | Dongguan Hiby Music Technology Co., Ltd. |
Customer experience
Harman Kardon Controller
HiByMusic
User reviews
Harman Kardon Controller
From 100 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Great sound quality
- 👍 Easy setup
- 🚀 Wireless connectivity
Room to improve
- 🐛 Unstable WiFi connection
- 🐛 Buggy app with frequent crashes
- 👎 Lack of music service integration (Spotify, Apple Music)
- 👎 Unintuitive and limited app functionality
- 👎 Unreliable multi-room/party mode
HiByMusic
From 140 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🎵 Excellent hi-res audio support (DSD, FLAC, WAV, APE)
- 🆓 Free app without ads or hidden fees
- 🎨 Clean and intuitive user interface
- 🔗 HibyLink functionality for controlling compatible devices
- ⚙️ Effective equalizer and DSP effects
Room to improve
- 🐛 Frequent crashes and stability issues
- 📱 Poor iOS optimization compared to Android version
- 🔌 Unreliable Bluetooth and WiFi connectivity
- 🎯 Clunky and unintuitive user experience
- 🚫 CarPlay support removed in recent updates
Bugs and requests
Harman Kardon Controller
Reported bugs
4 issues- Speakers frequently disconnect from WiFi
- App fails to detect or connect to speakers
- Music playback issues like skipping, popping, and abrupt stops
- Compatibility problems with newer iOS versions
Requested features
4 requests- Add support for popular music streaming services
- Improve app stability and user experience
- Implement advanced features like EQ, gapless playback, and custom playlists
- Provide better integration with local music libraries
HiByMusic
Reported bugs
21 issues- App crashes during music library scanning (around 3,000 files)
- HibyLink connection drops repeatedly
- Music playback stops when app is backgrounded
- Rewind button behavior inconsistent (goes to previous song instead of replaying)
- Album shuffle mixing with existing playlist songs
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- SMBv3 compatibility issues
- DLNA functionality crashes
- EQ and DSP effects not working on iOS
- DSD DoP not functioning on iPhone 15 Pro Max
- MQA track playback crashes
- Search function keyboard disappears after each letter
- Album art cropping and stretching issues
- Lyric loading failures
- Some MP3 and M4A files fail to play
- Bluetooth pairing inconsistency with Hiby devices
- Firmware update required every startup (2-3 minutes)
- Music file scanning not detecting all formats
- Volume control glitches when pressing quickly
- Plugin deactivation after app closure
- Folder sorting in reverse alphabetical order
- Track order randomization in folder view
Requested features
20 requests- Manual playlist reordering
- ID3 tag editing capability
- Folder-based music library scanning
- Album artist sorting (not just track artist)
- Album favorites/bookmarking
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- Gapless playback
- Crossfade between tracks
- Folder icon display in browser
- Font size adjustment
- Language settings
- Dark mode and theme customization
- Background playback support
- Search by filename
- HTTP/NAS access support
- Lyrics matching and custom lyric sources
- Portrait mode support for iPad
- Online lyrics and cover art fetching improvements
- Ascending/descending sort order options
- Playlist organization and song management
- VoiceOver accessibility improvements for iOS
In-app purchases
Harman Kardon Controller
No in-app purchases
HiByMusic
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Harman Kardon Controller free?
Is HiByMusic free?
Which has better reviews, Harman Kardon Controller or HiByMusic?
Do Harman Kardon Controller or HiByMusic have ads?
Which is updated more often, Harman Kardon Controller or HiByMusic?
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