If you still keep lossless FLAC, ALAC, MP3, WAV, M4A, or AIFF on your phone or in iCloud Drive, you already know the pain: streaming apps want subscriptions, and generic file players treat albums like a folder dump.
TanukiBeats is an offline music library player for that middle ground — a native iOS app where your files stay yours, but the experience feels like a real player, not a file browser with a play button.
Download on the App Store — screenshots, version history, and ratings live on the listing.
Running a home NAS? See play FLAC from your NAS (SMB & WebDAV).
Built around local files#
TanukiBeats imports audio from Local Files and iCloud Drive — folder import, library favorites, and clean metadata in one place. Drop in a folder, sync a collection, or move rips from your desktop — the app indexes them into a proper library with artists, albums, genres, and playlists.
Playback is the center of gravity: a full Now Playing screen with smooth transitions from the mini player, plus support for lyrics from .lrc sidecars or embedded tags. Sing along when you have them; ignore them when you do not.
Metadata that respects your collection#
Collectors care about tags. TanukiBeats includes a metadata editor and repair diagnostics so you can fix titles, artists, album art gaps, and other messy imports without leaving the app.
When you want help filling in the blanks, turn on Online Library Enhancement (off by default). In the background, TanukiBeats can:
- Search Apple Music for catalog metadata and artwork when there is a confident match
- Fall back to MusicBrainz for obscure or regional releases Apple Music may not know
- Optionally use AcoustID fingerprinting for hard cases — only a fingerprint and duration are sent, never the audio file itself
Your music files never leave your device. Only search terms and optional fingerprint data are used to look up missing information.
Tanuki VIP (optional)#
Core playback and library management work without a subscription. Tanuki VIP unlocks online services for people who want more:
- Cloud library backup — keep a manifest of your library safe across devices
- Online Library Enhancement — automatic metadata and artwork repair
- Manual matching tools — when you want to pick the right catalog entry yourself
Choose monthly, yearly, or a one-time lifetime unlock — whatever fits how you use the app.
Who is it for?#
TanukiBeats is for listeners who:
- Own their music files and want a dedicated player on iPhone
- Keep libraries in iCloud Drive and need something that understands albums, not just filenames
- Care about lyrics, cover art, and clean tags without handing files to a cloud streaming service
It runs on iOS 17+ and is designed as a focused library app — not a social feed, not a radio station, not an upsell funnel for someone else’s catalog.
Learn more#
- App Store: TanukiBeats
- Product overview: TanukiBeats guide
- More apps from ihomei: Apps
Questions and feedback are welcome in the comments below — or on future release posts as TanukiBeats evolves.
