The idea
Streaming gives you access to everything and ownership of nothing. When the price goes up — again — you pay it, because your whole library is there and nowhere else.
Cassette Player is a different model. You buy music — from Bandcamp, Qobuz, wherever — and it lives in your library. On your computer. Yours. Cassette Player makes it available on your phone, offline, in full quality, without a subscription.
It's the iPod model, updated for 2026. You own the music. You control where it lives. Nobody can take it away or raise the price.
What you'll need
- A computer that stays on. A Mac, Windows PC, or Linux machine — even a low-power one like a Raspberry Pi or an old laptop you repurpose. It just needs to be running when you want to stream to your phone. Many people run it on their main Mac and leave it on while they're home, or on a NAS that runs 24/7.
- Docker. Free software that runs Cassette Player in an isolated container. No complicated installs, no version conflicts. One command and it's running. Get Docker here.
- A music folder. Your existing FLAC, MP3, or AAC files. Could be purchases from Qobuz or Bandcamp, ripped CDs, your old iTunes library — anything. Cassette Player doesn't care where they came from.
- An iPhone. The Cassette iOS app connects to your Cassette Player server and downloads albums to your phone for offline listening.
Three steps
Step 1 — Install Cassette Player on your computer
Cassette Player runs as a Docker container. It indexes your music folder, handles transcoding for mobile, and serves everything through a clean web interface and a mobile API. Once it's running you can use it from any browser, or from the Cassette iOS app.
Full installation guide: Cassette Player on Mac, Windows, or Linux →
Step 2 — Connect the iOS app
Cassette for iOS connects to your Cassette Player server over your home network — or over the internet if you set up remote access. Log in with the credentials you created in Step 1, and your library syncs automatically. Download albums before you leave the house and play them offline.
Full guide: Cassette for iOS setup →
Step 3 — Buy music from wherever you like
Add files to your music folder and Cassette Player will pick them up on the next scan. Purchases from Qobuz download as FLAC. Bandcamp downloads as FLAC or MP3. Your old iTunes library, your ripped CDs — all of it goes in the same folder and just works.
If you're not sure where to buy, start with our guide to buying music online.
What this isn't
Honest framing, because it matters:
- Not a streaming service. There's no Cassette catalog to browse and play. You bring your own music. That's the deal.
- Not a one-click setup. You're running a small server. It's not complicated, but it's not zero-configuration. If you've ever installed Docker and run a command in Terminal, you can do this.
- Not automatic purchase sync. When you buy music, you download the files and move them into your music folder. Cassette Player picks them up from there. No magic pipeline — just file management, which you already know how to do.
- Worth it. After setup, your library lives on your phone, plays offline, and never goes away. No subscription, no price increases, no library changes without your knowledge.
Ready? Start with the desktop setup guide.