Pick BookPlayer if
you want a free player, you listen on an Apple Watch without the phone, or your audiobooks sit on a Jellyfin server.
justRead vs BookPlayer: two players for audiobook files you own
BookPlayer is free, open source and has an Apple Watch app. justRead fits if you also read ebooks, or your iPhone cannot run iOS 26.
Try the whole app free for 14 days.
justRead
Reader and audiobook player
BookPlayer
Audiobook player
Which should you pick?
Pick justRead if
you read ebooks too and want one library, you want Read Aloud, or your iPhone runs iOS older than 26.
Both apps play files you own
Both apps play audiobook files you bring yourself. That is why people compare them.
A typical collection is an m4b per book, or a folder of mp3 chapters. They come from a DRM-free store, a ripped disc or your own server.
BookPlayer is a dedicated audiobook player. justRead is an ebook and comics reader with a built-in player. Audiobooks share its library, bookmarks and sync.
justRead and BookPlayer, row by row
Yes or No only when a source says so. "Not stated" means we found nothing.
| What matters | justRead |
BookPlayer |
|---|---|---|
| Files and import | ||
| Audio formatsWhat you can add as an audiobook | Yesm4b, m4a, mp3, aac and flac, plus the .audiobook and .zab package formats. wav, ogg, opus and wma are not accepted.1 | YesThe store description names M4B, M4A and MP3 and, in its headline, FLAC. The project README lists M4B, M4A and MP3.23 |
| A folder of loose files becomes one bookThe usual shape of an MP3 audiobook | YesA folder of two or more mp3, m4a, aac, flac or m4b files is grouped into one audiobook.1 | YesFolders play in order, and the in-app Combine into Volume option merges imported MP3s into one book with a chapter per file.34 |
| Chapters inside an m4b | YesThe embedded chapter list is read and shown in a Chapters sheet with each chapter's length.1 | YesChapter navigation is listed. The FAQ says embedded chapters and artwork display best with M4B files.24 |
| Ways to get files inWhere the files start | YesFiles picker, drag and drop, Open in justRead, a library folder (iCloud Drive suggested), Audiobookshelf, OPDS catalogs and Calibre content servers for single-file books.1 | YesAirDrop, Files and file providers, iTunes File Sharing, zip archives, Wi-Fi transfer from a computer browser, and Jellyfin and Audiobookshelf servers.23 |
| Playback | ||
| Playback speed | Yes0.75x to 2.0x in 0.05x steps. One speed setting carries from book to book.1 | YesAdjustable speed is listed. The range is not stated by the developer.2 |
| Skip intervalBack and forward buttons | Yes5, 10, 15, 30, 45 or 60 seconds, set separately for back and forward. The defaults are 15 back and 30 forward.1 | Not stated by the developerThe 5.20.0 release notes mention skip intervals with previous and next chapter options. No length in seconds is stated in the store listing or the README.23 |
| Sleep timer | Yes5, 10, 15, 30, 45 or 60 minutes, plus End of Chapter for books with chapters.1 | YesA sleep timer with adjustable duration. The exact options are not stated by the developer.23 |
| Backs up a little after a pause | YesOn resume it rewinds 0, 5, 10 or 30 seconds depending on how long you were away.1 | YesSmart rewind is listed.23 |
| Volume boostFor quiet recordings | NoThe player has no volume boost, silence trimming, loudness normalization or equalizer.1 | YesVolume Boost is listed in the store description and the README.23 |
| Car, lock screen and wrist | ||
| CarPlay | YesAn Audiobooks tab and a Read Aloud tab. Now Playing has a speed button and a Chapters list.1 | YesCarPlay support is listed.2 |
| Lock screen and Control Center | YesCover, chapter time, next and previous chapter, scrubbing, speed and skip.1 | YesPlayback control from the lock screen and Control Center, plus headset button events.23 |
| Apple Watch app | NojustRead runs on iPhone and iPad. There is no Apple Watch app.1 | YesA companion app. Stand-alone playback on the Watch is part of BookPlayer Pro.23 |
| Widgets and Siri | YesA Current Book widget with Play and Pause, and a Siri and Shortcuts action that continues the last audiobook.1 | YesA Recents widget appears in the 6.0.1 release notes. The store page shows Supports Siri, and the 5.21.1 notes add asking Siri to play a book or making a shortcut for one.2 |
| Servers, sync and library | ||
| Audiobookshelf | YesSign in with a password or single sign-on, download a book and play the copy. Progress syncs both ways. It does not stream.1 | YesThe 6.0.1 notes say "You can now stream from your Jellyfin and Audiobookshelf servers". The README says download.23 |
