Comparison

Fable Frog vs Apogee Reader

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

Apogee Reader

Features
Read full description

Apogee is a native iOS reader for a BookOrbit server you run yourself. Your books stay on your own machine, and there's no account to make beyond the one on your own server. It reads what your library holds: • Ebooks. EPUB and MOBI, with your choice of font, theme, margins and page flow. You can add your own font files from the Files app. • Audiobooks. Chapters, a sleep timer, playback speed, CarPlay and Lock Screen controls. • Comics. CBZ, CBR and CB7, in paged or webtoon mode. • PDFs, cropped to the text so the margins don't waste your screen. Read & Listen joins a book to its audiobook. Read a chapter on the train, then play the audiobook in the car and it starts where you stopped reading. While it plays, the sentence being read shows on screen. Your place is kept for every book and sent back to your server, so you can put the phone down and pick up on another device. It uses the same progress format as KOReader, so a Kindle running KOReader and this app stay in step. Your reading time goes to your server's reading log too, and on BookOrbit 3.0 and later it's marked as reading, listening or Read Aloud. Download a book and it works with no network at all. Your library, your place, your notes and your highlights are all there offline. It also does: • Highlights and notes, searchable, and synced to your server. • Sign in with your password, or with the sign-in provider your server uses. • Send a book from the Files app to your server's library. • Send books to a CrossPoint e-ink reader on your Wi-Fi. • Reading Stats, from your server's reading log. • Spotlight, so your books turn up in search from the home screen. • A widget for whatever you're part way through. • Read Aloud, using the voices already on your phone. • Series grouping, collections, and a filing rule for right-to-left manga. • Fanfic Updates, if you want it: sign in to Archive of Our Own and Apogee checks the works you follow and brings new chapters into your library. Apogee is an unofficial app, not made or endorsed by AO3 or the Organization for Transformative Works. • iPad layouts, not a stretched phone app. • Guides for every feature at apogeereader.app. Apogee talks to your server. It talks to AO3 only if you sign in to Fanfic Updates, and your audiobook notes sync through your own iCloud account. Nothing comes to me unless you choose to send it. Apogee needs a BookOrbit server to be useful. It isn't a shop. It doesn't sell, supply or recommend books. It reads the library you already have. Apogee is built by one person. It's free, with no ads, no in-app purchases and no tracking.

Screenshots

Fable Frog4 screens
Apogee Reader4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Apogee Reader at none against Fable Frog's 2. On price, ads, device support and iOS requirement 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. Apogee Reader asks for nothing beyond the download.

Scorecard1 real difference · 9 level
Fable Frog versus Apogee Reader: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterFable FrogApogee Reader
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.3 (3 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews50.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings3 — better—
Update frequencyWeekly—
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.0 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size32 MB34 MB
Age rating4+17+
DeveloperPaul DeVitoBrian Banuag

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Fable Frog

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

Apogee Reader

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Fable Frog free?
Fable Frog is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Apogee Reader free?
Apogee Reader is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Fable Frog or Apogee Reader have ads?
Neither Fable Frog nor Apogee Reader shows ads.

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