What is TickPlay?
TickPlay is a standalone audio and video player for Apple Watch published by Nuanyue. It stores your own media on the watch itself, so playback works with no network and no iPhone nearby. It plays ten audio formats — MP3, M4A, AAC, WAV and M4B natively, and FLAC, OGG, Opus, WMA and APE through its own decoder — plus MP4, M4V, MOV and 3GP video, and it scrolls synchronized LRC lyrics when a matching .lrc file sits beside the track. Files are transferred from a computer over local Wi-Fi to a plain HTTP file server, so no cable, companion app or cloud account is involved. It is a paid app listed at $9.99 on the US App Store, requires watchOS 10 or later, and the App Store privacy disclosure reads "Data Not Collected".
Verified product facts
- Type
- offline media playerEditorially reviewed
- Platform
- watchOS
- Pricing
- One-time purchaseDeveloper-stated
- Price
- USD 9.99(US App Store)Developer-stated
- Developer
- NuanyueDeveloper-stated
- Relationship to Nuanyue
- First-party product — published by Nuanyue
- Current version
- 1.0.9Developer-stated
- Official website
- tickplay.nuanyue.com
Last reviewed . Facts marked developer-stated come from the developer and are not independently confirmed; editorially reviewed marks a Nuanyue judgement.
Key features
What TickPlay does at a glance.
Plays ten audio formats
MP3, M4A, AAC, WAV and M4B natively, and FLAC, OGG, Opus, WMA and APE through a built-in decoder
Plays MP4, M4V, MOV and 3GP video full screen on the watch
Scrolls synchronized LRC lyrics when a matching .lrc file sits beside the track
Transfers files
From a Mac, PC or Linux machine over local Wi-Fi using a plain HTTP file server
Builds a playback queue
With loop, shuffle and repeat-one, controlled from the watch
Keeps playing
In the background after you lower your wrist or leave the app
Offers a 500 MB, 1 GB or 2 GB on-watch storage quota with automatic cleanup
Supports Digital Crown seeking, 15-second skip buttons and 0.5x to 2.0x playback speed
What you can use TickPlay for
- Running or walking without carrying your iPhone
- Playing lossless FLAC from your own library on the watch
- Following lyrics while listening on a workout
- Watching a short video you copied to the watch
Who is TickPlay for?
- Apple Watch owners who want their own music on the watch rather than a streaming catalogue
- People who keep a local library of FLAC, MP3 or audiobooks
- Listeners who want playback with no phone, no account and no network
Who is TickPlay not for?
- Anyone without an Apple Watch — the player has no Mac, iPhone or iPad build
- People who rely on a streaming catalogue rather than files they own
- Apple Watch owners below watchOS 10
Compatibility
Supported formats: FLAC, MP3, M4A, AAC, WAV, OGG, Opus, M4B, WMA, APE, MP4, M4V, MOV, 3GP, LRC
Limitations
- watchOS only: TickPlay runs on Apple Watch and requires watchOS 10 or later, with no Mac, iPhone or iPad version.
- Only MP4, M4V, MOV and 3GP video play. Other containers such as MKV and AVI can be transferred and stored on the watch but will not play.
- Lyrics need a .lrc file sharing the track's filename — Starlight.flac alongside Starlight.lrc.
- On-watch storage is capped by a quota the user chooses between 500 MB, 1 GB and 2 GB.
Strengths and trade-offs
What TickPlay does well, and what to weigh before choosing it. Points marked developer-stated come from the developer’s own material and have not been independently confirmed.
Strengths
- Plays lossless FLAC, OGG and Opus on Apple Watch, which watchOS does not decode natively, without converting the files first.Developer-stated
- Runs standalone: playback needs no network, no account and no iPhone, and the App Store privacy disclosure reads "Data Not Collected".
- Transfers media from any computer on the same network through a plain HTTP file server, so no cable, companion app or cloud service is required.Developer-stated
Trade-offs
- Apple Watch only, requiring watchOS 10 or later — there is no Mac, iPhone or iPad version, so an owner of any other Apple device has nothing to run.
- Paid up front at $9.99 with no free tier, and video playback covers only MP4, M4V, MOV and 3GP, so other containers must be converted before they will play.Editorially reviewed
First-use experience
What the app asks of you when you set it up. Only established facts appear here; anything we could not confirm is left out rather than guessed at.
- Installation Developer-stated
- Install from the App Store on Apple Watch (about 5.7 MB); installation itself goes through the Watch app on a paired iPhone.
- First launch Developer-stated
- Opens with Play, Library, Download and Settings tabs; the Download tab scans the local network for a file server to pull media from.
