ShelfPlayer

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Editing my previous review as I now see where the percentage of progress is shown (only when online), but now the app is losing my progress when closed online. If it can get online at all as it now seems permanently stuck in offline mode.

I get about 5 minutes of audio book playback then the app dies every time. I reached out to the developer with steps to reproduce and he didnt try to debug.

this app literally hits every note perfectly! It’s tailor-made for a very specific niche use case: that being folks who run the Audio shelf self hosted audiobook software - but it does it so well that I now prefer it as my ex exclusive full-time way of listening to audiobooks! It’s that good! it’s worth every cent of its price and more. I can’t say enough good things. This is really outstanding work and I deeply appreciate all of the care the authors clearly lavished on this application! It really shows!

The latest update broke viewing chapters in CarPlay. I can still view them on the phone. I also noticed a delay when starting books in this newest update that wasn’t there before.

Saw some people complaining that it’s $5. This price is absolutely worth it. It’s an open source app that is filling the gap left by another open source project. A one time payment to support this project is entirely reasonable. This app integrates well into iOS and is regularly updated to improve the UX and maintain functionality with the backend that’s not directly under the maintainer’s control.

Sometimes presses play instead of “skip 30 seconds back”, touch targets might need some refinement.

I love the app. One thing I thought was missing was the ability to clear the cache, in case I updated the metadata of some book that was currently being played. However, the option is available, it just isn’t visible on the main page. I had to go to the rightmost (search) view, and the settings button was there. The one feature that I miss vs other audiobook apps like Libro.fm or Audible or podcast apps like Pocketcasts is a widget. I wish it had a widget similar to Pocketcasts, that would take you to the book/podcast if you click on the album artwork, and had a button to play/pause the current book/podcast.

Happy to support this developer, but I ran in to consistent issues with the app. Local books frequently wouldn’t play, organization in the app is non-existent, and navigation of library is obtuse. I found myself having to stop the app frequently, and finally just went back to side loading the official app for ABS. Not a bad app, and if you’re just trying to keep things local for trips without coverage it’s a reasonable option, but otherwise not a great ABS client.

after working for a couple weeks, it suddenly and repeatedly crashes. even uninstalling and reinstalling doesn't help. server continues to function and stream podcasts as expected, even while I write this review. but the app does not work.