ShelfHead

Redesigned Home, Library, Now Playing, and Share screens, plus a smarter Stats page and meaningfully better battery life.

ShelfHead is a streamlined iOS player for your self-hosted Audiobookshelf server. It connects directly to the server you run — no accounts, no middlemen, no ads. Built for people who just want to listen: a clean, focused interface, fast browsing, and reliable playback that remembers exactly where you left off.

FEATURES • Connect to your own Audiobookshelf server, including servers with SSO/OpenID Connect sign-in • Browse books, series, authors, narrators, collections, and playlists, with a tidy switcher and search that works everywhere • Podcasts — browse and play individual episodes, with progress tracked separately from your audiobooks • Read ebooks and PDFs in-app for library items that include one • Variable playback speed, with per-book and global defaults • Chapter navigation, plus duration-based, end-of-chapter, and nightly scheduled sleep timers • Volume boost and a bass/treble tone control that applies instantly, even mid-track • Auto-skip publisher intro/outro chapters (opt-in) • Download titles — or an entire series in one tap — for offline listening, with a Download Health screen that verifies every file and repairs just the broken ones • Smart library filters — Nearly Finished, No Progress in 30 Days, Short/Long Listens, Unplayed in a Started Series, Missing Covers, and more, one tap away • An advanced Up Next queue that skips titles you've already finished and can automatically add the next book in a series when it runs empty • Follow your favourite narrators and authors — starred narrators surface a “From Narrators You Follow” shelf on Home • Listening Profiles — one-tap presets for Driving, Sleep, and Work that adjust speed, volume, and Wi-Fi-only downloads, then restore your normal settings when turned off • Optional Face ID/Touch ID/passcode lock for the whole app • A clear prompt whenever a book's progress disagrees between this device and the server, so a device that was offline never silently overwrites real listening • A playback history log with one-tap undo for an accidental “mark finished” or reset • Progress, bookmarks, and finished status sync back to your server • Background playback and full lock-screen, Control Center, and widget controls • CarPlay support for listening on the road • Apple Watch companion app — control playback from your wrist: play/pause, skip, and see what's currently playing, without pulling out your phone • Turn any book into a shareable image — pick a layout and style, colour-matched to the cover • Listening stats, streaks, and a Year in Review • Custom HTTP headers for servers behind a reverse proxy (Cloudflare Access, Authelia, etc.) • Settings organized into a few focused pages, with a search field to find any option quickly • A clean, native design that feels at home on iOS ShelfHead requires an existing Audiobookshelf server (audiobookshelf.org). The app does not include or provide any audiobook content — it plays the library you already host. Your data stays yours: ShelfHead has no analytics, no tracking, and no advertising, and it talks only to the server you configure.