How to Set Up Cassette for iPhone

Prerequisites

Before you start, you need:

• Cassette Player running on your computer. If you haven't done that yet, follow the desktop guide first. Come back here when it's running and your library is indexed.
• Your Cassette Player server address. If your phone and computer are on the same Wi-Fi network, this is your computer's local address: http://yourcomputer.local:4533. To find your computer's hostname on a Mac, go to System Settings → General → Sharing and look for the “Local Hostname” field.
• Your username and password — the ones you created during Cassette Player first login.
• An iPhone on the same Wi-Fi network as your computer for the initial setup. After that, remote access works over any connection if you've configured it.

Get the app

Once you have access, install Cassette from the link in your TestFlight invitation. TestFlight is Apple's official beta testing platform — it's free and safe.

First login

Open Cassette. You'll see the login screen. Fill in three fields:

1. Server address. Enter your Cassette Player URL. On your home network, this is usually http://yourcomputer.local:4533 — replace yourcomputer with your actual hostname. If you're not sure, you can also use your computer's local IP address: on a Mac, go to System Settings → Wi-Fi → Details to find it, then enter http://192.168.x.x:4533.
2. Username. The admin username you created in Cassette Player.
3. Password. Your Cassette Player password.

Leave the API setting as Auto-Detect. Cassette Player supports the Subsonic API and the app will identify it automatically.

Tap Login.

Sync your library

After login, Cassette fetches your library from the server. Depending on how many albums you have, this takes a few seconds to a minute. When it finishes, you'll see your artists and albums — the same collection that's in the Cassette Player web interface.

Tap any album, tap any track, and it streams from your Cassette Player server to your phone over Wi-Fi (or over the internet if you've set up remote access). The audio quality depends on what you've stored — if you have FLAC files, the app streams them in full quality.

Download for offline listening

Streaming over Wi-Fi is fine at home. For when you leave — commutes, flights, anywhere without reliable Wi-Fi — download albums to your phone.

On any album screen, tap the download icon. The album downloads to your device and plays back without any network connection. Download your favorites before a trip and you have your entire collection in your pocket.

You're done

Your music is on your phone. You own it. It's not rented, it's not going anywhere, and nobody is going to raise your monthly fee or remove a track from your library without notice.

When you buy new music — from Bandcamp, Qobuz, anywhere — drop the files into your Cassette Player music folder. The next scan picks them up and they appear in the app. That's the whole loop.

Discover what to buy next on Cassette's discovery page.

Troubleshooting

• Can't connect from outside home: By default Cassette Player is local-only. Set up Tailscale (free, easy) for secure remote access without exposing your server to the internet.
• New purchases aren't appearing: Open the Cassette Player web interface, go to Settings → Scanning, and trigger a manual scan.
• Playback quality seems low: Check Settings in the app — if you're on a slow connection, the app may be transcoding to a lower bitrate. On Wi-Fi at home, set it to maximum quality.