Tonspur vs Auribook
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Tonspur
Listen to your personal audiobook collection with this companion app. Enjoy features like adjustable playback speed, a sleep timer, and easy chapter navigation. Download books for offline listening and sync your progress across devices.
- Variable playback speed
- Sleep timer
- Offline listening
- Chapter navigation
- Progress syncing
- CarPlay support
- Multi-library support
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Listen to your personal audiobook collection with Tonspur, the companion app for Audiobookshelf. Tonspur makes it easy to enjoy the audiobooks you own. Adjust playback speed to match your preference, set a sleep timer for bedtime listening, and jump between chapters with a simple tap. Download books to listen offline, and sync your progress across all your devices including iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and CarPlay. Connect to multiple libraries and switch between them effortlessly. Whether you're at home, in the car with CarPlay, or on the go, your audiobooks are always ready when you are. FEATURES: * Support for podcasts and eBooks * Variable playback speed and automatic sleep timer * Download books for offline listening * Easy chapter navigation * Multi-User Support * Easily switch between libraries * CarPlay support * Automatic progress syncing * Statistics * Widgets * Pinned Genres and Playlists * Integrated Equalizer
Auribook
Listen to audiobooks and podcasts directly on your Apple Watch. Access a library of public domain classics or connect to your own server for offline playback. Enjoy seamless syncing and a private listening experience.
- Offline audiobook and podcast playback
- Public domain audiobook library
- Connect to Audiobookshelf server
- Progress syncing
- Watch face complications
- Sleep timer
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Auribook is a focused, standalone Apple Watch app for listening to audiobooks, podcasts, and relaxing sounds on the go. Discover and download classic public domain audiobooks right from your watch, no server required. Or connect your own library through Audiobookshelf, OneDrive, Google Drive, or Dropbox to browse, download, and listen offline — directly from Apple Watch. Google Drive and Dropbox support are currently in beta. They are available for testing and everyday use, but some files, formats, or account setups may not work perfectly yet. OneDrive and Audiobookshelf are the recommended options if you want the most stable experience. Why you will love it * Robust offline playback: Download reliably to Apple Watch for runs, commutes, flights, sleep, and phone-free moments. Queue several books or episodes and they download one after another, and Auribook checks free space before each download. * Multiple library sources: Connect Audiobookshelf, OneDrive, Google Drive, or Dropbox and bring your own audiobooks to your wrist. * Public domain library: Browse free classics from LibriVox across multiple languages, with curated categories and search across more than 20,000 titles. * Covers everywhere: See book covers in your library, downloads, and Continue Listening, or switch Now Playing to a full-screen cover and tap it to play or pause. * Listening your way: Choose your skip intervals, let smart rewind replay a few seconds after a pause, and adjust playback speed. * Sleep timer: Pause after a set time or at the end of the chapter, with a gentle fade-out. Works for audiobooks, podcasts, and ambient sounds. * Siri and Shortcuts: Say "Resume Auribook", pause, skip, or start a sleep timer, also from the Action button. * Widgets and complications: Continue Listening with cover and a play/pause button, time remaining, chapter progress, and quick access to the player, your books, and sounds — on your watch face and in the Smart Stack. * Audiobookshelf syncing: Start on your watch and continue elsewhere, or the other way around. Progress stays in sync with your Audiobookshelf server, and your watch picks up where you left off on other devices. * Podcasts: Browse shows and episodes, filter for unplayed items, sort your feed, and download episodes for offline listening. * Ambient sounds: Play relaxing nature sounds and noise colors such as rain, fireplace, white noise, pink noise, and brown noise. * Direct connection: Point Auribook to your Audiobookshelf server URL or connect a supported cloud provider and enjoy your library on your terms. * Private by design: No analytics, no tracking, no third parties. Your listening stays with you. * Simple setup: Connect once, then get straight to your books. Built with the community in mind Auribook started as a contribution to the open-source Audiobookshelf ecosystem and has grown into a flexible phone-free listening app for Apple Watch. Requirements * A selection of free classics is included. * Cloud provider access for Audiobookshelf, OneDrive, Google Drive, and Dropbox is available via a one-time in-app purchase. * Google Drive and Dropbox are currently beta features. * For Audiobookshelf libraries: access to your own Audiobookshelf server and a valid server URL. * For cloud libraries: a valid OneDrive, Google Drive, or Dropbox account. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Auribook at 5.0 against Tonspur's 4.7. Auribook also leads on iOS requirement (15.0 vs 26.1). Tonspur's advantage is ratings volume (6 vs 1). On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Tonspur sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Auribook sells 5 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per 3 months. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Auribook holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Tonspur has 6 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.
Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 25, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Tonspur | Auribook |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (6 ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 83.3% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 6 — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks | Every 3 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch | iPhone, iPod, Apple Watch |
| Requires iOS | 26.1 | 15.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 32 MB | 21 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Tim Olbrich | Jonas Minke |
Customer experience
Tonspur
Auribook
In-app purchases
Tonspur
- Downloads$8.99
Auribook
- Premium Catalog$1.993 Months
- Small Tip$0.99
- Cloud Providers$1.99
- Medium Tip$3.99
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- Large Tip$5.99









