Guides · Features
Start an Audiobookshelf book with an NFC tag or QR code on iPhone
Put a SoundLeaf action on an NFC tag or QR code: resume an Audiobookshelf book, start a podcast, pause, set a sleep timer or bookmark with one scan.
Scan an NFC tag or a QR code to start an Audiobookshelf book in SoundLeaf. An NFC tag is a small chip, often in a sticker, that your iPhone reads up close. Each tag or code does one thing: resume a particular book, start the latest episode of a show, pause, set a sleep timer or save a bookmark.
A tag on the nightstand that starts your book with a 30-minute sleep timer is one example. A QR code works the same way and needs no tag at all.
Where do I make an NFC or QR action?
- Settings > NFC & QR makes a general action, like resume or pause, that works on whatever you’re listening to.
- A book’s menu (the … button on the book screen) makes an action for that book. It only appears on books that have audio.
- A podcast’s settings, under Playback, makes an action for that show.
Create an NFC or QR action
The Write tab builds the action. From Settings you choose an Action:
- Resume listening - continue current or last playback
- Pause - pause without changing your position
- Sleep timer - 15, 30, 45 or 60 minutes, the end of the chapter or episode, or cancel the timer
- Playback speed - from 0.75× to 2×, for this playback only, not your default
- Bookmark - save your position while playback continues, with an optional name. Find it later with your other bookmarks.
Resume listening can also set a sleep timer and a speed at the same time. Leave them on Don’t change to keep what you have.
For a book or a podcast
Opened from a book or a show, the screen shows its cover and title. A podcast adds Episode, which chooses what starts:
- Latest episode
- Latest unfinished
- Random
- Random Unplayed - skips episodes you’ve finished or started. If none are left, playback stays as it is and SoundLeaf tells you.
Account decides whose progress is used:
- Whoever scans - each person listens with their own account and progress on your server. Good for a tag the whole house uses.
- My account - only a phone signed in to your account can use it.
Write an NFC tag
Tap Write tag and hold the top of your iPhone near the tag. SoundLeaf writes the action, reads it back and checks it, then says Tag written and verified.
- Use a writable NFC tag that iPhone can write and that holds an NDEF message (the usual format for storing a link on a tag), with enough room for the action. The screen shows how many bytes the action needs; a bookmark name makes it longer.
- Writing replaces whatever the tag held before.
- NFC needs a supported iPhone. On an iPad, or an iPhone without NFC, the button is off and QR codes still work.
Create a QR code
Tap QR code. SoundLeaf draws the code with your app icon in the middle, and Share QR code sends the image anywhere: print it, message it, stick it on a book spine. Scan it with the iPhone Camera app.
Read an NFC tag
The Read tab tells you what a tag does without doing it. Tap Read tag, hold the tag near the top of your iPhone, and SoundLeaf shows what the tag will do and how full it is. Reading never starts playback or changes the tag. Try this action is the separate step that runs it.
What’s in the link
The tag or code holds a link on soundleafapp.com. It says which book or podcast and what to do, and never holds a password or a login token, so it can’t sign anyone into your server. Someone who scans it still needs SoundLeaf and an account on your server.
- A general action from Settings has no server in it. It acts on whatever the scanning phone is playing.
- A book or podcast action works only with the server it was made for, so it only works on phones that have that server saved. The link doesn’t contain your server address.
- A bookmark name is readable by anyone who has the link.
If you have several saved accounts on the same server, SoundLeaf uses the account you’re on when it matches the link, and asks you to choose when it can’t tell. See multiple accounts.
If the link opens in a browser instead of the app, the page explains what the link would do and has an Open in SoundLeaf button. Nothing plays in the browser.
Troubleshooting
Write tag is greyed out
This iPhone or iPad can’t write NFC tags. Use QR code instead.
”This link needs N bytes, but the tag holds M. Try a larger tag or remove the sleep timer.”
The tag is too small for this action. Use a larger tag, or drop the sleep timer or the bookmark name.
”This tag is read-only. Try a writable tag.”
This tag can’t be rewritten. Use a writable tag.
”This tag does not support NDEF messages.”
The tag is a kind iPhone can’t write links to. Use a tag sold as NDEF compatible.
”The tag was written, but verification did not match. Read it again before using it.”
SoundLeaf couldn’t confirm what it saved. Read the tag again before using it, or hold it still at the top of the iPhone and write it again.
Scanning opens Safari instead of SoundLeaf
Tap Open in SoundLeaf on the page. If Safari keeps you there, tap Open in the SoundLeaf banner at the top of the page.
”Add the linked server in Settings and sign in”
The action is for a server this phone doesn’t have saved. Add it under Settings > Servers, sign in, then scan again. A My account action also needs the account that made it. See multiple accounts.
”No matching playable episode is saved for this podcast”
No episode on the phone fits the Episode choice. With Random Unplayed or Latest unfinished, you may have played them all. Connect to your server so the show’s episode list refreshes, or pick another episode choice.