Questions about Pixie

Pixie is a music and audiobook player for your Plex library on iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch. iPhone and iPad have a custom audio engine, sound controls, and music visualizers. The Watch app can browse, stream, download, and play on its own.

Pixie started with my own Plex library. I wanted music, audiobooks, and independent Watch playback in one app. The sound controls are there for everyday listening, whether you're using headphones, a car stereo, or a small speaker.

Not yet. We'll add the public TestFlight invitation to this site when testing opens.

You need a Plex account and access to a Plex Media Server with a music or audiobook library. The current iPhone and iPad build requires iOS or iPadOS 27 or later; the independent Apple Watch app requires watchOS 10 or later.

Plex is the only supported library source today. Support for other media servers and local-file libraries is planned.

Yes. The Watch app can browse and stream from Plex over Wi-Fi or cellular. Downloaded music and audiobooks play without a nearby iPhone or a network connection.

Yes. Save eligible music and audiobooks to your device, then browse or search them in Downloads without contacting Plex. Download access depends on your Plex account and server.

Pixie's custom audio engine runs on iPhone and iPad. Adjust EQ and dynamics during playback, use volume normalization to reduce jumps between tracks, and save Sound Profiles for different listening setups. It can play supported lossless files without an extra lossy conversion, though the source and output can still require conversion. Playback details show the source format, processing, and output. Apple Watch uses a separate player and doesn't include this engine's EQ or effects.

No. Use the headphones or speakers you normally connect to your iPhone, iPad, or Apple Watch. The sound controls on iPhone and iPad let you adjust playback for your setup. Audio quality still depends on your equipment and connection.

Pixie uses lyrics from your media server first. If none are available when you open lyrics, it can look them up through LRCLIB. Some tracks have synced lyrics, some have plain text, and some have no match.

Pixie measures loudness and builds waveforms on your device from decoded audio, before EQ or effects. On iPhone and iPad, it can use the same audio already decoded for playback. Complete results are available once the whole track has been analyzed. Downloads can also be analyzed separately. On Apple Watch, analysis runs on completed downloads. A track may show a plain progress bar until its waveform is ready.

Pixie extracts colors from the artwork on your device and blends them into the player background. Metal renders the background on iPhone and iPad; Apple Watch uses an image rendered from the same colors. The music visualizer is a separate feature that responds to the audio.

Pixie uses Apple's AirPlay controls on iPhone and iPad. They support multiple compatible AirPlay 2 speakers, with individual volume controls. Available combinations depend on your devices and network.

Jump between chapters, save bookmarks, change playback speed, or set a sleep timer. In Plex, enable Store Track Progress under the audiobook library's Advanced settings so Pixie recognizes it as an audiobook library. Progress and bookmarks sync back to Plex where supported.

Supported settings sync through iCloud. On iPhone and iPad, that includes custom Sound Profiles, DSP presets, and imported visualizer presets. Downloads stay on the device where you saved them.

Not for basic browsing and playback. Plex decides access to downloads and some Plex features based on your account and server setup; an eligible Plex subscription may be required.

Pixie keeps sign-in details in Keychain and downloads on the device where you save them. Apple provides anonymous aggregate usage and technical reliability reports. Local support logs stay on your devices unless you share them. The privacy page explains these reports, TestFlight, iCloud sync, and requests to media services.

Pricing isn't final. The plan is a free trial of the full app, with monthly, annual, and lifetime options.

No. Pixie is an independent app and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Plex.