Comparison

AVSub vs SubStreamer

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

Head to head
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, Chromecast & 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 familiar and easy to use. 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 and cached albums onto your watch. The extension supports full background playback. You can take your music with you even without your phone! AVSub supports offline 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. 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/5G). 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. 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 - 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 - 10 band Equaliser - Mini player - AVCast support - Google Cast audio and video (after in-app purchase) - Supports all modern video codecs - 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

About

SubStreamer

Access and stream your personal music library from a Subsonic-compatible server on your mobile device. Enjoy offline playback, personalized mixes, and detailed listening analytics without ads or subscriptions.

Highlights
  • Stream and download music library
  • Offline listening with background processing
  • Personalized smart mixes
  • Listening analytics and scrobbling
  • Playlist and library management
  • Background playback with lock screen controls
  • Open source
Features
Read full description

Your music. Your server. Everywhere you go. Substreamer turns your Subsonic-compatible server into a personal streaming service. Browse, play, and download your entire music library on iPhone and iPad — free, with no ads, no subscriptions, and no data collection. Verified with Navidrome, Subsonic, Gonic, Nextcloud Music, and Ampache. Also compatible with Airsonic-Advanced, Funkwhale, Supysonic, and other Subsonic API servers. STREAM & DOWNLOAD Stream in full quality or choose a bitrate that suits your connection. Download albums and playlists for offline listening with background queue processing and automatic recovery. Substreamer switches to offline mode automatically when your server is unreachable. TUNED IN — SMART MIXES Personalised playlists powered by your listening history. Time-of-day mixes, deep cuts from similar artists, decade time machines, genre blends, favorites radio, and a custom mix builder — all generated from your own library, not an algorithm trained on someone else's taste. LISTENING ANALYTICS See your play history, top artists, albums, and songs, most active listening hours, activity heatmaps, and listening streaks. Scrobbles queue locally when you're offline and sync automatically when you reconnect. Exclude specific albums or artists so one-off plays don't skew your stats. LIBRARY MANAGEMENT Browse by album, artist, or playlist. List and grid views with alphabetical quick-scroll for large libraries. 5-star ratings and favorites sync with your server. Create and manage playlists, reorder tracks, or save your current queue as a new playlist. PLAYBACK Background playback with full lock screen and notification controls. Adjustable playback speed, shuffle, and repeat. Share albums or playlists with configurable links. BEAUTIFUL & PRIVATE Light, dark, and system themes with custom accent colors. Album art color extraction for immersive detail views. No tracking, no analytics, no account required — your music stays between you and your server. OPEN SOURCE Substreamer is open source under the GPL-3.0 license. Browse the code, report issues, or contribute at github.com/ghenry22/substreamer.

Screenshots

AVSub4 screens
SubStreamer4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: SubStreamer at Free against AVSub's $3.99. SubStreamer also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 5) and update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 2 months). On ratings volume, ads 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

SubStreamer is free to download; AVSub costs $3.99 up front. AVSub sells 5 one-off in-app purchases. SubStreamer asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

SubStreamer holds the better App Store score, 4.0 against 3.8. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 65 and 141 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 60% of AVSub's written reviews are positive against 72% of SubStreamer's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

AVSub ships an update every 2 months, SubStreamer every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 11, 2026 and October 10, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
AVSub versus SubStreamer: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterAVSubSubStreamer
Price$3.99Free — better
Rating3.8 (65 ratings)4.0 (141 ratings) — better
Positive reviews59.8% of reviews72.2% of reviews — better
Number of ratings65141 — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 2 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS26.016.4 — better
Further details — not scored
Size161 MB55 MB
Age rating4++4
DeveloperRichard LevyGaven Henry

Customer experience

AVSub

All ratings65 ratings
Positive70.8%
Neutral4.6%
Negative24.6%
Written reviews82 reviews
Positive59.8%
Neutral9.8%
Negative30.5%

SubStreamer

All ratings141 ratings
Positive73.8%
Neutral10.6%
Negative15.6%
Written reviews205 reviews
Positive72.2%
Neutral10.2%
Negative17.6%

Bugs and requests

AVSub

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

SubStreamer

Reported bugs

18 issues
  • Songs fail to play without double-pressing play button
  • Playback stops with 4 seconds remaining in track
  • Skipping back crashes the app
  • Large files (10MB+) require pause-then-play to start
  • Scrobbling fails despite server support
Show 13 more
  • AirPlay to Apple TV doesn't work
  • Time display incorrect for songs over 1 hour
  • Metadata loads too frequently, causing lag
  • App freezes when pulling down menu on player screen
  • Radio tab causes app freeze
  • Occasional non-responsive behavior
  • Crashes when switching between songs on cellular
  • Image optimization never completes on large libraries
  • Duplicate songs appear in multi-disc albums
  • Offline folder structure doesn't match server
  • Bluetooth playback sometimes plays two songs simultaneously
  • SSL support issues in older versions
  • Slow metadata loading from server

Requested features

18 requests
  • CarPlay support for in-car use
  • Traditional Chinese language support
  • Simplified Chinese language support
  • All-songs library view (not just albums/artists)
  • Lyrics API integration
Show 13 more
  • Replay gain support
  • Smart playlists for yearly recaps
  • Batch download for offline music
  • Display codec and bitrate information
  • Better shuffle/random playback options
  • Improved pull-down gesture for minimizing player
  • Unified offline music view with filters
  • Song sorting options in playlists
  • Album art display in more views
  • Radio station support visibility fix
  • Genre sorting capability
  • Lock screen playback controls
  • Queue clearing functionality

In-app purchases

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
None

SubStreamer

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is AVSub free?
AVSub costs $3.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Is SubStreamer free?
SubStreamer is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, AVSub or SubStreamer?
SubStreamer is rated higher. AVSub averages 3.8 out of 5 from 65 ratings, while SubStreamer averages 4.0 from 141 ratings.
Do AVSub or SubStreamer have ads?
Neither AVSub nor SubStreamer shows ads.
Which is updated more often, AVSub or SubStreamer?
AVSub ships an update every 2 months, and SubStreamer every 2 weeks. Most recently, AVSub was updated on October 11, 2026 and SubStreamer on October 10, 2026.

Other comparisons