Aura: Self-Hosted Music

Aura is a music player for the Navidrome or Subsonic server you already run. It streams your own library to your iPhone, keeps lossless files lossless, and shows lyrics in time with the song.

Aura is a client, not a music service. It needs a server you host or have access to: Navidrome, or any server that speaks Subsonic API 1.16.1. It doesn't host or provide any music.

PLAYBACK
• Stream the original files, with FLAC and ALAC kept lossless, or at 128, 192 or 320 kbps when the connection is slow. OGG and Opus files are converted by your server so they play too.
• A five-band equalizer from 60 Hz to 14 kHz. Drag the curve, or pick one of 15 presets. ReplayGain is a switch in Settings.
• A queue you can edit: play next, add to the end, drag to reorder. When it runs out, autoplay carries on with similar songs.
• Shuffle, repeat one or all, and a sleep timer that stops after a set time or at the end of the song.
• Plays are scrobbled to your server, and held on the iPhone while you're offline.

LYRICS
• Lyrics from your server first, and from LRCLIB when it has none.
• Word by word when the server has per-word timing, line by line otherwise. Tap a line to jump to it, and shift the timing if your Bluetooth headphones lag.
• For a duet, a remix or another version of a song, Aura checks the lyrics match the version playing.
• A translation under each line, written by Google's Gemini with a free API key of your own (Settings → Lyrics → Translation). Only the lines, the song's title and the artist are sent to Google. A song translated once stays translated on your iPhone.

MIXES
• Instant Mix starts a radio from any song or artist. Save it as a playlist on your server and its cover goes with it.
• Made For You builds mixes from your library by time of day, mood and genre, each with its own cover.
• Radar lists this month's releases from the artists you play most. What your server has plays in full; the rest plays as 30-second previews from Deezer. You can switch it off in Settings.
• Year Wrapped shows your top songs, artists and genres, counted on your iPhone.

OFFLINE
• Download a song, an album, a playlist or the whole library, at a quality of its own.
• What you stream is cached as it plays, up to a size you set.
• With no connection, the library, search and playback keep working with what's on the iPhone.

LIBRARY AND SEARCH
• One search across songs, albums, artists and playlists that forgives typos, with a Recently Searched list of what you played.
• Playlists as a grid or a list, filtered to pinned, radios, mixes, yours, shared or downloaded. Create them, reorder them and give them a cover from your photos; changes go to your server.
• Album, playlist and mix pages take the colour of their artwork. When your server has no cover for an album, Aura finds it in Deezer's catalogue.
• Several servers, switched from the Home title, and libraries split across music folders.

ON YOUR IPHONE
• Controls on the Lock Screen, in Control Center and in the Dynamic Island, with AirPlay.
• Siri and Shortcuts, in English and French: play, pause, skip, go back, shuffle, repeat, favourite a song, play a playlist or an album by name, or play your favourites.
• Share a song as links that open it on other services.
• Light or dark, nine accent colours, and tabs and Home sections in the order you choose.
• An Apple Watch app: control what's playing, follow the lyrics, and start a mix from your wrist.
• A nightstand clock: switch it on, turn the phone sideways while music plays, and the artwork and the time fill the screen.

PRIVACY
Aura has no account and no analytics, and sends nothing to the developer. Server passwords are kept in the iOS Keychain. Lyrics, credits, covers, artist photos, the Radar and share links come from public services, each one listed in the privacy policy.

Aura is not affiliated with Navidrome, Subsonic or Apple.