Absorb vs Tome Player
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Absorb
This app provides a streamlined mobile experience for listening to audiobooks and podcasts from your self-hosted media server. Enjoy features like offline playback, chapter navigation, and listening statistics. It's a free, open-source solution with no ads or data collection.
- Offline listening
- Chapter navigation
- Sleep timer
- Playback speed control
- Home screen widgets
- Listening statistics
- CarPlay support
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Absorb is a free, open source audiobook and podcast player built for Audiobookshelf, a self-hosted media server for your personal book library. Connect to your own Audiobookshelf server and enjoy your audiobook collection with a clean, polished mobile experience built specifically for iOS. Features: Stream or download books for offline listening Full playback controls with chapter navigation, sleep timer, and playback speed Home screen widgets for quick playback controls Listening stats and streaks to track your progress Bookmarks with notes Series tracking and discovery Light and dark mode CarPlay support And much more!!! Absorb is built by a solo developer and is completely free with no ads, no subscriptions, and no data collection. Your library stays between you and your server. Requires a self-hosted Audiobookshelf server. Visit audiobookshelf.org to learn more.
Tome Player
Listen to audiobooks with this application that connects to your existing library. It also offers an optional book club feature to share reading experiences with friends.
- Audiobook listening
- Integrates with audio book shelf
- Optional book club feature
- Social sharing for friends
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Fun app for listening to audio books. Integrates with audio book shelf and has an optional book club feature for friends.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Absorb at 4.9 against Tome Player's 3.7. Absorb also leads on ratings volume (164 vs 3) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 26.0). Tome Player's advantage is update cadence (fortnightly vs every 5 weeks). On price, review sentiment, 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Absorb holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 3.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Absorb has 164 ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 97% of Absorb's written reviews are positive against 100% of Tome Player's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Absorb ships an update every 5 weeks, Tome Player fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 28, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Absorb | Tome Player |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.9 (164 ratings) — better | 3.7 (3 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 97.4% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 164 — better | 3 |
| Update frequency | Every 5 weeks | Fortnightly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 — better | 26.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 65 MB | 13 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Nathan Poulson | Brella Health LLC |
Customer experience
Absorb
Tome Player
In-app purchases
Absorb
No in-app purchases
Tome Player
No in-app purchases
