# ShelfHead — Player for Audiobookshelf

> Player for Audiobookshelf (iPhone/iPad app by Justin Rahme.)

- Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/shelfhead/id6780096463 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`)
- Developer: [Justin Rahme](https://appshunter.io/developer/6780096465)
- Category: Books, Entertainment
- Price: Free
- Age rating: 4+
- Requires: iOS 17.6 · 18 MB
- Languages: American English
- Released: 2026-07-02
- Data updated: 2026-10-04
- User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/shelfhead/id6780096463/reviews.md

## What is ShelfHead?

ShelfHead is a streamlined player for your self-hosted Audiobookshelf server. It connects straight to the server you run: no ShelfHead account, no middlemen, no ads.

Built for people who just want to listen. A clean, focused interface, fast browsing, and playback that remembers exactly where you left off on every device you own.

YOUR SERVER, YOUR WAY
• Sign in with username and password or SSO (OpenID Connect)
• Works behind Cloudflare Access, Authelia and other reverse proxies via custom HTTP headers
• Progress, bookmarks and finished status sync back to your server, and a clear prompt appears if two devices disagree

LISTEN ANYWHERE
• A Downloads tab with cover art, progress, length and size, swipe to play, and Download Health to verify and repair files
• Download a single title or a whole series; everything works offline and syncs when you reconnect
• CarPlay with series, authors, genres, bookmarks and chapters, an alphabet index for big libraries, and Continue Listening always first
• Apple Watch that works with your iPhone nearby or entirely on its own, with its own downloads
• Lock-screen, widget and Control Center controls; Siri, Shortcuts, Spotlight and Handoff

A PLAYER THAT FITS
• Variable speed with per-book defaults, volume boost, and bass/treble tone control
• Chapter navigation, bookmarks, and sleep timers by duration, end of chapter or a nightly schedule
• Listening Profiles for Driving, Sleep and Work; Driving can switch on automatically in CarPlay
• An Up Next queue that skips finished books and adds the next in a series

A LIBRARY THAT UNDERSTANDS YOU
• Browse books, series, authors, narrators, collections and playlists, with search everywhere
• Smart filters: Nearly Finished, No Progress in 30 Days, Unplayed in a Started Series, Downloaded but Not Finished, and more
• Follow narrators and authors, play podcast episodes, and read ebooks and PDFs with your PDF position synced back to the server
• Listening stats, streaks, a swipeable Year in Review, and shareable images colour-matched to the cover

Also: optional Face ID or passcode lock, playback history with one-tap undo, full VoiceOver and Dynamic Type support, and a native design with a touch of cassette-deck character.

ShelfHead requires an existing Audiobookshelf server (audiobookshelf.org). It plays the library you already host and includes no content of its own. No analytics, no tracking, no advertising: it talks only to the server you configure.


## Version history (last 5 releases)

### 6.4 — 2026-09-30

ShelfHead 6.4: a more polished look, standalone Apple Watch listening, and a Siri row in CarPlay.

• A fresher look: covers share one corner and edge style everywhere, a tall cover shows whole on the player and Book Detail, and Book Detail's cover is larger. Cards stand out more in Dark, and card titles, row titles and numbers are consistent across Stats, Year in Review and your lists.
• Easier to read: the active Speed and Sleep buttons in the player are clear again, the player's tool row is larger, selected tabs and toggles are darker in Light, chart labels stay readable at the largest text sizes, and alerts and menus now use neutral buttons instead of hard-to-read amber.
• Authors and Narrators show a photo or a mosaic of their covers, and authors show how many books you have. Library's scope picker sits with the search field on iOS 26.
• Book Detail's Play bar and sheets like Chapters and Bookmarks now use the standard iOS 26 glass bar and Close button, and the mini player's text is clearer.
• Apple Watch: a warmer look that matches your iPhone. When the Watch is playing on its own you can now use chapters, a sleep timer that fades out, and bookmarks (bookmarks made offline sync later). Chapters also work for books downloaded to the Watch. There's a new watch face complication that shows your current book.
• CarPlay has a Siri row at the top of Home: ask it to play a book by name, or just say "play" to pick up where you left off.
• Fixes: adding a server with a plain http:// address no longer closes silently, and Tailscale addresses connect without the insecure-connection warning. Collections and Playlists appear in Library's More menu on newer Audiobookshelf servers, and swiping a download to remove it now asks first. Widgets keep your cover's colours on tinted Home Screens, and Home and Library no longer show two error messages at once.

### 6.3 — 2026-09-26

ShelfHead 6.3: quicker to play, clearer while you wait, and easier for everyone to use.

• Play or resume any book straight from a long press, with a preview of its cover. In Library's list view, swipe right on a book to play it.
• Starting a book feels instant: the mini player appears straight away with the cover and title, and a second tap can't start it twice.
• When audio is waiting on the network, a ring spins around the play button, on your iPhone and on Apple Watch, so you know it's loading rather than stuck.
• ShelfHead opens straight away even when your server is slow or unreachable, instead of waiting on the launch screen.
• Loading screens across Library, Series, Authors, Narrators, Collections, Playlists, Stats and Year in Review now show the shape of what's coming and fade into it. A small spinner appears at the bottom while more books load.
• Year in Review keeps your figures on screen while you switch years. Marking a whole series finished shows its progress, and Download Health shows when it's checking your files.
• VoiceOver: the listening heatmap reads as a summary with one stop per week, empty screens read more clearly, and the full player's close handle is much easier to hit.
• Larger text: icons now grow with the text beside them, the offline banner scales and wraps, and the App Lock screen scrolls at the largest sizes.
• App Lock shows the Face ID, Touch ID or passcode icon your device actually uses, and Settings names it correctly too.
• Widgets: a new widget previews its real layout while loading, changing your accent colour updates widgets and Control Center controls straight away, and widgets say "Sign in to ShelfHead" when you're signed out, while keeping your pinned book for when you're back.
• Apple Watch: skip buttons move the time as soon as you tap, animations pause in Always-On to save battery, covers fade in, chapter titles wrap onto more lines, and dimmed buttons explain why they're unavailable.
• CarPlay shows speeds like 2.75× correctly. Failed downloads show their whole error message, settings rows slide in smoothly, and your daily goal ring fills as you listen.

