# ShelfPlayer - Audio Book Shelf — Reading Player for Audiobooks

> iOS client for self-hosted Audiobookshelf libraries, supporting audiobooks and podcasts. (iPhone/iPad app by AI Tools Apps SRL.)

- Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/shelfplayer-audio-book-shelf/id6475221163 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`)
- Developer: [AI Tools Apps SRL](https://appshunter.io/developer/1854689122)
- Category: Books, Entertainment
- Price: Free (on sale, was $5.99)
- Rating: 3.80/5 from 134 App Store ratings · 174 written reviews indexed
- Age rating: 4+
- Requires: iOS 26.0 · 62 MB
- Languages: American English, Dutch, French (France), German (Germany), Greek, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish and 4 more
- Released: 2024-03-13
- Data updated: 2026-08-28
- Monetization: paid
- User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/shelfplayer-audio-book-shelf/id6475221163/reviews.md

## What is ShelfPlayer?

ShelfPlayer is a powerful iOS app for listening to audiobooks and podcasts, built for people who run their own self-hosted Audiobookshelf libraries. Written in Swift 6 for iOS 18+, it's 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.

Why Choose ShelfPlayer?
- One app for everything: A single native experience for audiobooks, podcasts, episodes, authors, narrators, series, collections, and playlists
- Connect your own libraries: Works with multiple Audiobookshelf servers and libraries at the same time
- Flexible sign-in: Supports both username/password and OpenID, plus custom HTTP headers for advanced setups
- Find anything fast: Global and per-library search across books, podcasts, people, series, and episodes
- Stay in sync: Listening progress and sessions stay synchronized with your Audiobookshelf server
- Made for Apple devices: Native iPhone and iPad layouts, CarPlay, Siri, Shortcuts, Spotlight, Home Screen widgets, Live Activities, and Dynamic Island

Features at a glance:
- Listen Now to continue and discover content across connected libraries
- Chapter navigation with quick-access controls in playback
- Configurable skip intervals for forward and backward jumps
- AirPlay and native Apple media controls
- Bookmarks with optional notes to save key moments
- Detailed, item-level listening history and daily listening goals
- Offline mode with manual and automatic background downloads
- Built-in tools to create, edit, and organize collections and playlists
- In-app PDF viewer for attached documents
- Customizable tabs, sorting, and filters

Premium features
ShelfPlayer subscription unlocks the following:
- Offline listening: Download audiobooks and episodes and keep listening without a connection
- Custom playback speed: Adjust the rate beyond the default 1×
- Flexible sleep timer: Choose any duration or a chapter-based timer, beyond the default 5 minutes
- Bookmarks: Save and revisit key moments with notes
- Add to queue: Build your own listening order with the main and Up Next queues
- Statistics: Track your listening time, streaks, and finished titles

Download ShelfPlayer today and get the most out of your Audiobookshelf library!

Subscribe to access premium app features; subscription details are the following:

- Length: weekly or yearly
- Free trial: only on selected subscriptions
- Your payment will be charged to your Apple Account as soon as you confirm your purchase
- You can manage your subscriptions and turn off auto-renewal from your Account Settings after the purchase
- Your subscription will renew automatically, unless you turn off auto-renew at least 24 hours before the end of the current period
- The cost of renewal will be charged to your account in the 24 hours prior to the end of the current period
- When canceling a subscription, your subscription will stay active until the end of the period. Auto-renewal will be disabled, but the current subscription will not be refunded
- Any unused portion of a free trial period, if offered, will be forfeited when purchasing a subscription

Terms & Conditions:
https://magic-cake-e95.notion.site/Shelf-Player-Terms-Conditions-39ccf6557a0880139826d06e6b87f4eb

Privacy Policy:
https://magic-cake-e95.notion.site/Shelf-Player-Privacy-Policy-39ccf6557a088010979bc16876532f5c

If you have any questions, please contact us at aitools@gmail.com

## Key features

- Unified audiobook and podcast management
- Multi-server support
- Flexible authentication options
- Global and library search
- Playback queues and chapter navigation
- Configurable playback speed and skip intervals
- Offline mode and automatic downloads

