For children
Large tiles, few paths and a home screen that continues with whatever played last.
- Resume with one tap
- Favourites and own lists
- Audio plays by series
- Sleep timer with fade-out
SidePlay · iOS & Android
Family testing
Audio plays, music, podcasts. From the family's own collection.
SidePlay is a calm audio player for children. It plays what the family already owns or subscribes to – even in airplane mode. No recommendations, no autoplay chains, no engagement mechanics.
- Offline
- No recommendations
- No tracking
In motion
This is SidePlay – on iPhone and SidePhone.
The same feature side by side: iPhone on the left, SidePhone SP-01 on the right. Only openly licensed or public-domain content is shown. Videos load only when started and come straight from this site – no YouTube, no tracking. The apps and captions are in German.
For children
What children see and use.
Large tilesHome screen with shows as large pictures, sections at the bottom.
ResumeThe last episode continues where it stopped after one tap.
Listening offlineDownloading an episode, switching off the network – it still plays.
Sleep timerAfter the chosen time, playback fades out gently.
Show all (7 more)
Music from NextcloudChoosing and playing an album from the family server.
Audio playsAudio plays and audiobooks sit apart from music and start at the beginning.
FavouritesMarking an audio play; it appears in its own row on the home screen.
Own listsCreating a list and adding titles for the evening.
Audio plays by seriesEpisodes of a series in order, with the next one marked.
DownloadsDownloaded titles in one place, with the storage used.
SearchResults only from the family's own collection, on the SidePhone with the wheel.
For parents
What parents set and decide.
Parent lock and podcastsBehind PIN or pattern: finding and subscribing to a podcast.
Minimum age per titleSetting a minimum age; the title disappears from the child's profile.
Night-time volumeFrom a set time the volume is limited.
LibrariesAssigning the server's libraries or hiding them from children.
The principle
Offline first. No subscription needed.
A child's audio plays and favourite music should not require a streaming subscription, a commercial account or a permanent connection. SidePlay plays the family's own collection and downloads it to the device; after that, everything works without a network.
Resume takes one tap, audio plays are grouped by series, and search only finds what is approved in the family's own library. When a story ends, it ends.
Own server
Plex today. Nextcloud as an alternative.
Today SidePlay reaches the family's media collection through Plex: audio plays, music and audiobooks live on a server on the home network, and SidePlay fetches them from there and keeps them on the device for the road.
Nextcloud is in progress as an alternative: music and audiobooks from the Nextcloud "Music" app via its Subsonic interface, with a separate read-only key per device. Families who already use Nextcloud for photos and files will not need a second media server. This source is built and shown in the videos, but not yet part of a released version.
Plex
Own media server on the home network
Nextcloud Music
Alternative to Plex, no Plex account
Podcasts
RSS subscriptions, including public broadcasters' children's shows
Apple Music
On iOS, with own subscription
Everyday use
Simple for children. Clear for parents.
For parents
Settings sit behind a parent lock and can be explained to the child.
- Parent lock with PIN
- Show or hide libraries
- Minimum age per title
- Downloads on Wi-Fi only
For families
SidePlay plays what is already there and sends nothing out.
- Data stays on the device
- No SideKids account
- Own server instead of a platform
- No recommendations, no tracking
Status
In family testing. Soon for more families.
SidePlay runs daily on the devices of the family that builds it. Store links, source code and the privacy policy will appear here once the release is prepared.
iPhone
Release in preparation
Android / SidePhone
In daily use on the SidePhone
Source code
Published with the first release
Technical details
iOS
Swift · SwiftUI · iOS 17+
Android
Kotlin · Jetpack Compose · Media3 · Room
Sources
Plex, podcast feeds, Apple Music (iOS); Nextcloud in development
License
GPL-3.0-or-later (intended)
SidePlay is an independent project and is not affiliated with Plex, Apple or Nextcloud. These names only describe the supported services. SidePlay plays podcasts from the publishers' public feeds; rights to the content remain with them.