Screenshots
About this app
ShelfHead is a streamlined player for your self-hosted Audiobookshelf server. It connects straight to the server you run: no ShelfHead account, no middlemen, no ads. Built for people who just want to listen. A clean, focused interface, fast browsing, and playback that remembers exactly where you left off on every device you own. YOUR SERVER, YOUR WAY • Sign in with username and password or SSO (OpenID Connect) • Works behind Cloudflare Access, Authelia and other reverse proxies via custom HTTP headers • Progress, bookmarks and finished status sync back to your server, and a clear prompt appears if two devices disagree LISTEN ANYWHERE • A Downloads tab with cover art, progress, length and size, swipe to play, and Download Health to verify and repair files • Download a single title or a whole series; everything works offline and syncs when you reconnect • CarPlay with series, authors, genres, bookmarks and chapters, an alphabet index for big libraries, and Continue Listening always first • Apple Watch that works with your iPhone nearby or entirely on its own, with its own downloads • Lock-screen, widget and Control Center controls; Siri, Shortcuts, Spotlight and Handoff A PLAYER THAT FITS • Variable speed with per-book defaults, volume boost, and bass/treble tone control • Chapter navigation, bookmarks, and sleep timers by duration, end of chapter or a nightly schedule • Listening Profiles for Driving, Sleep and Work; Driving can switch on automatically in CarPlay • An Up Next queue that skips finished books and adds the next in a series A LIBRARY THAT UNDERSTANDS YOU • Browse books, series, authors, narrators, collections and playlists, with search everywhere • Smart filters: Nearly Finished, No Progress in 30 Days, Unplayed in a Started Series, Downloaded but Not Finished, and more • Follow narrators and authors, play podcast episodes, and read ebooks and PDFs with your PDF position synced back to the server • Listening stats, streaks, a swipeable Year in Review, and shareable images colour-matched to the cover Also: optional Face ID or passcode lock, playback history with one-tap undo, full VoiceOver and Dynamic Type support, and a native design with a touch of cassette-deck character. ShelfHead requires an existing Audiobookshelf server (audiobookshelf.org). It plays the library you already host and includes no content of its own. No analytics, no tracking, no advertising: it talks only to the server you configure.
What's new
Version 7.5 · Nov 4, 2026
ShelfHead 7.5 is a polish release: faster to open, steadier to listen to, and clearer when something goes wrong. • Your place is safer. Books resume from the furthest point you've reached on any device, and a downloaded book starts straight away instead of waiting on a slow server. • Opens faster. Home loads its shelves in parallel and shows your last shelves straight away, even offline. • If your sign-in expires, ShelfHead asks you to sign in again right where you are. Your downloads keep playing and your progress syncs as soon as you're back. • Sign-in gives up after 20 seconds instead of a minute, and tells you what actually went wrong. • Downloads say what they're waiting for, such as Wi-Fi or charging, and show how much is left and roughly how long. • "Ask Me Later" on a progress conflict now waits until something changes, and shows when each side was last played. • Hold the speed buttons to change speed quickly. The scrubber no longer jumps when you scroll past it. • CarPlay keeps Home on screen when you lose signal and adds a Downloaded shelf. • Apple Watch pauses for calls and Siri, remembers your shelf offline, shows when progress is waiting to sync, and offers to play on the Watch when your iPhone is out of range. • Widgets stay accurate through long listening sessions. • Friendlier messages throughout, with Australian spelling, plus Simplified Chinese for all the new text.