### 6.2 — 2026-09-24

ShelfHead 6.2: smoother everywhere, and clearer about what's happening.

• Downloaded books show their cover on the Lock Screen, in Control Center and in CarPlay, even when you're offline.
• Covers fade in as your library loads instead of popping in.
• The full player slides up the same way however you open it: from the mini player, a book's page, a bookmark or a podcast episode.
• The offline and "can't reach your server" banner slides in and out smoothly, and a brief server hiccup no longer flashes a warning.
• Switching accounts shows progress on the account you picked and waits until it's done, so a second tap can't get in the way. The same goes for opening a book from another server.
• CarPlay: switching accounts clears the previous library straight away, and "Show more…" keeps its spinner until the next page of books arrives.
• Year in Review follows you when you switch accounts, and Share shows its progress instead of pausing.
• Apple Watch: when your iPhone isn't nearby, the Digital Crown scrolls Now Playing. Tap the time to scrub, and it hands the crown back when you're done. A spinner shows while a book starts, and a short note explains that chapters, bookmarks and the sleep timer need your iPhone.
• Apple Watch: VoiceOver now reads how to reach the other Now Playing pages, and covers fade in on the watch too.

### 6.1 — 2026-09-18

ShelfHead 6.1 - a new icon, a cleaner look, and more of your library in more places.

• A new app icon, built for iOS 26's Liquid Glass and matched on Apple Watch. Dark, clear and tinted Home Screens all get their own version.
• Cleaner toolbars: navigation icons are now plain instead of accent-coloured, so what's active stands out.
• VoiceOver reads the author and narrator lists, download progress, audio sliders, the offline banner and the Year in Review chart properly, and the full player can be dismissed with the standard escape gesture.
• More text follows your Dynamic Type size: Driving Mode, the tape counter, Home progress, the lock screen and the listening heatmap.
• Jump Back after a big skip now waits for you instead of disappearing after a few seconds.
• Shake-to-reset the sleep timer is now off by default (turn it on in Settings > Sleep Timer) so it never fights the system's shake-to-undo while you're typing.
• The Lock Screen and CarPlay show which chapter you're in, and Siri, CarPlay and headphone controls can change playback speed on every supported iOS version.
• CarPlay: adding a bookmark confirms on the button itself instead of a pop-up, and search tells you when there are more matches to refine.
• Apple Watch: turning the Digital Crown pages through Now Playing again. Tap the time to scrub with the crown, tap again to finish.
• App Lock shows Face ID, Touch ID or a passcode to match your device.
• Fixes: Verify and Repair in Download Health are separate buttons again, the "Notifications are off" alert opens the right Settings page, and a Home Screen widget's Book option only appears when you've chosen Specific Book.
• Control Center: add Play/Pause, Resume Last Book, Sleep Timer and Open Now Playing as controls. They work from the Lock Screen and the Action Button, even when the app isn't running.
• "Hey Siri, play ShelfHead" resumes your book in the background without opening the app.
• On Other Servers: if you use more than one Audiobookshelf server, your in-progress books from all of them appear on Home. Tap one to switch and keep listening.
• A Stats tab with a 20-week listening heatmap next to your goal ring, streaks and history.
• Where you left off: a short spoiler-free recap on each book's page. On iOS 26 with Apple Intelligence it's written on your device; nothing leaves your phone.
• Bookmark notes: add a note to any bookmark, and export a book's bookmarks - or all of them - as Markdown.
• Widgets skip chapters on the large size and look right in StandBy.
• Downloads has a home at the top of Library, with a badge while anything is downloading. Preferences and storage stay in Settings.
• iCloud position sync (optional): keeps your place when your server can't be reached.
• Export and import your settings, and see every device signed in to your account - sign any of them out. Admins can trigger a server backup from Diagnostics.

### 5.7 — 2026-09-16

Better in the car, on the Lock Screen and on your wrist.

• CarPlay shows where you are in every book and chapter, with a play indicator on the one that's playing. The Chapters list gets a header with the cover, a progress ring, time left and a play/pause button.
• A new Lock Screen on iOS 27. The author line now shows the chapter you're in, the scrubber covers just that chapter, and the star adds a bookmark at the current spot. Tap it again to remove it. Next and previous skip chapters. Prefer the old controls? Turn on Classic Lock Screen controls in Settings > Playback.
• Deleting a bookmark now removes it from your server too. Any deletes that were stuck waiting will clear on their own.
• Apple Watch companion mode mirrors your iPhone from the very first launch on iOS 27.
• Playback on iOS 27 starts more reliably, and spoken-word audio settings apply the way they should again.

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*Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-10-04.*