Can you hear lossless? A ten-minute test at home
One album you know well, two quality settings and a quiet room (sample).
Lossless at home. 72 MB an hour on the bus.
Longplay (sample) streams whole albums from independent labels. Pick one quality for Wi-Fi and one for mobile data; the app shows what each costs before you press play.
iPhone, Android, desktop and web. Free with ads; Plus and Studio from $9.99 a month (Example prices).
Streaming quality, drawn to scale
Quality
Bitrate, to scale
Bitrate
Data
Plan
Data saver
96 kbps
43 MB an hour
Free
Normal
Mobile data default
160 kbps
72 MB an hour
Free
High
320 kbps
144 MB an hour
Plus
Lossless
Wi-Fi default
1,411 kbps
up to 635 MB
Studio
Hi-res
4,608 kbps
up to 2.1 GB
Studio
Bars are drawn to scale by bitrate. Lossless streams vary by track: the solid part is a typical stream, the hatched part the most it can use. Data figures are the most an hour of streaming uses (sample figures).
Made for listening to whole albums
Records play in the order the artist chose, without gaps between tracks, and every track shows who played on it.
Gapless album playback
Live records and DJ mixes run straight through, the way they were mastered.
On by default
Full credits
Players, producers, engineers and the studio, for every track we have the data for.
Swipe up on Now playing
Radio made by people
Weekly shows hosted by label staff and record shop owners, with the tracklist kept.
Radio tab
Lyrics in time
Lines light up as they are sung, and you can tap a line to jump to it.
Now playing, Lyrics
Live sessions
Concert and studio recordings released only on Longplay (sample).
Search, Live
Download at home, play on the train
Plus and Studio download albums and playlists for no-signal journeys. Choose the download quality on its own: High fits a long trip on a small phone, Lossless suits a week of travel with room to spare.
Data saver
32 MB
Normal
54 MB
High
108 MB
Lossless
up to 476 MB
Hi-res
up to 1.55 GB
One 45-minute album, downloaded (sample figures). Same scale as the streaming ladder.
Plans
Every plan has the whole catalogue. What changes is how far up the ladder you can go, ads and downloads. Cancel any time in Settings.
Free
$0
Up to Normal, 160 kbps
- Every album, on shuffle on phones
- A short audio ad every 30 minutes
- Radio shows and lyrics
Plus
$9.99 a month
Up to High, 320 kbps
- Play any track, in album order
- No ads
- Downloads on up to 5 devices
Studio
$14.99 a month
Up to Hi-res, 4,608 kbps
- Everything in Plus
- Lossless and hi-res lossless
- Full credits with session notes
Example prices. The bar under each price is that plan’s highest quality, on the same scale as the ladder. Student, Duo and Family plans are cheaper per person.
Where a $9.99 month goes
Your subscription is shared between the artists you actually played that month. If you only listened to three records, those three records get your money.
Artists and labels you played
Split by your own listening, not pooled with everyone else’s.
$5.20
Songwriters and publishers
Paid through the collecting societies.
$1.50
App store and card fees
Lower when you subscribe on the website.
$1.00
Running Longplay
Servers, the editors, support and the people who build the app.
$2.29
Example prices; a Plus month bought in the app (sample split).
Where you can listen
One account on up to five devices. Start on your phone and carry on at your desk: the queue follows you.
iPhone and iPad
iOS 16 or later
Hi-res needs a USB-C or Lightning DAC for full resolution.
Android
Android 10 or later
Downloads can go to an SD card.
Mac and Windows
macOS 12, Windows 10 or later
Exclusive mode sends the file to your DAC untouched.
Web player
A current browser
Up to High; lossless needs the app.
Speakers and TVs
Casting from the app
Your phone works as the remote.
Cars
Phone mirroring in the dashboard
Big buttons and voice search while you drive.
System requirements (sample).
Liner notes
Packing music for a long trip
How much space a week of albums takes at each quality, and what to download first (sample).
Why we show every credit we can find
The drummer, the engineer and the studio deserve their names on the record (sample).
Questions before you switch
Will I hear the difference with lossless?
With good wired headphones or speakers in a quiet room, many people do; on earbuds on a bus, most do not. Try the same album on High and on Lossless and decide for yourself.
How much mobile data does it use?
On the Normal default, about 72 MB an hour. The ladder at the top of this page shows every quality; you can set mobile data and Wi-Fi separately.
Can I bring my playlists from another app?
Yes. Settings, Import playlists reads a link or a file from most streaming apps and matches the tracks we have (sample).
What happens to my downloads if I cancel?
They stay until the end of the month you paid for, then the app removes them. Your playlists and library stay.
Is there a free trial?
Plus and Studio have a one-month free trial for new accounts (sample). Cancel before it ends and you pay nothing.
Get Longplay
Free on the App Store and Google Play. Sign in on desktop and the web with the same account.
iPhone and iPad
iOS 16+
Android
10+
App size
84 MB
Latest version
5.4 (sample)