Comparison

Emby vs Audio Buttons

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

Head to head
About

Emby

Unite your personal videos, music, and photos into a single, accessible library. Stream your media to any device with automatic on-the-fly conversion and elegant organization. Share with friends and family, and manage access with robust parental controls.

Highlights
  • Personal media aggregation
  • On-the-fly media conversion
  • Elegant media organization
  • Media sharing with friends/family
  • Parental controls
  • Cloud-synced media streaming
Features
Read full description

Bringing all of your personal media together into one place has never been easier! Emby unites your personal videos, music, and photos and streams them to your devices. Get the free Emby Media Server from the Emby website (required as part of your Emby install). • Emby automatically converts your media on-the-fly to play on any device. • Emby organizes your media into an elegant display with artwork, rich metadata and related content. • Easily share your media with friends and family. • Rich parental control and management features allow the Emby Server administrator to easily control access for your entire family. • Stream your cloud-synced media (with installed cloud sync providers) The app is free to browse your media collection, and free to cast media to other devices. Playback requires a small one-time in-app purchase, or an active Emby Premiere subscription, also available in-app. Emby Premiere is available in-app as a monthly subscription for $6.99 USD per month. Payment will be charged to your iTunes Account upon confirmation of purchase. The subscription automatically renews unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24-hours before the end of the current period. Your account will be charged for renewal within 24-hours prior to the end of the current period, and the renewal cost is $6.99 USD. Subscriptions may be managed and auto-renewal may be turned off by going to your Account Settings after purchase. No cancellation of the current subscription is allowed during the active subscription period. Our privacy policy can be found at https://emby.media/privacy. Please also see our terms of use at https://emby.media/terms. All content displayed here is licensed for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license. The videos displayed are available on the Open Movie Project, found at http://www.blender.org/

About

Audio Buttons

Read full description

Audio Buttons is the playback device for the set — big buttons, straight to the point, no menus. The case it was built for: a phone call between two actors shot on two days. Record one side's lines on day one, play them to the other side on day two. The sound comes the moment you press. • Record with one tap — tap an empty button, that's it • Play with one tap — the tile fills up as it plays • One set per scene, as many as the shooting day has • Names and colors, so you hit the right one in the dark • Your PDF beside the pads in landscape — the marked line is the button • Lift quiet recordings until they carry on set • Trim the silence off the start so the cue lands • Find a spot in a recording and listen from there • Import and share audio (mp3, m4a, wav, aiff) • iPhone and iPad stay in step over iCloud • German and English, switchable inside the app No sign-in, no ads, no subscription.

Screenshots

Emby1 screens
Audio Buttons4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Emby at Free against Audio Buttons's $3.99. Emby also leads on device support (5 vs 2) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.0). Audio Buttons's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 3) and update cadence (weekly vs every 3 weeks). On 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Emby is free to download; Audio Buttons costs $3.99 up front. Emby sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $6.99 per month. Audio Buttons asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Emby ships an update every 3 weeks, Audio Buttons weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 26, 2026 and October 3, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Emby versus Audio Buttons: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterEmbyAudio Buttons
PriceFree — better$3.99
Rating3.1 (658 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews30.6% of reviews—
Number of ratings658 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksWeekly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac, Apple Watch — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size126 MB3 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperEmby MediaERIK HAFFNER

Bugs and requests

Emby

Reported bugs

7 issues
  • Playback errors
  • Inability to play certain file formats
  • Disconnection issues
  • Syncing problems
  • Crashes on launch
Show 2 more
  • Orientation issues
  • Transcoding problems

Requested features

7 requests
  • Picture-in-picture mode
  • Swipe gestures for navigation
  • Improved music management
  • Offline playback enhancements
  • Chromecast improvements
Show 2 more
  • Faster server scanning/indexing
  • Better codec/format support

Audio Buttons

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Emby

Subscriptions1
  • Emby Premiere$6.991 Month
One-time1
  • Unlock Playback2 variants$4.99
None

Audio Buttons

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Emby free?
Emby is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Audio Buttons free?
Audio Buttons costs $3.99, with no in-app purchases.
Do Emby or Audio Buttons have ads?
Neither Emby nor Audio Buttons shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Emby or Audio Buttons?
Emby ships an update every 3 weeks, and Audio Buttons weekly. Most recently, Emby was updated on October 26, 2026 and Audio Buttons on October 3, 2026.

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