Audiobookshelf stops playing between chapters on iOS

Since iOS 17, WebKit blocks web pages from switching audio tracks while backgrounded. If your audiobooks are stored as multiple files (one per chapter), the Audiobookshelf web player stops at the end of each file when your phone is locked or you switch apps. This affects Safari, Chrome, Brave, and every other browser on iOS since they all use WebKit.

The Audiobookshelf maintainer confirmed this is a WebKit limitation, not something the ABS web player can fix.

Installing ABS as a PWA (Add to Home Screen) doesn’t help either. The only difference is that playback resumes automatically when you reopen the PWA, instead of needing a manual pause/play.

Workaround 1: Use single-file M4B books

If your audiobook is a single .m4b file with embedded chapters, there’s no track-switching happening. The player just seeks within one file. iOS has no problem with that in the background.

If you have multi-file audiobooks, you can merge them into a single M4B using tools like:

• m4b-tool, a CLI tool that works great in Docker
• AAX to MP3/M4B converters if you’re converting Audible files

This is a real fix, but it means re-processing your library. Not ideal if you have hundreds of books.

Workaround 2: Use a native iOS app

A native iOS app doesn’t have WebKit’s background limits. It can switch tracks and keep playing while the phone is locked or another app is open.

SoundLeaf can play multi-file audiobooks while your phone is locked. Playback controls are available on the lock screen and in Control Center. Getting started shows how to connect it to your server, and listening offline covers downloading books to your phone.

The Audiobookshelf team has their own official iOS app, but the TestFlight beta has been full for a long time. Other native options include Plappa, which several users in the issue thread recommended.

Workaround 3: Brave with background audio (sometimes)

The ABS maintainer initially got background playback working in Brave browser with the “Background Audio” setting enabled. But other users couldn’t reproduce this, and it seems to depend on the iOS version and device. Worth trying, but don’t count on it.

Affected versions

This is an iOS/WebKit issue, not an Audiobookshelf version issue. Users have reported it on Apple’s forums as well. It affects:

• iOS 17 and later (confirmed by the maintainer)
• Every browser on iOS (Safari, Chrome, Brave, Orion, Firefox, since they all use WebKit)
• Both the web player and PWA
• Multi-file audiobooks only (single-file M4Bs avoid this particular track-switching problem; if an M4B goes quiet, see M4B silent after chapter 1)

Android users on Chrome are not affected. Firefox on Android has a similar but separate issue. There is a W3C Audio Session API draft in progress that could eventually help web players manage audio properly, but it’s not available yet.