Cartridge — Music Player

Your Synology NAS music on phone, CarPlay or AirPlay 2. Gapless playback, offline downloads, high-res audio support. Fast, private, ad-free. Alternative to DS Audio.

Cartridge is a beautiful, modern music player for your Synology NAS. Stream your entire music library over Wi-Fi, DDNS, or QuickConnect — from home or anywhere in the world — with the speed and polish of a native iOS app.

Cartridge connects directly to your Synology DiskStation running the Audio Station package. There are no subscriptions, no ads, no accounts, and no data collection. Your music stays on your NAS. Your listening history stays on your iPhone.

*** KEY FEATURES ***

STREAM YOUR LIBRARY

• Browse and play your entire Synology music collection. Home, Artists, Albums, Genres, Composers, Folders, and Search.

GAPLESS PLAYBACK

• Seamless transitions between tracks — essential for live albums, classical works, DJ mixes, and concept albums.

OFFLINE DOWNLOADS

• Save songs, albums, and playlists to your iPhone for listening on the go. Wi-Fi-only by default to protect your data plan.

AIRPLAY 2

• Cast to HomePod, Apple TV, or any AirPlay receiver. Full lock-screen metadata handoff, full-screen receiver UI, and Spatial Audio support on AirPods and multichannel on your Apple TV

CARPLAY

• Drive with your own music. Dedicated CarPlay interface with Home, Playlists, and Library tabs — recently played, pinned favourites, top artists, smart playlists, and full album / artist drill-downs. Now Playing with heart, shuffle, repeat, and jump-to-album / jump-to-artist. Ask Siri to play your music, hands-free.

SIRI VOICE CONTROL

• Ask Siri to play your library by album, song, or artist. On iPhone, end the request with "on Cartridge" — for example, "Hey Siri, play Nevermind by Nirvana on Cartridge". In CarPlay, just say the album, song, or artist.

AUDIOPHILE-GRADE PLAYBACK

• Native support for FLAC, ALAC, AAC, MP3, AIFF, and WAV — including high-resolution PCM up to 192 kHz.

DSD SUPPORT

• Play DSD64 stereo and multichannel files (.dsf / .dff) directly from your NAS using a custom software decoder.

ARTIST IMAGES FROM APPLE MUSIC

• Artist pages feature full-width photos from the Apple Music catalog. Album artwork is also fetched from Apple Music when your NAS doesn't have cover art embedded.

SMART HOME SCREEN

• Recently played, recently added, liked songs, top artists, and pinned favorites — all on a single scrollable page.

PLAYLISTS

• Create, edit, and sync playlists stored on your NAS. Or build local iPhone-only playlists for offline use.

INTERNET RADIO

• Add and play Shoutcast, Icecast, and HLS streams alongside your NAS music.

FULL-SCREEN NOW PLAYING

• Animated album art, gradient background colors that shift with each song, swipeable queue, and one-tap navigation to artist or album.

LOCK SCREEN CONTROLS

• Standard iOS media controls with full metadata handoff and background playback.

*** PRIVACY BY DESIGN ***

Cartridge does not collect, transmit, or share any personal data with the developer or any third party. There is no developer backend — the app talks directly to your NAS. Your credentials are stored in the iOS Keychain, and your listening history lives only on your device. No analytics, no tracking, no SDKs, no ads.

*** REQUIREMENTS ***

• A Synology NAS running DSM 6 or DSM 7
• The Audio Station package installed on your NAS with your music library indexed
• Network access from your iPhone to your NAS (Wi-Fi, Local LAN, DDNS, or Synology QuickConnect)

*** ABOUT ***

Cartridge is an independent, unofficial third-party app. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Synology Inc. "Synology", "DiskStation", and "Audio Station" are trademarks of Synology Inc., referenced only to describe compatibility. Support: https://mbjprod-netizen.github.io/cartridge-app/support.html Privacy: https://mbjprod-netizen.github.io/cartridge-app/privacy.html