Questions
The ones worth answering before you install anything. For what a tier holds, the front page says it feature by feature; for the long form of the two questions below that have a legal answer, Privacy and Terms.
Do I need an account?
No. Local folders, every format, playlists, scrobbling, the rule engine — none of it asks who you are. An account exists for two things: remembering which cloud folders you added, so another device can take them up without finding them again (Pro), and carrying your library between your own devices (Sync).
Does my music leave my device?
No. There is no Sonarch server holding your files, and nothing is uploaded to one. When you connect Dropbox, OneDrive, pCloud, WebDAV, an S3 bucket or a Subsonic server, your device talks to that service directly. The apps carry no analytics, no telemetry and no crash reporting, and this site sets no cookies.
Does it work without a network?
Yes, and for a local library that is simply how it works. What you keep in the cloud can be downloaded to the device beforehand, and offline mode narrows the library to what can actually be played right now. Plays are recorded either way and scrobbled once there is a network again.
Which formats does it play?
FLAC, ALAC, WAV, AIFF, AAC (M4A), MP3 and Ogg Vorbis. DSD and Opus are not supported. For hi-res, “Follow track sample rate” switches the output to each track's own rate: on the Mac it is off by default and set per output device in Settings › Playback, and on iPhone it is on by default, with the system picking the nearest rate the output supports. Decoding, volume, crossfade and silence trimming work in 32-bit floating point, so adjusting them costs no audible precision.
Which Subsonic servers work?
Bandcamp, Navidrome, Airsonic, and any other server that speaks the Subsonic API. Add one as a cloud location, Subsonic-compatible, with its address and your sign-in, and it plays straight from the server like any other cloud folder (Pro).
Does Sonarch change my files?
Only when you ask it to. A tag you correct is written into the file where the file can be written, and kept in the library where it cannot, which is what makes corrections survive a rescan. Tidying an import touches only what you dragged in, and only with the switch turned on.
What can I buy today?
Nothing yet, and that is deliberate rather than an oversight — neither Pro nor Sync is on sale. Both are yours in the meantime: everyone who joins before 2.0 keeps Pro free afterwards, all of it, including the Pro features that arrive later, and Sync is in beta and free to anyone signed in until then. The difference is what happens at 2.0 — Pro you keep, Sync becomes a subscription.
Are the Mac and the iPhone one purchase?
Yes. They are a single App Store record with Universal Purchase, so whatever you hold on one you hold on the other, and a Sync subscription covers every device you sign in on.
What does Sync actually carry?
What you have done, not what you own: tag corrections, loved tracks, play history, when a track was added, the playlists you choose, and where you stopped inside an album. The music itself is already on each device, and nothing about it is copied anywhere. All of it works on a single device without Sync — the subscription buys the crossing, never the feature. A subscription carries Pro with it for as long as it runs; if it ends, Pro stays where you hold it in your own right, and everything already carried across stays where it landed. Until 2.0 there is no subscription at all: Sync is in beta and free to anyone signed in, which is also how it gets exercised by real libraries before anybody pays for it.
Is there a free trial?
There is no need for one: nothing is on sale yet, so all of it is free to use until 2.0, and Pro stays free afterwards for everyone who joined before. What can I buy today? has the details.
How often is it updated?
Regularly — every release and what it brought is in the changelog, newest first.
How do I report a problem or ask for a feature?
From inside the app: Feedback… in the (…) menu or under Help on the Mac, and Settings › Account › Feedback on iPhone. No account is needed. It goes straight to the developer, and the reply comes back in the app, and by email too if you are signed in or leave an address. Include diagnostics is on by default and shows exactly what it sends before you send it; Attach logs stays off unless you turn it on. Or write to support@sonarch.app.