## What do users think of ShelfPlayer?

Overall sentiment: neutral

**Pros**

- 🚀 Runs on all Apple platforms
- 👍 Provides better UI experience
- 💡 Potential for great features
- 🚀 Smooth playback
- 👍 Beautiful and intuitive UI
- 👍 Integrates well with iOS and CarPlay
- 👍 Open-source and developer responsive

**Cons**

- 🐛 Critical bugs preventing usage
- 🐛 Constantly losing book progress
- 🐛 Crashes and instability issues
- 🐛 Offline mode not working
- 🐛 Slow startup and loading times
- 🐛 Unreliable syncing and login issues
- 🐛 Widgets not working as expected

**Commonly reported bugs**

- Unable to present all books from an author
- Keeps resetting book progress
- Offline mode broken, can't play downloaded books
- Crashes after recent update
- Widgets not updating with last played book
- Login issues and app getting stuck in offline mode

**Most requested features**

- Option to load fully downloaded books without server handshake
- Ability to filter library view to only downloaded books
- Add support for ebooks and PDF files
- Customizable playback speed options beyond 2x
- Implement a static reading queue/playlist
- Add Apple Watch support for offline listening

## Recent user reviews (10 of 174)

All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/shelfplayer-audio-book-shelf/id6475221163/reviews.md

### 5/5 — Hervorragende App

*2026-08-23*

Die bisher beste App für Audiobookshelf die ich gefunden habe. Sieht gut aus, funktioniert gut und die paar Kleinigkeiten die noch nicht passen werden sicher noch behoben (z.B. dass sich die App immer um Mitternacht beendet und damit die Wiedergabe unterbrochen wird.)

### 1/5 — 用处不大，还不让退款

*2026-08-18*

可我的使用场景不匹配，退款时拒接退款。第一次见这种一味圈钱的软件。买前建议先确定自己有没有服务器端。不然不给退，钱跟扔了一样。

### 5/5 — A must if you’re using a AudioBookShelf server

*2026-08-07*

Technically AudioBookShelf do have their own app, but it’s been in Beta for as long as I can remember and you can’t use it. Step up ShelfPlayer to fill the gap 😀. I use it all the time (bit of an audiobook addict) and it works great. It lets you download books for offline listening.

### 1/5 — So far from what I have expected

*2026-07-19, version 3.3.0*

I am connecting to an instance of Audiobookshelf and I have to log in every other time that I open the app. Then it takes a minute to load the main screen and even though it downloads episodes it stll takes time before you can play anything. 

I do not recommend at all. There are better alternatives.

### 3/5 — Pretty good but lots of bugs

*2026-07-16*

There is a bug where the audio stops playing at midnight and cannot be restarted without going to the app. Also the chapter selection from the book page is broken but it works in the playback menu with visual bugs. Sometimes the downloads randomly disappear.

### 3/5 — Decent but needs work

*2026-07-14, version 3.3.0*

Constantly going offline, losing my current position in my book, skipping too far, etc. it’s just pretty clunky

### 2/5 — Constantly losing podcast/audiobook progress

*2026-07-06*

Using the sleep timer function for several 20 minute podcast series and audio books. When the timer runs through several episodes or chapters over the course of an hour long timer I constantly find the shelf player app not saving progress to ABS on timer end and starting right back where the last session began.

I’m losing multiple episodes or chapters of progress and taking up a lot of time constantly re-marking episodes complete or trying to figure out where to resume an audiobook before continuing listening sessions.

