Which should you pick?
Pick Still if you want a calm, minimal app, or you read PDFs and comic files from your Audiobookshelf library. Pick SoundLeaf if you want the ebook to follow the narrator word by word, or podcasts with their own download and episode-order rules.
Both are made only for Apple devices, both connect to your existing server, and both are free to download. You can try the same book in each.
How are the two apps different?
Still is built to stay simple on purpose. Its GitHub page says it “exercises deliberate restraint in adding new features”: if a feature adds complexity without making listening better, it stays out. If you like an app that gets out of the way, that’s a good reason to choose it.
SoundLeaf offers more optional settings: over 30 themes and over 50 app icons, rules for each podcast, and a sleep timer that turns itself on when you listen during your night hours. Some people enjoy shaping the app around how they listen; others would rather not think about it.
iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch and CarPlay
The two apps cover the same devices. Still’s website lists iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch and CarPlay, and version 1.5 made the Mac version a full native Mac app. SoundLeaf runs on iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and CarPlay, and on a Mac as its iPad app.
On SoundLeaf’s Apple Watch app you can download books and podcast episodes and listen with your phone left at home. Still lists an Apple Watch app, but we couldn’t find whether it plays downloads without the phone, so we’ve left that comparison out.
Both apps download books for offline listening. SoundLeaf also keeps your library’s details on the phone, so once your library has synced you can browse its books, series and authors when the server is off. We couldn’t confirm whether Still does the same. See listening offline.
Ebooks, PDFs and comics
Still reads EPUB, PDF and CBZ comic files. It also has bookmarks, highlights and notes, and can turn EPUB highlights into quote cards you can share. Its Listen & Read setting jumps between formats. Open the ebook and it goes to where the audio stopped, found with speech recognition on your device. Press play and the audio starts near where you stopped reading, estimated by chapter. Still’s help page says the Ask and Automatic modes of the first direction need Still Supporter, the second is free, and it lists iOS 27 as a requirement.
SoundLeaf only opens EPUB files. Its Read Along highlights the words as the narrator says them and turns the pages for you, and Play from this page starts the audio from where you’re reading. It needs the audio and the EPUB downloaded, and matching works best when the audiobook and the EPUB are the same edition. See Read Along in SoundLeaf.
If your library has a lot of PDFs or comics, Still is the better fit for those.
How do Still and SoundLeaf handle podcasts?
Both apps play your Audiobookshelf podcasts, download episodes and have an Up Next queue. Still plays episodes back to back through that queue, with Play All to start a run. With Still Supporter, a podcast can keep its own speed and volume (This Podcast Only).
SoundLeaf gives each show its own settings for free: playback speed, episode order, how many episodes to download and keep, and when to remove played ones. When a show publishes a transcript, SoundLeaf shows it along with the audio.
How much do Still and SoundLeaf cost?
Prices here are from the US App Store on October 18, 2026, and can differ in other countries. Still is free, with one optional Still Supporter purchase listed at US$9.99. Its help page names a few things that need it, such as saving speed and volume for one book only.
SoundLeaf is free to use, downloads and Read Along included. Pro is a one-time US$9.99 purchase that adds themes and app icons, and Supporter is an optional way to help, with its own themes and icons. Free, Pro and Supporter lists what each one adds.
Neither app’s code is public.
Switching between Still and SoundLeaf
Your listening progress and finished books live on your Audiobookshelf server, so both apps pick up at the same place. Let the app you’re leaving finish syncing first. Downloads and app settings stay in each app, so you’ll download books again in the new one.