Comparison

Fable Frog vs My Shelf Player

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Fable Frog

This app offers a premium listening experience for your self-hosted audiobooks. Enjoy advanced playback controls, library management, offline downloads, and detailed listening statistics. It's designed with accessibility and privacy in mind, connecting seamlessly to your Audiobookshelf server.

Highlights
  • Variable speed and volume boost
  • Sleep timer with shake to extend
  • Chapter navigation with durations
  • Bookmarks with notes
  • Per-book playback settings
  • Offline downloads with smart management
  • Listening statistics and charts
  • CarPlay and widget support
Features
Read full description

The best way to enjoy your audiobooks. Fable Frog is a native iOS client for Audiobookshelf — built from the ground up for a premium listening experience. Connect to your self-hosted server and enjoy your library with a beautiful, feature-packed player designed for how you actually listen. PLAYBACK THAT JUST WORKS • Variable speed (0.5x – 3x) and volume boost up to 200% • Sleep timer with presets, custom duration, or end of chapter • Shake to extend your timer without opening your phone • Chapter navigation with durations at a glance • Bookmarks with notes up to 5,000 characters • Per-book playback settings that remember how you like each title • AirPlay streaming to your favorite speakers YOUR LIBRARY, YOUR WAY • Browse by books, authors, series, narrators, or genres • Filter by progress and genre, sort by title, author, date added, duration, or last listened • Instant search across your entire library • Follow series and track upcoming releases automatically • Create custom playlists, rate and review books • Alphabetical index for jumping through large collections OFFLINE DOWNLOADS Download books and listen anywhere — no connection needed. Smart Downloads automatically grab your next listen and clean up finished titles. Wi-Fi only mode keeps your data plan safe. LISTENING STATISTICS Understand your listening life with daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly charts. See genre breakdowns, top series rankings, speed savings, finished book trophies, and fun facts about your habits. CARPLAY A dedicated driving interface built for safe, distraction-free listening in the car. Large touch targets, simplified controls, and quick access to recent and library books. WIDGETS Lock screen widget with a circular progress gauge for your current listen. iOS 18 Control Center widgets for quick play/pause without leaving what you're doing. MAKE IT YOURS • 20 themes including 3 accessibility-optimized options • Custom app icons (Neon, Sunset, Forest) • 6 text size levels from XS to XXL • Customizable lock screen widget icons • Configurable skip durations and player controls BUILT FOR EVERYONE • Full VoiceOver support with comprehensive labels and adjustable controls • Voice Control compatible — navigate by voice • Dynamic Type support — text scales to 200%+ with in-app size slider • Accessibility themes: High Contrast (AAA), Blue-Orange (CVD), Pink-Teal (CVD) • Differentiate Without Color support — shapes and icons supplement color • All themes validated for WCAG AA contrast standards • Respects Reduce Motion and Reduce Transparency system settings • Car mode with extra-large touch targets • Siri integration for hands-free playback control PRIVACY FIRST No analytics. No telemetry. No tracking. No ads. Your data stays between your device and your server — nothing else. Credentials are stored exclusively in the iOS Keychain. CONNECTS TO YOUR SETUP • Username/password and OIDC authentication (Keycloak, Authelia, Authentik, and more) • Custom HTTP headers for reverse proxies (Caddy, Nginx, Traefik) • Multi-library support on the same server • Automatic token refresh and session management Available in 15+ languages with full RTL support. Requires a self-hosted Audiobookshelf server (v2.x). Fable Frog is an independent third-party client and is not affiliated with the Audiobookshelf project. Terms of Service: https://fablefrog.app/terms Apple EULA: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stddla/ Privacy Policy: https://fablefrog.app/privacy

About

My Shelf Player

This app connects to your self-hosted Audiobookshelf server to provide a clean, native audiobook listening experience. Enjoy features like playback speed adjustment, sleep timers, bookmarks, and offline listening, all without ads or tracking.

Highlights
  • Connect to Audiobookshelf server
  • Browse library by various categories
  • Stream and download audiobooks
  • Resume playback progress
  • Create and manage bookmarks
  • Adjust playback speed and skip controls
  • Set sleep timers
  • Apple Watch control
Features
Read full description

My Shelf Player is a native audiobook player for your self-hosted Audiobookshelf library. Connect to your own Audiobookshelf server, browse your books, and listen with a clean player built for long-form audio. Pick up where you left off, adjust playback speed, set a sleep timer, create bookmarks, and keep your library organized across books, series, authors, narrators, playlists, history, and downloads. Features: • Connect to your Audiobookshelf server • Browse books, series, authors, narrators, collections, playlists, history, and bookmarks • Stream audiobooks from your server • Download books for offline listening • Resume from saved playback progress • Create and manage bookmarks • Use configurable skip controls and playback speeds • Set sleep timers for bedtime listening • Control playback from Apple Watch • Keep listening without ads or third-party tracking My Shelf Player is designed for people who own and manage their own audiobook library. Your server, your books, your listening experience. Requires access to an Audiobookshelf server.

Screenshots

Fable Frog4 screens
My Shelf Player4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: My Shelf Player at 100% against Fable Frog's 50%. My Shelf Player also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.3) and in-app purchases (none vs 2). Fable Frog's advantage is update cadence (weekly vs every 4 weeks). On price, ratings volume, ads and device support 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Fable Frog sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $8.00 per year. My Shelf Player asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

My Shelf Player holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.3. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 3 and 2 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 50% of Fable Frog's written reviews are positive against 100% of My Shelf Player's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Fable Frog ships an update weekly, My Shelf Player every 4 weeks. Both last shipped on October 15, 2026.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Fable Frog versus My Shelf Player: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterFable FrogMy Shelf Player
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.3 (3 ratings)5.0 (2 ratings) — better
Positive reviews50.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings3 — better2
Update frequencyWeekly — betterEvery 4 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Apple WatchiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch
Requires iOS17.017.0
Further details — not scored
Size33 MB11 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperPaul DeVitoAndrew Kozhokaru

Customer experience

Fable Frog

All ratings3 ratings
Positive66.7%
Neutral33.3%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive50.0%
Neutral50.0%
Negative0.0%

My Shelf Player

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Fable Frog

Subscriptions1
  • Premium Annual$8.001 Year
One-time1
  • Premium Lifetime$12.00
None

My Shelf Player

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Fable Frog free?
Fable Frog is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is My Shelf Player free?
My Shelf Player is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Fable Frog or My Shelf Player?
My Shelf Player is rated higher. Fable Frog averages 4.3 out of 5 from 3 ratings, while My Shelf Player averages 5.0 from 2 ratings.
Do Fable Frog or My Shelf Player have ads?
Neither Fable Frog nor My Shelf Player shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Fable Frog or My Shelf Player?
Fable Frog ships an update weekly, and My Shelf Player every 4 weeks. Most recently, Fable Frog was updated on October 15, 2026 and My Shelf Player on October 15, 2026.

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