The UI is very nice but this functionality flaw is heavily detracting from the experience

### 5/5 — Great App

*2026-06-17, version 3.3.0*

Does everything I need to, recognizes Audiobookshelf tags, collections, series etc.  which is super helpful

### 4/5 — Almost perfect!

*2026-06-10*

This app is getting really really close to perfect. It's the only one that handles seasons well! My only advice regards the mini-player animation. It is SO cool that you have emulated Apple's shrinking album cover effect (I'm geeking out about it!), but I'm not sure it's really ready for release. Until it's smooth and snappy, I'd rather have the whole player slide down off the bottom of the screen quickly and smoothly than have a fancy animation that feels slow and finicky. If it weren't for that, I could easily be convinced this app was built by the Apple devs themselves! 👏👏👏

### 5/5 — Gut

*2026-05-29*

Also funktioniert bei mir sehr gut. Bestimmt ne Menge Arbeit, danke dafür

## Frequently asked questions about ShelfPlayer

### What is ShelfPlayer?

ShelfPlayer is a powerful iOS application designed for users who have self-hosted Audiobookshelf libraries. It allows you to listen to your audiobooks and podcasts directly from your own server, offering a native and integrated experience on your iPhone or iPad.

### Do I need to buy audiobooks or podcasts through the app?

No, ShelfPlayer does not include any media content. You must have a running Audiobookshelf instance with your own audiobooks and podcasts to use the app. It acts as a client to access and play your existing library.

### What are the key features of ShelfPlayer?

Key features include unified management for audiobooks and podcasts, support for multiple servers, flexible authentication, global search, playback queues, chapter navigation, customizable playback speed and skip intervals, offline downloads, and integration with Apple features like Live Activities and Siri.

### Is ShelfPlayer free to use?

Based on the provided information, ShelfPlayer is a paid application. It does not contain ads or in-app purchases, indicating a one-time purchase model for the app itself.

### What devices is ShelfPlayer compatible with?

ShelfPlayer is built for iOS 18+ and is designed to work natively on both iPhone and iPad. It also supports CarPlay and integrates with Apple ecosystem features like AirPlay, Siri, and Live Activities.

## Version history (last 5 releases)

### 3.3.1 — 2026-08-25

Bug fixing and improvements

### 3.3.0 — 2026-06-09

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

### 3.2.1 — 2026-03-18

- Crash fixes
- Fix audio player selecting wrong audio track during startup
- Show progress in % on the compact item row if enabled

### 3.2.0 — 2026-03-15

This release contains under-the-hood improvements to the Networking, Offline, and Progress subsystems of ShelfPlayer. Previously the offline mode existed mostly in the UI, which worked fine for servers that were always reachable or completely offline, but not for servers only accessible on the local network. The new offline mode works throughout the entire app and is based on actual reachability. The new network client is more efficient and supports queueing, so a maximum of five requests are currently dispatched concurrently.

The progress system has also been improved to work more reliably in general and in certain edge cases.

Other improvements include:

- Crash fixes
- WebSocket support for progress updates (more planned)
- Episode chapter extraction
- Updated and improved color extraction algorithm
- More stable and easy-to-use CarPlay experience
- Bookmark editing
- Liquid Glass design updates
- Caching, item, and image loading improvements
- Updated project to Swift 6.2 (enabled approachable concurrency and default main actor isolation)

### 3.1.4 — 2025-12-06

- Replace LastPlayed with with StartWidget which has an configurable item parameter and can be added to the lock screen
- Added "Start" panel which allows mixing Tabs from all libraries
- Fix start race condition
- Added playback bar placeholder
- Bug fixes and improvements

## Apps similar to ShelfPlayer

| App | Rating | Price | Category |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [Little Ape Audio Books (LAAB)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/little-ape-audio-books-laab/id6450146951) | 4.0 (5) | Free | Books |
| [SoundLeaf](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/soundleaf/id6738635634) | 4.2 (17) | Free | Books |
| [AudioBooth: Audiobooks Player](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/audiobooth-audiobooks-player/id6753017503) | 4.9 (483) | Free | Books |
| [plappa](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/plappa/id6475201956) | 4.7 (325) | Free | Books |
| [BookFusion](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/bookfusion/id1141834096) | 4.7 (495) | Free | Books |
| [Still: for Audiobookshelf](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/still-for-audiobookshelf/id6754208326) | 4.9 (36) | Free | Books |

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All apps by AI Tools Apps SRL: https://appshunter.io/developer/1854689122

## Related topics

[shelfplayer](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/shelfplayer) · [libro escucha](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/libro-escucha) · [plappa](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/plappa) · [audiobookshelf](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/audiobookshelf)

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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 2026-08-28.*