Audiobookshelf is great. For iOS I've got a friend with an iPhone who said that Still is feature complete and the in-app purchases are basically just an optional donation.
this post was submitted on 18 Feb 2026
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I know your requirement was for iOS but if anyone comes across this thread and is looking for a nice android client. I found that lissen is working perfectly for me, and great minimalist design too.
What a gorgeous app. I don’t listen to audiobooks, I can never focus, ever. I have to read words, otherwise I’d definitely use this app.
I didn't really have a need for Audiobookshelf until I discovered libro.fm where I found you can get drm-free audiobooks. After I discovered a need, I found the Plappa app on iOS is actually a pretty nice player to connect to audiobookshelf. I still need to use the web app to manage the library. But Plappa provides the listening part, and it also does CarPlay (which is my main requirement for media).
Audiobookshelf also has a podcast feature you can use as a podcast fetcher - and then play them through Plappa.
For audio media I use Jellyfin and the Manet iOS app (the only CarPlay media player I could find). It keeps things in separate apps, but that's what's working for me.
Audiobookshelf is fantastic, however if you aren't ready to self host I would have a long think about if you want to start pulling that thread.
We are not IOS users so can't comment on client software but the experience on Android is pretty good.
Got my wife set up and a few titles from Librivox for her to stream while driving across my home state for work and she essentially jumped from Google Play Books to Audiobookshelf without missing a beat, saved us a lot of money on a voice she largely ignores to help her focus.
I SelfHosted a buncha things. I’ve been working on moving away from big tech for a while now. Set up ABS to experiment with it and it’s been nice so far. Found a decent iOS client that is FOSS. It’s called Audiobooth. Wife is the iOS user, I’m a user of both iOS and Android.
@DonutsRMeh #Audiobookshelf is the way to go on #android. My family does not use #ios at all so i can't speak to that. It is one of the most used piece of software I #selfhost other than #nextcloud.
I think we are all set on Audiobookshelf and Audiobooth. I appreciate you :)
Audiobookshelf!
Here is where I saved how I did it: https://wiki.gardiol.org/doku.php?id=services%3Aaudiobookshelf
That’s really nice. Thank you.
@DonutsRMeh I run AudioBookShelf
With Plappa for iOS
Thank you :)
That's what I used to use on iOS now I use Audiobookshelf and LitLyric on Android. I like Audiobookshelf a lot
AudioBooth is a free and open source iOS app for Audiobookshelf.
I actually didn’t realize it was open source until I read your comment. That’s why it felt like a nice place and didn’t lock anything behind a paywall. Money well spent then. :)
AudioBookShelf + Prologue (iOS)
I ran ABS + Plex for a while, but the latest major release from Prologue broke Plex libraries and it was faster to switch to ABS than it was to wait for a patch.
Performance is comparable with ABS, but sessions are stored on the ABS side so client switching is easier than it was with Plex
I got Audiobooth and it doesn’t lock some features behind a paywall like prologue does. It only has options to donate. Sent the dev a donation of course and gonna keep trying it out.
Set up audiobookshelf via docker. I like using portainer to manage docker containers because it has a GUI. Command line stuff is more difficult if you don't have the background experience to go with it. I think doing it all in a GUI feels more comfortable for most people.
Docker can also be kind of intimidating if you are just wading into the self hosting world but it really is much simpler to use once you get the hang of it. Portainer helps a ton with that. Audiobookshelf would be great to start with both imo because it's a pretty basic set up. You have to define a storage location for your library and config files and that's about all it takes to get it up and running.
I recently got into all this and remember well what it was like to feel out of my element so feel free to ask questions if you have any. I'm no expert but I'm happy to share what I can.
I did setup Audiobookshelf via normal apt in the command line. I also have docker for other things, but this time I wanted to try things the normal way to see. It wasn’t bad. It created a config file that has two lines in /etc and I just created a folder in /srv and and dumped the files there and pointed the client to it. Still experimenting with it and a client app called “Audiobooth”. Not bad so far.
Nice, it sounds like you're learning stuff just fine. I recommended it elsewhere in the comments here but if you're looking for audiobook sources I suggest checking out libro.fm. They give half of your purchase price to a local bookstore of your choice and you can download the files in multiple formats with no DRM.
I’ll leave that part for the wife to take care since she’s the one who does audiobooks. I can’t. I will never be able to actually listen to an audiobook no matter how much I try. I don’t know if it’s my ADHD or what, but I just can’t focus.
This is what I'm doing and all my friends and fam who like the books have accounts and it works very well. Direct replacement for audible.
Libro.fm seems to be a solid paid service. They give half of your purchase price to a local bookstore of your choice and you can download the files in multiple formats with no DRM.
Fuck audible and fuck Amazon. They literally used my card without my permission to charge for an audible subscription. I had to call them and get my money back. Closed all of my accounts with these fuckers.
Ya same. Has left over credits which you lose if you cancel, didn't know what I want, only let you pause in hopes you forget and they bill you. It's a shady business practice
Good news, you don't need an app for audiobookshelf. If the iOS devs are trying to leach money from you, you can just use the web client to stream your books. The only downside is I don't think you'll be able to download files for offline use.
Found a FOSS client that doesn’t leech, they don’t lock anything behind a paywall, they just ask for a donation as an option, which is very nice of them. Already sent them one donation and I’ll be sending more if the wife enjoys her new app :)
I just sync the titles I want to listen to, to my phone using syncthing.
It just works reliably in all cases with no dicking around.
Audiobookshelf is fine, but if Wife Approval Factor is important this is what I'd do.
That said my partner and I are both team android so if you're iOS then your SOL with syncthing I think.
Yes, the wife is hardcore iPhone. That’s all she used her whole life. I’ve setup Audiobookshelf and it’s not bad. Kinda looks like jellyfin in a way. Still experimenting
I have been testing the waters and on iOS AudioBooth is the client i would recommend.
https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/audiobooth-audiobooks-player/id6753017503
Official ABS client via testflight drains the battery more and can be connection issues when ABS server is behind a VPN (iOS vpn implementation is one to blame). Plappa as mentioned is a second best client in my opinion.
Thank you. I’ve tried both Plappa and Audiobooth. I like the latter more.
I tried a lot of apps and didn’t like any of them. So I used AI to slop code a rss feed of my audiobooks folder. Very very simple setup and doesn’t require an additional phone app. You get to use your favorite podcast app too.
Ha. That sounds like a good idea. Never thought about it that way.
I’m also just sick of having so many separate apps when something very simple is needed. Still sorting out some bugs but I will release it to for docker installs eventually.
@DonutsRMeh@lemmy.world I'd start with ABS anyway. It is the most mature selfhosted Audiobooks platform out there right now. My only paint points have been that their API docs are lackluster.
Thank you. I’ve set it up on the server and I’m now experimenting with it. Pretty nice so far