Questions about Pixie

Pixie is a music and audiobook player for your Plex library, built for iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch. 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, with more control over the sound.

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

You need a Plex account, a Plex Media Server with a music or audiobook library, and an iPhone or iPad running iOS or iPadOS 26.1 or later. Apple Watch is optional and requires watchOS 10 or later.

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 the On Device library without contacting Plex. This library contains the items you've downloaded. Download access depends on your Plex account and server.

Pixie's custom audio engine runs on iPhone and iPad. It can analyze audio already decoded for playback, then apply EQ and other adjustable effects while audio plays. Supported lossless files can play without an extra lossy conversion. Some formats and outputs still require conversion, and smaller Plex streams can save cellular data. Apple Watch uses a separate player and doesn't include this engine's EQ or effects.

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.

Yes. Supported settings, Sound Profiles, DSP presets, and imported visualizer presets sync through iCloud. 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 stores sign-in details in Keychain and downloads on the device where you save them. Playback diagnostics stay on your device unless you share a report. The privacy page explains iCloud sync and requests to Plex and LRCLIB.

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.