The Best iPhone Music Apps and Alternative Music Managers for iOS (2024)

There are lots of iPhone music players that you can use to listen to your music. In fact, there are so many iPhone music apps that you should never feel stuck with Apple's built-in option, Apple Music.

If you want an alternative way of transferring, storing, or playing back your files from your iOS music library, there are a lot options available. The same is true for finding alternative ways to listening to music through streaming.

We'll point you in the direction of some of the best music apps for iPhone right now, but first:

How Does Music Work on iOS?

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Apple's famous "walled garden" pushes a specific and sometimes outdated approach to media management. You cannot simply download a music file and play it on your iPhone's default music app, as is possible with Android devices. On iOS, adding music to your library and accessing it is a bit more complicated than that.

Apple's default music app, Apple Music, provides a wide catalog of various genres of music, but it's pretty restrictive in terms of where the music comes from. The proprietary iOS music player will only list and play songs available on and sourced from Apple Music itself.

If you want to use your own files, you'll need to import music into your library on a computer. Then—when your iPhone is paired with the computer that holds your music—you'll need to sync, either directly or through Wi-Fi.

The downside to this approach is that you can't just open your browser and download any file you want online. The upside to this centralized music library, however, is that the operating system handles media playback.

A Word on Apple Music

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Apple Music launched a while back, so it's definitely not the newest app on the market. However, most iOS music apps take Apple Music into account.

Because of this, we'll focus on music players that integrate with Apple Music, at least in terms of playback.

Free Music Apps for iPhone

You may need to try a few different iOS music apps before you find one that works for you, and free apps are the best way to go. You don't want to be shelling out bucks for every new trial, and a financial commitment may even get you stuck with an app you don't like.

Let's take a look at some of the best music apps for iPhone.

1. VLC for Mobile

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VLC is an old-school—and trusted—music player for the iPhone. It's a good choice if you want to go standalone and plan to ditch Apple Music entirely. Not only does it play most music and video files (including otherwise unsupported formats like FLAC), it has support for multiple audio tracks, too.

Additional features available in VLC the ability to transfer music through a browser via Wi-Fi, or use cloud services like Dropbox and Google Drive. The app also supports file sharing over SMB, FTP, and UPnP.

VLC for Mobile doesn't need to be open to play media. This allows you to listen to music in the background while working in other apps.

VLC is a pretty extensive program that can handle a lot, so give it a try if you're a fan of local media.

Download:VLC for Mobile (Free)

2. FLAC Player+

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If VLC for Mobile isn't cutting it, FLAC Player+ should do the trick.

FLAC Player+ is a good free music player for the iPhone if you're looking for something dedicated to local media playback. It supports FLAC, MP3, AAC, WMA, and RealMedia formats.

The app lets you group songs by playlist, album, and artist. Just like VLC, you can transfer music via Wi-Fi. However, FLAC Player+ is more of a "true" music player than VLC, so it doesn't work with video.

The interface also needs a bit of work, but it's free and easy to use. You can remove the ads with a small in-app purchase.

Download:FLAC Player+ (Free)

The Best Subscription Music Apps for iPhone

Moving on, let's take a look at the best music apps for iPhone that offer a subscription for more features.

1. Listen

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Listen is a good iOS music player if you're looking to navigate your music collection. The app uses gesture-based controls, and its basic functionality as a music player is completely free. If you want to access local and online radio stations, you'll need to upgrade with a subscription at $2.99 per month.

Standout features include the ability to browse your music library by album, artist, playlist, and the aforementioned radio stations.The Now Playing screen also allows you to drag music artwork around your display, so you can skip tracks or return them to your collection.

Download:Listen (Free, subscription available)

2. Musixmatch Lyrics Finder

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Musixmatch lyrics finder is an extremely popular music app for the iPhone. This is because it allows you to find the lyrics to songs already synced to your device. It also allows you to connect your Apple Music and Spotify profiles.

The Musixmatch app shows you the lyrics in time with the music, so you can dive deeper into your favorite tracks.

Musixmatch can look up lyrics to songs even if they're not in your library. If you can't remember the title of the song, you can search for individual phrases. It also offers built-in support for finding the lyrics to the songs playing around you. We've tested Musixmatch and other music ID apps, if you're curious.

