ShelfPlayer
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.
I expected a lot more from a $5 app that is written to take advantage of the latest iOS features. While the interface generally looks nice, it is actually less user friendly and less functional than the first party Audiobookshelf app (beta is unfortunately full and it’s not yet on the App Store). Just in the first week of use, I noticed a number of issues that really need to be addressed:* Mysterious slowdowns that bring the app to a crawl such that force closing and restarting the app was the only option (encountered while queuing multiple downloads)* Mostly unusable search; searching anything other than author just doesn’t work (searches for title and other metadata just run indefinitely, never returning results)* The interface, while pretty, is just not at all intuitively designed. Finding settings was difficult, for example
Developer Response
Hey,there is some work being done to address these issues. ShelfPlayer's offline system has already been rewritten to offload work from the UI thread. There are many other useful changes coming.But I hope you can appreciate that large updates like this take their time, and it won't be ready available next week.The search functionality was broken due to me some breaking API changes from ABS, a fix will be released soon.If you have any other UX ideas please send them to git@rfk.io.I can understand why you are not happy with the app, but pleas give it another try after the next update is released!
Loading locally downloaded books.
FMulder71
I love the app. This is not a criticism but a bug. I think we need an option to load fully downloaded books without the need for the book trying to “handshake” the server I assume for keeping your place across different devices. Some times they fail to load until you turn off Wi-Fi. I’ve already got cellular data turned off to try and prevent this but the Wi-Fi will still cause it. We just need an option to say “I’m already downloaded I only use this device - I don’t need to talk to the server” so it loads immediately.
Developer Response
Should be fixed in 3.2.0!
The best Audiobookshelf experience
Raygan
There are now several great options for listening to audiobooks from an Audiobookshelf server on iOS. ShelfPlayer is my favorite by a lot. The design is great, and it’s ridiculously full featured. For example it’s the only app I’ve found that can add books to Collections, something I’d previously only been able to do on the browser version of Audiobookshelf. Quick tip: the app can be extensively customized. Many of its more fiddly settings are in the Settings app rather than directly in the ShelfPlayer app, which I like.I run this app on iPhone, iPad, and occasionally even on my Mac (as an iPad app) and it’s a great tool on all of them.Many thanks to this awesome developer for a polished and beautiful app.
Finally fixed the background crashing, but many other issues added in the process
Imtnt
Previous update finally solved the background crashing issue, but caused numerous other issues. 1. Trying to play a completed episode without first explicitly resetting progress causes an instant crash2. If you have used the sleep timer, you must set to random value, then cancels, then set again. Otherwise it will show a negative number in the thousands and prevent podcasts from playing3. The latest field has disappeared from CarPlay with no discernible way to get it back.4. Double click AirPods no longer skips forward, but instead SKIPS TO THE NEXT EPISODE unlike every other audio app in existence. There seems to be no way to change this5. The currently playing display at the bottom of the screen with occasionally stop working and require a force close6. Occasionally will crash when queueing multiple episodesTo users - maybe just use plappa. It’s clunky and less pretty, but it actually works consistentlyTo the dev - maybe layoff the vibes. Random things are breaking and changing in every update. Kinda bums me out
Developer Response
Should be fixed in version 3.2.1
- Crash fixes
- Fix audio player selecting wrong audio track during startup
- Show progress in % on the compact item row if enabled
Version 3.2.1
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, for example, based 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
Seller
Rasmus Kramer
Size
15.7 MB
Category
Books
Compatibility
Requires iOS 18.0 or later.
iPhone Requires iOS 18.0 or later.
iPad Requires iPadOS 18.0 or later.
Mac Requires macOS 15.0 or later and a Mac with Apple M1 chip or later.
