BookPlayer Reviews

by Elgrego1939

Like BookPlayer overall, but the CarPlay interface needs some attention. It crashes fairly regularly and much more frequently has interface bugs: categories at the top are blank, list of playlists is blank but items are selectable, choosing an audiobook does not change the interface or crashes BookPlayer , audio file plays but the player is inaccessible or simply not there, audio controls on the Home Screen aren’t linked up to the file that’s playing (generic Play icon as though nothing is playing), etc.

I use BookPlayer pretty much exclusively in the car, so not having a reliable CarPlay interface very significantly impedes my use of BookPlayer .

by HeresMyTwoCents

This would be the best media player app available if...

1) The developers would fix the annoying lag that happens every time you tap the middle of the album art to pause. I have the fastest iPhone available with the most memory available, so why does BookPlayer take a full second or more to pause playback? It always makes you second-guess whether your command was received or not. No other audio app on my phone has this problem, so please guys... take care of this! (BTW, there is no pause when resuming playback from the paused state, so you’re halfway there.)

2) Also, without the ability to add bookmarks, listening to long lectures and any other material used for research is painful. Trying to go back and reference specific points of interest in recordings is so tedious! Bookmarks would make this great app unbeatable! Pleeaase add bookmarks! :)

by Reader Ten

It plays your books just fine. I wish they would make some improvements and add some features. Make it easier to rewind when you have to go say 10 or fifteen minutes. Add the feature to enhance the volume of the player.

My fault it does already support upping the volume. What I mean by fast forwarding or rewinding is the ability to move the slider. I know you can go in settings and change the jump time but if u need to move 5, 10, 30 minutes etc to get to a location you can not use the slider. It is not useful unless you want to get within an hour or so. If you have it set for 5 minutes you could repeatedly push it. I like the player it’s just something to improve it and give it the ability of other players.

by Stop Begging For Reviews

BookPlayer is extremely simple. There are no ads, no glitches, and no pop ups. Pretty much nothing that annoyed me about the other 5 apps I tried. I have audio book files that I pulled off of CDs and uploaded to my google drive. They imported to BookPlayer from there easily. There are a million features that people might like which are missing from BookPlayer (pause from iPhone headphone button, select multiple files at a time, separate files from different books into their own folders, FFW/RWD) which I would've liked, but the features that it has work flawlessly. Namely, it remembers where you left off, allows control from lock screen, and doesn't have annoying bugs or ads. The worst annoyance that OTHER APPS tend to have is that they forget where I left off or skip around in between listenings. BookPlayer played exactly where I left off perfectly every time I opened BookPlayer . That reliability is my favorite thing about it. Following that, its simplicity and playback speed control make using it a very pleasant experience. As long as they keep these characteristics, this will be the only app I will ever use again for audiobooks. I very much enjoy how it is designed and functions. If they can add any of the missing features that I mentioned above while maintaining all of the positive characteristics, I'll be changing my review to five stars.

by RetiredGoose

I always support public domain developers. This is a great start. I’ve used and/or beta tested almost every audiobook player out there over the last several years starting back when Bookmarks was still around. There are lots of improvements I could suggest by cherry picking features of everything still out there but I will resist tabulating all these except one which is the need to be able to access audiobooks sync’d to the phone from iTunes to be played in the native iBooks app. Using iTunes file sharing or Dropbox etc. works but it’s way more steps than should be necessary. I know it can be done since AudBooks, Undulib, and Bookmobile can all do it (great pay apps btw). That said, this effort deserves support as it develops since in the end a solid free player continually updated has to be welcome. I’ve often thought I’d give Swift a try just to write an app identical to this. Now I see it’s flowering on github. Need a beta tester who listens daily? ;-).
Thanks! Keep it up.

by JDfromTN99

Really wish that it would be able to integrate with Siri shortcuts to play a specific book instead of just the last one that was played. Otherwise it’s a fast app and the widget is great with one click playback of an audiobook as compared to the Audible widget which is just terrible. Siri Shortcuts thing is kind of a big deal for me because I like to start my day listening to audiobooks, portions of various ones, without touching my phone and getting all distracted. So I tell Siri which books to read and audible has a shortcut that allows to select any of the books in the library and play them and I really wish BookPlayer had it and then it would be perfect in my eyes.

by Sgschow

I had an audiobook MP3 from Google drive that I could not get to play in iTunes or 4 other audiobook apps. This one is the only one that would actually continuously play the files in order. The sound is good and it remembers my place even when I close BookPlayer . My only confusion is that there is a delay after selecting the book from Google drive before it begins to download. So I didn’t know that it was working. I wish it would give a status report that says please be patient while files are loaded for those like me that are technically challenged.

by Jellyfish Eater

I have a number of audiobooks purchased previously in various file formats. BookPlayer makes it easy to upload and import these files. It also keeps track of where you are in the audiobook. Whoever put this together really thought about what they were doing. If you don’t listen to a file for a few hours, it even backs the audio up a few seconds to give you context when you start playing the audiobook again. Very thoughtful. Highly recommend for similar use cases. Thank you!

