SongSweep vs Song Sweeper vs Song Swipe vs Tune Sweeper
Song Sweeper, Song Swipe, Tune Sweeper and SongSweep all help clean up a music library, but they solve different problems. Song Sweeper is a free iPhone app with a one-time "Maestro Lifetime" unlock that lists duplicate songs and least-played tracks in a list view, no swipe interface. Song Swipe is a free, ad-supported swipe app for iPhone, iPad and Apple silicon Mac that works across Spotify and other services and exports cleaned playlists. Tune Sweeper is a 22.99 USD Mac-only desktop tool for iTunes-era libraries: duplicates, missing artwork, broken file links. SongSweep is a swipe-first iPhone app built specifically for Apple Music, with Apple Watch, a Mac mini player and CarPlay support, a Pro duplicate finder, free Smart Filters, no ads or tracking, and 39 languages. None of the four can delete a song from Apple Music automatically, Apple does not allow it for any app.
Search for a music library cleanup app and you get a handful of names: Song Sweeper, Song Swipe, Tune Sweeper, and SongSweep, the app I built. They are not the same app under different names. Each one solves a slightly different problem.
I built SongSweep, so take my part of this with a grain of salt. I try to be fair here and tell you what each app is actually good at, including where SongSweep is not the right pick for you.
What does Song Sweeper do?
Song Sweeper, built by Grady Gaugler, is a list-based iPhone app focused on duplicates. It finds duplicate songs across albums and editions with a side-by-side review, catches duplicates hiding inside playlists, and consolidates albums that got split into multiple entries. It also lists your least played and most played tracks.
It is free to download with an in-app purchase called "Maestro Lifetime" for 12.99 USD. It is iPhone only, English only, and has no Apple Watch or CarPlay support. At the time of writing it holds a 4.2 rating from 6 ratings on the App Store.
Pick Song Sweeper if duplicates are your only problem and you prefer scrolling a list to swiping. It is not built for browsing your whole library by month or artist, or for fixing your recommendations.
What does Song Swipe do?
Song Swipe, by Murilo Duarte Pereira, is a swipe interface with 30-second previews, similar in spirit to SongSweep but built for a different job. It works across Spotify and other streaming services, transfers playlists between platforms, and exports cleaned playlists rather than editing one library in place.
It is free with ads, and a "Remove Ads" one-time purchase costs 1.99 USD. It runs on iPhone, iPad and Mac with Apple silicon, English only. It holds a 5.0 rating from 3 ratings on the App Store.
Pick Song Swipe if you use more than one streaming service and want to move playlists between them, not just clean up a single Apple Music library.
What does Tune Sweeper do?
Tune Sweeper, by Wide Angle Software, is a Mac-only desktop tool for a local Music or iTunes library. It finds and removes duplicate tracks, downloads missing artwork, finds files sitting on disk that are not in your library, and fixes broken links and missing metadata.
It costs 22.99 USD once, no subscription, and requires macOS 13.5 or later. It is not an iPhone app and it is not built for a streaming library, it is aimed at people with a large local music collection.
Pick Tune Sweeper if your library problem is really a file management problem: broken links, missing artwork, orphaned files on disk, and you work from a Mac, not a phone.
What does SongSweep do?
SongSweep is a swipe-first app built specifically for an Apple Music library on iPhone: right to keep, left to sort out, up to bookmark. Smart Filters, Random, Never Played, Forgotten, Bookmarked and Downloaded, all free, plus browsing by month, playlist or artist, replace scrolling through a flat list.
It has a Pro duplicate finder with a two-stage match and a side-by-side comparison view, an Apple Watch app, a Mac menu bar mini player, CarPlay support, Home Screen and Lock Screen widgets, and Siri shortcuts. Everything runs on the device, no account, no analytics, no ads.
Free gives you 25 actions a day and every Smart Filter. Pro is 4.99 EUR per month or 24.99 EUR per year, both with a 7-day trial, or 34.99 EUR once for lifetime access; prices vary by country. It is available in 39 languages.
How do they compare?
| Feature | SongSweep | Song Sweeper | Song Swipe | Tune Sweeper |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Platform | iPhone, Watch, Mac, CarPlay | iPhone | iPhone, iPad, Apple silicon Mac | Mac only |
| Price | Free, Pro 4.99 EUR/mo, 24.99 EUR/yr or 34.99 EUR lifetime | Free, 12.99 USD lifetime unlock | Free with ads, 1.99 USD to remove ads | 22.99 USD once |
| Swipe interface | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| Duplicate finder | Yes, Pro | Yes | not listed | Yes |
| Never played / forgotten filters | Yes, free | not listed | not listed | not listed |
| Apple Watch | Yes | No | No | No |
| CarPlay | Yes | No | No | No |
| Languages | 39 | English only | English only | English |
| Ads or tracking | No | not listed | Ads | not listed |
| Can delete songs itself | No | not listed | not listed | Yes, local files |
Which one should you use?
There is no single best app, it depends on your platform and what is actually broken. Here is the short version, and if you want the full walkthrough for Apple Music specifically, see how to clean up an Apple Music library.
No, and that includes SongSweep. Apple's MusicKit gives no API to delete a song from your library or remove a track from a playlist. Every iPhone app in this comparison, mine included, works around that limit instead of breaking it. Why apps can't delete songs from Apple Music explains why in detail.
SongSweep moves sorted-out songs to a playlist and rates them "Suggest Less", then you delete them yourself in the Music app. Tune Sweeper is the exception here: it works directly with local files on a Mac, outside Apple's streaming library sandbox, so it can remove them itself.
- If you use Apple Music on iPhone and want a swipe-based cleanup with Apple Watch, Mac and CarPlay support, use SongSweep.
- If you only care about finding duplicate songs and prefer a list view over swiping, try Song Sweeper.
- If you use more than one streaming service and need to move playlists between them, try Song Swipe.
- If your library lives on a Mac with local iTunes files, missing artwork or broken links, use Tune Sweeper.
- If you just want storage back without installing anything, delete downloads in Settings > Music > Downloaded Music first.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is SongSweep better than Song Sweeper?
It depends on what you need. Song Sweeper focuses only on duplicates in a list view. SongSweep adds a swipe interface, free Smart Filters, Apple Watch, Mac and CarPlay support, and its own duplicate finder as a Pro feature.
Does Song Swipe work with Apple Music?
Song Swipe works across several streaming services including Spotify, and it can be used with Apple Music too, but it is not built exclusively for it the way SongSweep is.
Can Tune Sweeper clean up my iPhone library directly?
No, Tune Sweeper only runs on a Mac and works on a local Music or iTunes library. To clean up an iPhone library you need an iPhone app like SongSweep or Song Sweeper.
Which of these apps is free?
Song Sweeper and Song Swipe are both free to download, Song Sweeper with a one-time unlock and Song Swipe with ads unless you pay to remove them. SongSweep is free with 25 actions a day, Pro unlocks unlimited actions and the duplicate finder.
Does any of these apps delete songs from Apple Music automatically?
No. Apple gives no delete API to any third-party app, so none of the iPhone apps here, including SongSweep, can delete a song by themselves. Tune Sweeper can remove files because it works directly with a local Mac library, not the Apple Music streaming catalog.