- System integration Developer-stated
- Stores transferred files in on-watch storage under a quota the user selects, and uses the network only for the local Wi-Fi transfer the user starts.
What it does
TickPlay is an audio and video player for Apple Watch. It stores your own media on the watch itself, so once a file has been transferred, playback needs no network, no account and no iPhone nearby. The app has four tabs — Play, Library, Download and Settings — and it is a standalone watchOS app with no iPhone companion.
The problem it addresses is specific: watchOS has no built-in way to carry your own library. The stock Music app is built around a streaming service and iCloud, and most watch players expect a paired iPhone or a subscription. TickPlay takes the other route — your files, on the watch, played offline.
Transferring your own files
There is no cable, no iTunes, no companion app and no cloud account in the transfer path. The developer’s documented steps are:
- Put the files in any folder on a Mac, PC or Linux machine.
- Open a terminal in that folder and run
python3 -m http.server 8000. - On the watch, open the Download tab and scan the local network.
- Pull the folder down in one pass, then play from the Library tab.
The only network access the app makes is that local Wi-Fi transfer, and it happens when you start it.
Formats
Ten audio formats play: MP3, M4A, AAC, WAV and M4B natively, and FLAC, OGG,
Opus, WMA and APE through the app’s own decoder. Four video formats play full
screen — MP4, M4V, MOV and 3GP. Lyrics come from .lrc files.
Transfer support and playback support are not the same thing, and the developer states the difference rather than glossing it: other containers, MKV and AVI among them, can be stored on the watch but will not play. If a file does not play, the container is the first thing to check.
Privacy
The App Store privacy disclosure reads “Data Not Collected”. The developer states there is no account and nothing to sign into, that transferred files stay in on-watch storage and are never uploaded, that there are no third-party SDKs, no tracking and no advertising, and that the only network access is the local Wi-Fi transfer the user starts.
Pricing and requirements
TickPlay is a paid app listed at $9.99 on the US App Store and ¥68.00 on the China App Store, as a one-time purchase with no free tier. It requires watchOS 10 or later and runs only on Apple Watch.
Why this is a first-party listing
Nuanyue publishes both TickPlay and this directory. Head-to-head pages on this site are built only from verified attributes with no scores or winners, but a comparison between a publisher’s own product and a competitor is still framed by the publisher, so none is published for first-party apps. The relationships below link to the same apps a comparison would cover.
See our editorial policy for how first-party listings are handled.
Release history
Dated releases recorded for TickPlay, newest first, each with the source it was read from.
1.0.9
Initial release: a standalone watchOS player with local Wi-Fi transfer, lossless FLAC, synchronized LRC lyrics, full-screen video and background playback.
Source: Mac App Store
Questions about TickPlay
Does TickPlay need an iPhone?
Not while you listen. It is a standalone watchOS player with no iPhone companion app, so playback works with the phone switched off or left behind. Installation itself goes through the Watch app on a paired iPhone.Developer-stated
Which audio formats does TickPlay play?
Ten. MP3, M4A, AAC, WAV and M4B play natively, and FLAC, OGG, Opus, WMA and APE are decoded by the app's own engine.Developer-stated
Does TickPlay play video?
Yes — MP4, M4V, MOV and 3GP play full screen. Other containers such as MKV and AVI can be stored on the watch but will not play.Developer-stated
Is TickPlay free?
No. It is a paid app listed at $9.99 on the US App Store and ¥68.00 on the China App Store, as a one-time purchase with no free tier.
What does TickPlay collect?
Nothing, according to the App Store privacy disclosure, which reads "Data Not Collected". The developer states there is no account, no cloud, no telemetry and no third-party SDKs, and that the only network access is the local Wi-Fi transfer the user starts.
Who publishes TickPlay?
Nuanyue — the same publisher as this directory. This page is a product listing rather than an independent editorial review.
Similar apps
Related in purpose, but not a straight swap.
Vista Player
A local 4K video player for macOS with wide format and subtitle support.
Both are Nuanyue media players built around your own files rather than a streaming catalogue; Vista Player runs on macOS and TickPlay runs on Apple Watch.
PDF JustFit
Compress, convert and question PDFs on iPhone and iPad — all on-device.
Both are Nuanyue apps that keep their work on the device rather than in the cloud, and both ship on Apple platforms other than the Mac.
Cog
Free, open-source audio player.
Both play audio files you already own with no catalogue or subscription; Cog is a macOS player while TickPlay is a watchOS one.
Links
Sources
Facts on this page are checked against the sources below. Last reviewed .
- TickPlay on the Mac App StoreGrade A
- TickPlay — official websiteGrade B
- Nuanyue — developer websiteGrade B
