The Mobile App
HearthShelf Mobile is the native phone app for HearthShelf. It signs in through the hosted WebApp (app.hearthshelf.com), connects to your linked server, and plays your audiobook library — including in the car via Android Auto and CarPlay.
In public beta
The mobile app is in public beta on both Android and iOS. You can join either beta today — Android through Play internal testing, iOS through TestFlight (see Install). Expect rough edges and frequent changes. If you'd rather not run a beta, the native AudiobookShelf apps still work against your server unchanged — see the FAQ.
What it is
The same idea as the web experience, in your pocket:
- One sign-in. You authenticate once with the hosted WebApp (Google, via Clerk) and connect to the server you've been linked to — no server IP to type, no separate password. This is the exact flow the web app uses.
- Background audio. Playback keeps going with the screen off, with lock-screen and notification controls.
- Offline downloads. Download a book to the phone and listen with no connection at all. Progress you make offline syncs back to your server automatically once you're online again. See Downloads & offline for all the options.
- In the car. Browse and play your library from your car's screen — Android Auto on Android, CarPlay on iOS. Both are real native car players, not a mirrored phone screen.
How it connects
The app is a client of your server, exactly like the browser is. It never reaches into your server's internals or ABS directly.
After sign-in the phone talks directly to your HearthShelf server for library data and audio streaming. For this to work from anywhere, your server needs a reachable HTTPS address — the free hs.direct address or your own domain both work.
Downloads & offline
Download a book to your phone and it plays with no connection — on a plane, in a dead zone, or in the car. When the app can't reach your server on launch and you have at least one downloaded book, it opens straight into an offline mode so your downloads are still there to play. Anything you listen to offline is remembered and synced back to your server automatically the next time you're online. Everything about downloads lives on one screen: Settings → Downloads & storage.
Downloading a book by hand
You choose exactly what to keep offline:
- A single book — open a book and tap Download for offline, or use the same action from the ⋯ menu on any book.
- Several at once — long-press a book to start selecting, pick more, and choose Download for offline from the toolbar. Handy for grabbing a whole series before a trip.
A progress ring shows on the cover while a book downloads. Manual downloads are always allowed — they ignore the storage cap below, because you asked for them on purpose.
Downloading automatically
Prefer to not think about it? Turn on any of these rules and HearthShelf keeps the right books downloaded for you:
| Rule | What it does | Default |
|---|---|---|
| When you start a book | Downloads a book for offline the moment you begin listening. | Off |
| Continue Listening | Keeps everything you've started downloaded, so your in-progress books are always offline-ready. | On |
| Next in queue | Downloads the next 1, 3, or 5 books coming up, so you're always a few ahead. | Off (0) |
Automatic downloads respect your storage cap — they pause once you hit it, and pick back up as space frees. (Manual downloads don't; those are your call.)
Storage limits & cleanup
- Maximum download space — a slider from Off (no limit) up to 64 GB. Auto-download stops adding books once your downloads reach this cap. A storage meter shows how much space your downloads use versus the rest of your device, and how much room auto-download has left before the cap.
- Remove when finished — on by default, this deletes a book's download as soon as you finish it, to free up space automatically. This one setting follows your account across devices; everything else about downloads is specific to the device the files are on.
- Manage downloads — the same screen lists every downloaded book with its size, lets you delete any of them, and lets you cancel a download that's still in progress.
Downloaded books stay in your library as normal — deleting a download only removes the offline copy, not the book.
Platforms
| Status | |
|---|---|
| Android | Public beta via Play internal testing. Android Auto supported. |
| iOS | Public beta via TestFlight. Same React Native codebase; CarPlay supported. |
What you need
- A HearthShelf server that is reachable over HTTPS (hs.direct or your own domain — a bare LAN IP won't work for the hosted sign-in flow).
- That server linked to your
app.hearthshelf.comaccount — see Linking & Invites. - An Android or iOS device (plus an Android Auto or CarPlay head unit if you want the car experience).
Then follow Install.
Legal / disclaimer
HearthShelf is a user interface. It does not host, store, source, or distribute audiobooks, ebooks, or any other content, and it is not affiliated with AudiobookShelf. You are responsible for the legality of any content you add to your library and for any backends or services you connect to HearthShelf.