SoundLeaf v1.2: Background downloads, a less broken player, and connection fixes

This update is mostly about taking the things people kept telling me were broken and making them not broken. Background downloads now actually run in the background. The player stops forgetting your settings between books. And the server connection logic stops giving up the moment something looks slightly unusual.

Background downloads that don’t pause when you switch apps

The old download system was bad. If you started a book downloading and then switched apps or locked your phone, it would pause. Sometimes it would fail silently. The progress bar lied to you about file sizes. People were not happy and they were right to not be happy.

v1.2 rewrites this. Downloads now use iOS background URLSessions, which means they keep running when the app is suspended. Network drops out for a minute? It picks up where it left off when you’re back on WiFi. Queue handling is one-at-a-time on purpose, since hammering an Audiobookshelf server with parallel downloads usually makes everything slower, not faster.

The new download UI also actually shows you what’s happening: real progress, real speed, real ETA. No more wondering if it’s stuck.

Player got less annoying

A few things in the player I personally couldn’t stand any longer.

Playback speed sticks now. If you set a book to 1.5x, that becomes the default for every book you start after. Used to reset to 1x every time, which was infuriating.

Long chapter names don’t get cut off. They scroll horizontally so you can read the full title.

Progress bar lock. A toggle in the player that prevents accidental scrubbing when your phone is in your pocket. If you’ve ever lost your place in a 30-hour book because your jacket pocket touched the seek bar, you know why this is here.

iPad layout is fixed. It was cramped before. Now it’s not.

Server connection: handles more weird setups

This was the second biggest source of “it doesn’t work for me” reports.

• The app no longer makes you type http:// or https://. It tries both.
• Local DNS names like audiobooks.local work now.
• Offline detection is real (it actually checks the network, instead of timing out a request and assuming the server is dead).
• Progress syncing back to ABS is more reliable when you’ve been listening offline.

If your setup was already working, you won’t notice any of this. If your setup was the one giving you trouble, hopefully you do.

Smaller stuff

A grab bag of things that were each too small to mention but together add up:

• Home screen doesn’t lag with a large library anymore.
• Library switching is instant. It used to take a few seconds.
• Authors view actually filters by the library you have selected.
• Stats page is interactive. Tap a number, see the details.
• Mini player has the right padding on every device.
• HTML in book descriptions renders instead of showing raw tags.
• Context menus let you mark a book finished or download it directly.
• Login crash some people were hitting is gone.
• Download view no longer crashes when you switch libraries.
• Chapter navigation no longer freezes occasionally.

What I’m working on next

The things people keep asking for:

• CarPlay (coming soon)
• Download a whole series in one tap
• More granular download settings
• Search filters

Get the update

v1.2 is on the App Store now. If you have auto-updates on, you probably already have it.

Found a bug or want to suggest something? GitHub is the best place to reach me.