Hi all, I’m relatively new to this whole self-hosting thing and I have been loving it. I have several instances setup on my Debian server except for an audiobooks one. My wife loves audiobooks and asked me a way she can get audiobooks on the fly. I have searched online and found many.
Audiobookshelf is the most recommended one, but I don’t really know much about it beside what I read. Most of it I didn’t understand since I’ve never set up anything like that before. I don’t know the technical details on audiobooks like I do on music for example. So I’m not sure. Audiobookshelf has an app for iOS in test flight but its beta is full. And every client for it has an “in-app purchase” tag and I’m not sure what they hide behind a paywall. I’ve also read that Navidrome (which I already have set up on the sever) works, too but it needs to be “tagged” correctly. I’m not sure how to and what to use to tag audiobooks. I use kid3 for music, would it work for books, too?
I don’t want to commit and go through the whole setup then end up hitting roadblocks. So any info would be very much appreciated.
Thank you all.
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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.
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 iOSThat’s what I used to use on iOS now I use Audiobookshelf and LitLyric on Android. I like Audiobookshelf a lot
Thank you :)
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.
I’ve started working on a copy of still for Android. It got really frustrating that there were only two apps for Android and both aren’t what I want, so I’m creating a Still copy.
She fucking loved it. She literally deleted the other one right away.
It does have some things locked behind a paywall, but they’re not essentials to the app like downloading a book like other apps did. This one locks some customizations and adding more than one server behind a paywall, which is something I don’t have anyway and she doesn’t care about customization on the Home Screen. I’m still going to buy the premium to support the dev anyway.
Thank you so much <3
So happy to hear this. It’s so nasty to me when devs lock essential features like offline playback behind a paywall.
I’ve built an Android copy of Still :) https://github.com/kalzEOS/stillshelf
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. :)
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 :)
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.
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.
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.
I started working on an Android app that is technically a copy of the iOS app Still. It’s crazy how there are only two apps on Android for Audiobookshelf that are fully functional
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.
@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 is right behind Navidrome and Jellyfin in use at my house! Works great. We use it for audiobooks and podcasts.
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.
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.
@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
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
This is what I am using. With Antennapod in Android.
