ShelfPlayer is a powerful iOS application for listening to audiobooks and podcasts, designed for users with self-hosted Audiobookshelf libraries. Built in Swift 6 for iOS 18+, ShelfPlayer is fast, privacy-respecting, and deeply integrated with the Apple ecosystem.
ShelfPlayer does not include any media content. A running Audiobookshelf instance is required to use the app.
Features
• Unified audiobook and podcast app: A single, native experience for audiobooks, podcasts, episodes, authors, narrators, series, collections, and playlists.
• Multi-server support: Works with multiple Audiobookshelf servers and libraries at the same time.
• Flexible authentication: Supports both username/password and OpenID sign-in.
• Custom request headers: Additional HTTP headers can be configured for advanced setups.
• Listen Now: Continue listening and discover content across connected libraries.
• Global and library search: Fast search across books, podcasts, people, series, and episodes.
• Playback queues: Includes both a main queue and an Up Next queue.
• Chapter navigation: Chapter-level controls are available directly in playback views.
• Playback speed controls: Combines quick presets with precise rate tuning.
• Configurable skip intervals: Skip forward and backward durations can be tailored to personal preference.
• Sleep timer: Supports both time-based and chapter-based timers, with Live Activity integration.
• AirPlay and media controls: Native integration with AirPlay and Apple system media controls.
• Bookmarks with notes: Save key moments with optional notes.
• Progress synchronization: Listening progress and sessions stay in sync with Audiobookshelf.
• Listening history: Detailed, item-level listening timelines are available.
• Daily listening tracking: Tracks listening time with optional daily goals.
• Offline mode and downloads: Downloaded content remains available when offline.
• Automatic convenience downloads: Background downloads cover Listen Now, podcast, and series content.
• Collections and playlists: Built-in tools for creating, editing, and organizing collections and playlists.
• PDF viewer: Opens attached PDF documents in-app.
• Home Screen widgets: Includes Start, Listen Now, and Listened Today widgets.
• Live Activities and Dynamic Island: Sleep timer controls stay accessible on Lock Screen and Dynamic Island.
• Siri, App Intents, and Shortcuts: Playback and automation workflows are fully integrated with Apple automation tools.
• CarPlay support: Library browsing and playback controls are available in CarPlay.
• Spotlight integration: Indexed content appears in system search with deep links back into the app.
• Home Screen quick actions: Common playback and search actions are available from the app icon.
• Native iPhone and iPad interface: Optimized layouts with customizable tabs, sorting, and filters.
Excellent abs player - just wish it had a WatchOS app
hales8181
Great app, absolutely perfect for listening to downloaded books on the go, has a lovely interface and totally worth the purchase.It would be a five star if it had a watch app
Wonderful
1000rrrr
Finally an audiobook player that understands that sometimes chapters are short and you might want to stack 2 or 3 before sleep function stops play. I don’t want a 30 min timer when it’s 10 min chapter and a 26 chapter after. Just let me stack them together so I don’t have touch my phone again after lights out. Simple but genius.
Love the design but fails in important ways.
Antantantmcr
The app won’t always save progress which is a major issue for me since it can take ages to find your location back in a book. Also, sometimes a second audio file from the app will play at the same time as your audiobook. At this stage, the pause button stops working.
Crashes
Ori86
App great and works well on WiFi but continually crashes when listening outside of the house and dumps back to ‘Syncing progress’ when reopened.
This release introduces Podcast Channels support and a new Statistics sheet showing listening activity and goals. The Episode view has been redesigned, and the Now Playing screen now features an animated background. The Sleep Timer and playback speed picker have been reworked, and the home screen has a new customization editor.
OpenID Connect authentication has been fixed, and library lookup is more reliable, with better genre handling and tag support. Settings have been redesigned, and iPadOS layout, accessibility, and CarPlay have all received polish, including a fix for physical wheel buttons that didn't work in some circumstances. Internally, event propagation has moved from NotificationCenter to Combine.
Other changes include:
- New Bookmark Export App Intent
- Updated Intents and Shortcuts support
- Better image aspect ratio handling
- New marquee text for long titles
- Increased offline mode timeout
- Convenience Download subsystem rework
- More WebSocket events for progress, sessions, and item updates
- Memory leak fixes
- Under-the-hood refactors and project structure cleanup
- Translation updates
- Various bug fixes
Version 3.3.0
The developer, Rasmus Kramer, indicated that the app’s privacy practices may include handling of data as described below. For more information, see the developer’s privacy policy .
Data Not Collected
The developer does not collect any data from this app.
Privacy practices may vary based, for example, on the features you use or your age. Learn More
The developer indicated that this app supports the following accessibility features. Learn More
Supported Features
VoiceOver
Voice Control
Larger Text
Dark Interface
Information
Provider
Rasmus Kramer
Size
19.2 MB
Category
Books
Compatibility
Requires iOS 26.0 or later.
iPhone Requires iOS 26.0 or later.
iPad Requires iPadOS 26.0 or later.
Mac Requires macOS 26.0 or later and a Mac with Apple M1 chip or later.
