ShelfPlayer Offline Bug

When I try to start in offline mode I keep failing to start a book. If you look at the screenshot, that’s all I see when I try to open any book—everything is blanked out. If I start the downloaded book then leave my network, it works. However, if I were away from the network and were to open and close the app and then go to the offline, I can’t get anything to work. Anybody else have this issue? Any advice?

Sep 01 '25 02:09 sreza4

Does this happen since 3.0.2 or only 3.0.4?

Sep 03 '25 05:09 rasmuslos

@rasmuslos I wasn’t able to access the offline section in 3.0.2 so I couldn’t tell you. All that I am certain of is that it isn’t working at all in version 3.0.4.

Thanks for looking into this.

Sep 03 '25 19:09 sreza4

I’m seeing the same issue on version 3.0.4. CarPlay used to work, but now ShelfPlayer shows nothing on the CarPlay screen and my iPhone is stuck on “Loading…”. If I disconnect from CarPlay, offline mode works and I can play my downloaded audiobook.

Sep 04 '25 13:09 dams67

Ah for me no offline playback works.

Sep 04 '25 16:09 sreza4

I have an idea what the cause might be, try enabling airplane mode, it should at least allow you to play books offline while I look for a fix.

Sep 04 '25 19:09 rasmuslos

@dams67 please open a separate issue, yours is probably unrelated.

Sep 04 '25 19:09 rasmuslos

I was able to fix the problem. I just deleted the app (done before with no effect) then I restarted my phone. I just reconnected to my server then downloaded all the books and I wanted. It’s worked so far.

Sep 05 '25 02:09 sreza4

@rasmuslos Never mind, the same issue is happening again. I’m on the latest version and downloaded versions are not playing even though they’re downloaded.

Sep 12 '25 01:09 sreza4

I have an idea what the cause might be, try enabling airplane mode, it should at least allow you to play books offline while I look for a fix.

After enabling airplane mode it continues to play. It just stuck indefinitely if its connected to any network and running in offline mode.

Sep 13 '25 06:09 davidhennemann

Same problem here. But even the workaround with Airplane mode does not seem to work. Just stuck in that state indefinitely. I‘m on 3.0.4.

Sep 27 '25 06:09 dstapp

Yeah same issue. Sometimes it works sometimes it doesn’t. Maybe it’s time to switch apps for now

Sep 30 '25 18:09 sreza4

@sreza4 does this happen instantly or after a few days? In my tests the playback does start but the UI does not update, is it the same for you?

Oct 08 '25 09:10 rasmuslos

I fixed some things, please check if the behavior has improved in version 3.1.0, which will release in a few days

Oct 10 '25 08:10 rasmuslos

@rasmuslos thank you for trying to help but I’m still getting the same problem.

Oct 16 '25 14:10 sreza4

Have you tried to reinstall the app? It seems like there is another bug that causes downloaded files to be removed while keeping the database record intact.

Oct 16 '25 15:10 rasmuslos

Same issue here. Since it is affecting so many, some more information on why the playback is failing would be helpful to the user.

Oct 27 '25 07:10 tomludd

Toggleing airplane mode on and off fixes it, but only temporarily. The reinstall option worked previously, but not with the latest update.

Nov 05 '25 21:11 gillisthom

Same issue here. Since it is affecting so many, some more information on why the playback is failing would be helpful to the user.

I am not sure, otherwise i would have fixed it. I have some ideas on how i can reproduce it though.

Nov 12 '25 15:11 rasmuslos