While Musixmatch is free, it offers subscription plans to remove ads and add a few extra features.

Download:Musixmatch (Free, subscription available)

3. Apple Music | Spotify | Deezer

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Subscription services like Spotify and Deezer—plus Apple Music itself—offer you another way of listening to music on-the-go. Unfortunately, these come with a drawback. Unless you've downloaded it offline, you'll need to stream your music. This will require a generous data plan for when you're not on Wi-Fi.

On the flip side, all three of these options are easy-to-use services that allow you to listen to music whenever you want. They're some of the best music apps for the iPhone you'll find. Apple Music even gives you a three-month free trial before requiring a subscription.

Just be wary of the aforementioned data usage when you're not on Wi-Fi, and these apps will fulfill your music needs.

Download:Apple Music (Subscription required, free trial available)

Download:Spotify (Free, subscription available)

Download:Deezer (Free, subscription available)

4. SoundCloud

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SoundCloud has always marched to the beat of its own drum compared to other music services. As one of the best free music apps for the iPhone, it offers a great place for anyone to upload their music, remixes, podcasts, or live sessions.

While SoundCloud has been hit by tough competition in recent years, it still provides a place for regular users and emerging artists to share their work.

If you're willing to pay, SoundCloud Go is a premium plan that offers offline downloads and ad-free music for $5/month. Meanwhile, the $10/month plan adds an extended catalog that more closely resembles Spotify or Apple Music.

Download:SoundCloud (Free, subscription available)

5. YouTube Music

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YouTube Music is a part of Google's entertainment services, and it has effectively replaced the company's former offering, Google Play Music. You can listen to YouTube Music directly in your browser or via an iPhone app.

The service is free to use, but expect a few ads in between tracks. The interface is not the most modern, but there are a few upsides that make it forgivable.

First, you can switch from audio to video of any track with one tap, which is one feature that video enthusiast will love. Also, you can access track in-app lyrics and even search songs with lyrics; something that'll come in handy on days when you have a TikTok lyric stuck in your head but don't know which song it's from.

You can listen to your own library on YouTube Music, but you can't add local files to playlists or song queues, which is pretty frustrating.

If you're already enjoy journeying down YouTube rabbit holes, YouTube Music will be a great choice as an iOS music player.

Other standout YouTube Music features include location- and time-based playlists, unlimited track skips on free plans, along with covers and fan remixes appearing in search results.

However, there's no Hi-Res audio and it doesn't offer much non-music programming.

Download:YouTube Music (Free, subscription available)

6. VOX

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VOX is one of the best iPhone music players, offering a fluid integration with iTunes, Spotify, SoundCloud and online radio stations.

You can get unlimited music cloud storage for your music collections, sync your music across all your devices, and access its stunning 30-preset parametric equalizer with a premium account. You also get unlimited space, playlists sync, and offline playback.

Plus, VOX plays all popular file formats without restrictions, and accessing your library is made easy with a gesture-based interface and Apple's Force Touch support.

Download:VOX (Free, subscription available)

Or Try a Paid Music App for iPhone

If none of these free apps work for you, we've rounded up a couple of paid music apps for iPhone, too.

1. Ecoute

Ecoute is a paid music app for iPhone that takes play counts and last-played data into consideration. It features an enhanced shuffle tool that allows you to sort music by albums and last played dates to better serve up the tunes.

Download:Ecoute ($0.99)

2. Cs: Music Player

Cs: Music Player is another paid music app that's great for anyone yearning for a classic music app experience. It provides a simple, easy-to-use interface that maintains compatibility with Apple Music and locally synced files.

Download:Cs: Music Player ($2.99)

3. Stezza

Lastly, Stezza is a one-handed playback app that advertises itself as the best music player for the iPhone if you're a driver or very active.

Download:Stezza ($2.99)

What's Your Favorite Music App for iPhone?

Apple Music is an obvious choice for iPhone owners, but it's far from your only option. Whether you prefer to sync your own music or stream everything, there's a music app on iOS for you. Try a few out and see which works best for your use.

The Best iPhone Music Apps and Alternative Music Managers for iOS (2024)
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