| Jellyfin | NojustRead has no connection to Jellyfin, Plex, Navidrome or Subsonic servers.1 | YesListed in the import options and the 6.0.1 release notes.23 |
| Progress across your own devices | YesReading position, bookmarks and listening sessions sync through iCloud.1 | YesCloud Sync is listed, and the README places it in BookPlayer Pro.23 |
| Hardcover progress | YesAudiobook progress syncs to Hardcover as seconds listened.1 | YesConnects to a Hardcover account to track library progress.23 |
| Ebooks and comics in the same app | YesEPUB, PDF, CBZ and CBR open in the same library, which has an Audio filter.1 | Not stated by the developerBookPlayer's pages describe an audiobook player and list no ebook reading.2 |
| Read Aloud (text to speech)Turns an ebook into audio | YesApple voices or neural voices, and CarPlay can play a book prepared in advance.1 | Not stated by the developerText to speech is not listed on BookPlayer's pages.2 |
| Price and platforms | ||
| Price | Paid after a trial14-day trial of the whole app, then $4.99 a month, $29.99 a year or $79.99 once.5 | Free; Pro is paidPlayback is free. Pro is $4.99 a month or $49.99 a year and adds cloud sync, stand-alone Watch playback, themes and icons. The source is GPL 3.0.23 |
| Devices | iPhone and iPadThere is no Apple Watch app.1 | iPhone, iPad and Apple WatchThe store listing shows iPhone, iPad, iPod touch and Apple Watch.2 |
| Minimum iOSRead on the US store pages | iOS 18.1justRead 5.5 requires iOS 18.1 or later.1 | iOS 26.0BookPlayer 6.0.1 requires iOS 26.0 or later.2 |
Every BookPlayer cell was re-read on 26 October 2026.
Where BookPlayer is the better pick
Six places where BookPlayer comes out ahead.
Free to play, and open source
Core playback costs nothing, and the code is public under the GNU GPL 3.0. justRead is free for 14 days, then paid.235
An Apple Watch app
BookPlayer lists a Watch companion, and its Pro tier adds stand-alone playback. justRead has no Watch app.123
Jellyfin support
BookPlayer lists Jellyfin as an import source. justRead has no link to Jellyfin, Plex, Navidrome or Subsonic.123
Streaming from your server
BookPlayer's 6.0.1 notes, from 25 Oct 2026, say you can stream from Jellyfin and Audiobookshelf. justRead downloads the book and plays the copy.12
A volume boost
BookPlayer has Volume Boost for quiet recordings. justRead has no volume boost, silence trimming or equalizer.123
A longer track record
BookPlayer came out in September 2016 and has 19,795 US ratings at 4.84. justRead has 54 at 4.61.26
Where justRead is the better pick
Five reasons you may prefer justRead.
Audiobooks and ebooks together
The ebook library has an Audio filter. Your listening hours count in statistics next to your reading hours.1
Read Aloud
When an ebook has no recording, Apple or neural voices can read it. See read-aloud apps for iPhone. BookPlayer's pages list no text to speech.12
It runs on iOS 18.1
BookPlayer 6.0.1 needs iOS 26.0. justRead 5.5 needs iOS 18.1. If your phone cannot update, check the minimum before you install.12
More skip choices
Back and forward take 5, 10, 15, 30, 45 or 60 seconds. BookPlayer's pages give no lengths.12
Sync with no extra tier
Your place, bookmarks and listening time sync through iCloud. The 14-day trial gives you the same player a subscriber gets.1
Weighing a store instead? Read justRead vs Audible or justRead vs Apple Books.
Other BookPlayer alternatives
Each line comes from the app's own store listing. None is a ranking.
Prologue
Plays books from your Plex or Audiobookshelf server. It has iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch apps, and CarPlay.7
Bound
$4.99 once, for DRM-free files. It imports from Dropbox, OneDrive, Files and a web uploader. Last updated February 2025.18
Apple Books
Free from Apple, with an Apple Watch app, CarPlay and Family Sharing. It suits you if you mostly buy from Apple.9
ShelfPlayer
Built only for Audiobookshelf. It links to many servers at once. Offline listening needs its subscription.10
What the justRead player does
The screen you listen from, and the one you drive with.
The player shows the cover, the chapter and the time, with a scrubber for the whole book. A toolbar holds Chapters, Bookmarks, Speed, Sleep Timer and Car Mode. More on the audiobook player page.
- Car Mode has four large tiles: Play and Pause, Skip Back, Skip Forward and Bookmark.
- Close the player and the book keeps playing under a mini player. The Lock Screen shows chapter, author and book.
