Guides · Features
Audiobookshelf on CarPlay with SoundLeaf
SoundLeaf puts your Audiobookshelf books and podcasts on CarPlay: shelves, Up Next, library and account switching, a downloads-only filter, speed and bookmarks.
Yes, SoundLeaf works with CarPlay. Plug in or connect your iPhone, open SoundLeaf on the car screen, and your Audiobookshelf books and podcasts are there to browse and play.
There’s nothing to set up. CarPlay uses the same accounts you’re signed in to on the phone.
Connecting to your car
- Connect your iPhone to your CarPlay-compatible vehicle
- SoundLeaf will appear on your CarPlay home screen
- Tap to open and start browsing
What can you browse in the car?
| In the car | Available? |
|---|---|
| Audiobooks, on shelves (Recently Listened, Recently Added, In Progress, More) | Yes |
| Podcasts and their episodes | Yes |
| Only what’s downloaded | Yes, with the Downloads button |
| Up Next (what plays after this) | Yes, from Now Playing |
| Switch library | Yes |
| Switch between saved accounts and servers | Yes, from Libraries |
| Playback speed and bookmarks | Yes |
| Series, collections and playlists | No. Start them on the phone and they keep playing in the car |
| Search | No |
Books and podcasts on the car screen
Your books arrive in shelves, so the ones you are likely to want are near the top:
- Now Playing, when something is playing
- Recently Listened, books you listened to in the last week
- Recently Added, added to your server in the last three days
- In Progress, started a while ago and not finished
- More, the rest of the library, alphabetical
A podcast library gets a Podcasts list instead. Tap a show for its episodes, newest first.
Switch libraries or accounts from the car
Tap Libraries at the top left, then pick a library. You land back on the list, and a tick marks the one you’re on.
If you’ve saved more than one account, the list groups each library under its account and server. You can browse another account in the car without changing the account shown on your phone, and switching doesn’t stop what’s playing. More on accounts in multiple accounts.
Show only what is downloaded
The button at the top right flips between All and Downloads. The screen title says which one you’re looking at.
On Downloads, only books that play with no network stay on the list. In a podcast library it keeps the shows that have at least one episode on the phone, and the episode lists you open are filtered the same way. Whatever is playing stays on screen either way.
Useful in a tunnel, on a rural road, or anywhere you would rather not find out mid-chapter that a book was streaming.
Playback controls in the car
- Play / Pause
- Skip forward and back, by the amounts you set in Settings > Playback (30 seconds each to start with)
- Drag the progress bar to move through the audio
The Now Playing screen
The Now Playing screen shows:
- Cover art
- Book title, with the author or the current chapter
- Progress through the book or the chapter, depending on your progress setting
Up Next
The Up Next button on Now Playing shows what plays after the current book or episode. It’s greyed out when nothing is queued.
Change speed
The speed button on Now Playing opens a list of speeds. Pick the ones it offers, up to 12, in Settings > CarPlay > Speed Controls on your phone. Skip lengths and other playback options are in player settings.
In Speed Controls, Rewind After Speed Change chooses how far to go back when you change speed in the car while audio is playing, or turns it off. The default is two seconds.
Download books before you drive
Streaming over mobile data works, but downloaded books:
- Don’t wait for audio to load from your server
- Don’t use mobile data to stream the audio
- Work in areas with poor signal (tunnels, rural roads)
Download what you’re in the middle of before a trip. Listen offline has a short checklist.
Use Siri in the car
SoundLeaf has Siri Shortcuts:
- “Resume my book in SoundLeaf”
- “Play a book in SoundLeaf”, which then asks which one
- “Pause SoundLeaf” / “Play or pause SoundLeaf”
None of them take over your screen. See Widgets and Siri for setup.
The system-level commands still work with whatever audio app is active:
- “Play” / “Pause”
- “Skip” / “Go back”
Save a bookmark from the car
There’s a bookmark button in the CarPlay player. Tap it to mark the moment without touching your phone. The icon fills in to confirm. Tap it again while it’s still filled to remove the bookmark, if you hit it by mistake.
Bookmarks are for audiobooks. The button is off while a podcast episode is playing.
Troubleshooting
Why does pause take a second on wireless CarPlay?
If pause feels slow to take effect on wireless CarPlay, try a cable connection.
SoundLeaf not appearing in CarPlay
- Check that SoundLeaf is turned on for your car: Settings > General > CarPlay > (your car) > Customize
- Make sure SoundLeaf is installed on this iPhone
- Disconnect and reconnect your phone
Audio not playing
- Check your car’s audio source is set to CarPlay
- Verify the book isn’t at the end (100% progress)
- Try force-quitting SoundLeaf on your iPhone and reopening
The list is empty on Downloads
Nothing in that library is on the phone. Tap the button again to go back to All, or download what you want before the next drive.
Slow to load
CarPlay fetches cover art and metadata from your server. On slow connections:
- Downloaded books load faster
- Download what you’re in the middle of before you set off, then tap Downloads in the car