by Blackfyre Pretender

Downloaded today an immediately started using on a long car drive. Can already say this is a great app. Easy integration with my iPhone X and was able to upload a book from my computer via AirDrop before I left. My only wish for the future is Google Drive integration. I tend to store my audiobooks there instead of in iCloud or on my computer. Having Google Drive or other cloud services integration as an option would allow me to download a new audiobook after I finish the last one if I’m not near my computer.

by Rwinkdopey

In the past I have used a few different audiobook players but they all have had the same problem, in the beginning they are decent but then they start to fall victim to advertising. Also many do not handle playing your own audiobooks, they want you to purchase the audiobooks from them.
BookPlayer allows me to play, replay, without advertising, audiobooks. I also really enjoy how it can be set to, once the playback has been paused, re-play a portion of the book so that I can remember where I was in the story when I left off.
I also like how it maintains where I left off in all the audiobooks that are loaded. If I get tired of listening to one book I can start listening to another book but I can always go back and start where I left off on the other audiobook, basically it makes it easy to listen to a number of audiobooks at the same time. Thank you for the great work and please continue keeping BookPlayer great.

by NW1234

For more that decade I’d been looking for an audiobook app that would hold my space even when I turned my phone off, would speed up getting many-chapter books onto my device, and would open many different audiobook formats. this app is the only app I’ve found able to do all these things. A few nights ago I found BookPlayer wasn’t grabbing downloaded files. But after updating BookPlayer today, I can download audiobooks again. This may be my favorite App Store purchase ever.

by BayRider64

I listen to a lot of audiobooks, pretty much always have one going on my phone. I use Audible, Chirp, hardly ever the iTunes Store because the Apple player and I are not compatible. This player is WAY better than the other players I use. No more trying to hit a tiny Play/Pause button while driving, the entire book cover is the Play button! Moving books via AirDrop works great. If only this player could play my purchases on Chrip and Audible...

But if you get audiobooks from the library, try this player. It rocks.

by Ringolas

This player does one thing and does it well. No bloat, no ads, just a well-designed, easy to use player. Very reliable, doesn’t forget your position in the book. Open source. Importing files is easy using iOS file providers, iCloud, Airdrop, or file sharing over USB from a computer. Works best with m4b files.

If I had one small niggle it is that the telemetry on user interactions can’t be disabled. Yes, it uses a privacy-friendly service and is open source, but even so some of us feel uncomfortable with forced telemetry of any kind.

If you like it, don’t forget the tip jar!

by Crowland2

I have used BookPlayer for a long time. I had a couple of issues at one time, and the developers fixed them

I now have a new issue. On IOS, I get the book on iPhone using file sharing feature. When prompted, I add playlist to this app. No problem. Works great. When finished with book, I delete the playlist from this app. However I don’t think the files are coming off iPhone because my storage available doesn’t change. Nor can I find the book anywhere on my phone. Eventually I have to wipe my phone and restore to get the storage back. Am I missing something?

by Swashelclaus

Been trying to find an app that can simply import mp3 audio files that were already on my iPhone. I found that the basic audio file player that comes with the Apple iOS didn’t allow me to see the file titles or the speaker / author (been downloading teachings/lessons, etc,). Also a lot of other apps just didn’t seem to allow the import of mp3 files like these. This gets it done. Very easy to import large audio files I already had in the Files app/folder, and it automatically attaches the name of the speaker and the title of the message. Very helpful app. 👍

by Eunhyowoo

I usually don’t write reviews so this is a big deal. I love listening to audiobooks whenever I can, when I’m driving, washing the dishes, cleaning the house, so I go through a lot of books. But audible wasn’t an option for me because it’s too expensive. Finding BookPlayer was like striking gold for me. I am so grateful to the developer beyond words.
If you’re ever looking for a way to make BookPlayer even better, might I suggest creating an option to edit the titles within BookPlayer ? Also being able to sort books in bulk would make BookPlayer even greater than it already is.
Thank you so much for making my world a better place. Keep up the great work!

by SarahLoueees

I very rarely write reviews, but I felt compelled to for BookPlayer because it is so exactly what I’ve been waiting for! I have a number of audiobooks in mp3 that I previously could only listen to as “songs” - very annoying, as song players don’t keep your place or allow speed adjustment, etc etc. Here is finally an app w all the great audiobook player features one could wish for, and it has a free version! The player couldn’t be simpler to use (so easy to upload one’s books!), and the interface is clean and pleasant (no ads smeared all over the place, despite it being free). I’m upgrading to the paid version, just b/c I want to support the company that made such a great product. Keep up the good work!

by Rbeitner

This is the best app i have ever used for listening to audio books hands down. The clean interface, ability to organize books and (the biggest feature to me) being able to import over airdrop and from files is something I’ve never been able to find from any other app. Plus i just really love the interface.