Servers: Audiobookshelf and Jellyfin
If your files live on a home server, start here.
BookPlayer: Jellyfin and Audiobookshelf
Its release notes say stream. Its README says download. They disagree, so check the store page when you install.23
justRead: Audiobookshelf only
Sign in with a password or single sign-on. Books download and play from the device, and your place syncs back. It does not stream.1
Download or stream?
A download plays with no signal but uses storage. A stream saves space and needs a connection.
For streaming apps, see our Audiobookshelf apps comparison.
How to move from BookPlayer to justRead
Nothing here deletes your BookPlayer library.
-
Find the original files
BookPlayer imports files you already had. Use that original copy, kept in a folder such as Audiobooks in iCloud Drive.
-
Add them to justRead
Pick a library folder on the Add Books page, or add files with the Files picker, a drag, or Open in justRead. Books on Audiobookshelf? Sign in and download them.1
-
Try one book in both
Neither app imports the other's position, so open each book at your chapter. Quit and reopen to check it resumes.
Keep BookPlayer until you have listened for a few hours in justRead.
What BookPlayer's users say
Five quotes picked by hand: four App Store reviews and one open issue. They are examples, not a count.
Just import audio book files and listen seamlessly. Holds your place when the apps not running for when files don’t have chapter breaks.
The app is really good and you honestly don’t really need the pro version, unless you want to sync between devices, which is a big deal, but the price is ridiculous.
If you import your own books into this, pray that this app will recognize the chapters directly encoded in its metadata. Most of the time it will not.
I place a timer for 30min and listen to my book as I fall asleep. But when my alarm goes off in the morning there is no sound and I have been arriving to work late.
makes it appear that a paid plan is required to sign in
Questions about BookPlayer and justRead
What are good BookPlayer alternatives?
Is BookPlayer or Bound better?
Does BookPlayer have CarPlay?
Does BookPlayer have a sleep timer?
What speeds does BookPlayer offer?
Does BookPlayer sync between devices?
Does BookPlayer work with Audiobookshelf?
Is BookPlayer free?
Does justRead have an Apple Watch app?
Which app handles a folder of MP3s better?
How do I play an M4B on iPhone?
Which audio formats does justRead play?
m4b, m4a, mp3, aac and flac, plus .audiobook and .zab packages. wav, ogg, opus and wma files are not accepted.1
Which iOS version does each app need?
Can I read ebooks in BookPlayer?
Sources and how we checked
12 sources
justRead.app makes justRead, so we hold this page to a stricter rule than a neutral roundup. Every justRead cell comes from the app's source code at the 5.5 release.
BookPlayer's cells come from its App Store listing, its public repository and its FAQ, all re-read on 26 October 2026. "Not stated by the developer" means we found nothing either way and did not guess.
We have not tested every row on a device, and apps change. The dates tell you how old each fact is.
The quotes are examples, not a count. The reviews come from a sample of 725 written reviews (US, GB and DE) pulled on 23 October 2026.
Of those, 132 give one or two stars and 552 give four or five.
We re-read each quoted review in Apple's public feed on 26 October 2026. The issue is a report, not a confirmed fault, and we have not reproduced it.
Checked 26 October 2026 against justRead 5.5 and BookPlayer 6.0.1.
- justRead 5.5 app behavior, read from the app's source code at the release build (our own review). accessed 2026-10-26
- BookPlayer, App Store listing (US): version 6.0.1, release notes, description, price and in-app purchases. apps.apple.com accessed 2026-10-26
- BookPlayer, project README on GitHub (features, Pro tier, license). github.com accessed 2026-10-26
- BookPlayer, project FAQ (importing, combining MP3 files). github.com accessed 2026-10-26
- justRead pricing and trial, from the justRead site. justread.app accessed 2026-10-26
- justRead, App Store listing (US): version 5.5, minimum iOS and rating count. apps.apple.com accessed 2026-10-26
- Prologue Audiobook Player, App Store listing (US storefront), read on 26 October 2026. apps.apple.com accessed 2026-10-26
- Bound - Audiobook Player, App Store listing (US storefront), read on 26 October 2026. apps.apple.com accessed 2026-10-26
- Apple Books, App Store listing (US storefront), read on 26 October 2026. apps.apple.com accessed 2026-10-26
- ShelfPlayer, App Store listing (US storefront), read on 26 October 2026. apps.apple.com accessed 2026-10-26
- BookPlayer, App Store customer reviews (US storefront), read from Apple's public review feed on 26 October 2026. apps.apple.com accessed 2026-10-26
- BookPlayer issue 1539, Sign in with Apple shows paywall before sign-in completes. github.com accessed 2026-10-26