My only wish is that there was a version of BookPlayer for iPad and Mac. Still cant find any apps to use on either platforms that aren’t absolute trash and i think i would cry if i could get this on my other devices and have it sync my place between them.
Or even no sync, I’m desperate and in love with BookPlayer lol.

by Moustafa-8

This is my first comment for any app that I have ever downloaded. Seriously, it’s that good. I have tried many audiobook apps over the past couple years, and they all had something that annoyed me. Time limits for your audiobooks, hard to use and navigate, or difficult to import files. Not only does BookPlayer solve all of these problems, it is so amazingly designed you would think that apple made it themselves. The only thing that worries me about BookPlayer is that good free apps like these usually do not become free after a while, and features that used to be free are suddenly paid features. Developers, if you’re reading, please don’t take away any existing free features and make them paid. It’s how all good apps are ruined and makes the user base extremely angry. Other than that, amazing app. 5/5 no brainer

by Bmurphy1967

I am on the road all the time and live on audio books in the car. I use the library and would copy CD audio books into the audiobooks section in iTunes. Now that Apple Music has broken out the Books app the synchronization of audio book files is hit or miss at best and was making CD audio books all but unusable. Books is great if you want to buy books from the Apple store but that’s about it. With BookPlayer I can easily burn the CDs in Apple Music and then Airdrop them right into this app. It picks up the file where you left off even if you completely close BookPlayer and gives you control over listening speed and includes a sleep timer.

One note- when you Airdrop the all the files of a single book it will not automatically group them into one book in your this app library. To do this manually after the files are processed pick “Create New Playlist”. You can then name the playlist with the name of the book and you’re good to go.

by Wolfsky

Nothing. That’s exactly what I hear. While I was initially thrilled to see my audiobooks seamlessly slide right into this trim app I was equally as disappointed when I tapped play and heard...well...nothing. Oh it is playing...I can see the little bar moving right along and the time ticking and all the gestures shown to me in tutorial work as directed. But I’m hearing no silly words streaming into my ears and no smiles are being produced from the humor expected from my AUDIObook. I put in a help ticket. Well I tried. I was sent to GitHub. Made an account and as a retired IT professional didn’t let github intimidate me. I threw in the towel 42 minutes in. I finally found a way to email customer support. I think we all know how THAT worked out. Same as app. I heard nothing.

by Muecker

I downloaded BookPlayer after receiving a copy of an audiobook I needed to listen to for work. Overall it was pretty simple to get started, I uploaded the audio files to my OneDrive account and pointed BookPlayer at that folder. From there it combined the files into one book and even picked up the book’s graphic.

The interface is similar to other audiobook apps like Audible.

There are two issues I found with BookPlayer. First, the speed settings don’t stick across chapters. If I set it to 1.25x playback speed it works for the current chapter then resets to 1x when the next chapter starts.

Second, it is not obvious how to skip around. You have to swipe on the graphic to skip 30s forward or back. If you tap on the graphic it pauses. OTOH, controls on the lock screen and easier to use. This is minor as I very seldom have reason to skip sections, although sometimes I need to jump back.

by Wagner Fan

BookPlayer is simple to use and can play mp3 books. It has a good variety of playing speed to choose from.

A few things to improve upon:
- The playlists should be sorted by track numbers and not by names. It is seriously annoying when you have a 20 chapter book and chapters 10,11,... are put above chapter 2.
- You should be able to go back and forward in a playlist more easily. The only way to do that now is enter the playlist and explicitly choose the desired chapter.

by 0392761677890000000

BookPlayer is simple and perfect. There are no ads and it is incredibly easy to use. The only cons are minimal: audiobooks need to be uploaded to iCloud Drive in order to be added to my library instead of being saved only to my devices, and there is no dark mode. 🤷‍♀️ Great app, my chapters are all in the right order with the correct labels.

by Forgivenman

This is the first review I’ve given on anything but this little app has changed the way I listen to books. It saves your place, allows you to set timers (which I use every night as I fall asleep) and is so intuitive. Creating playlists is super easy (finally!) and the controls are exactly what you need without feeling cluttered or clunky. Thanks guys!

by Idontwanttothinkofauniquename

it does everything i wanted (configurable playback speed, skip forward/back, always remembers where i left off, sleep timers) and more (like the option to automatically rewind by 30 seconds when the player has been paused for awhile - i didn’t know i needed that until i had it!) and with no ads or nagging. nice UI and i haven’t encountered any bugs. plus it’s open source!

kudos to the devs <3

by Salim_01

Can you guys make the snooze timer constant, sometimes I am listening to a book, sometimes I'm listening to a book while am about to sleep and the timer ends but I just want to keep list a little bit more, and I dooze off and wake up to the end and climax of my book, that spoiled several books for me, I love this and its simplicity just please add those little functionalities.

PS. Use an app called SendAnyWhere to transfer Audiobooks to your iOS device.

by Jötunn

Really great app. Been looking for a free media player that would allow you to adjust speed, something even classic iPods were capable of, for ages but couldn’t find one until this.

Good interface and features. Although it would be nice to be able to skip forwards and backwards at more than just 30 sec intervals.