Guides · Features
Audiobookshelf widgets and Siri Shortcuts on iPhone
SoundLeaf has nine Audiobookshelf widgets for the Home Screen and Lock Screen, a sleep timer Live Activity, and Siri Shortcuts to resume a book hands-free.
SoundLeaf has nine widgets for your Audiobookshelf library, for the Home Screen and the Lock Screen.
The sleep timer also counts down on the lock screen, and Siri Shortcuts can resume a book hands-free. None of it costs extra.
Add a SoundLeaf widget
On the Home Screen:
- Press and hold an empty spot until the apps jiggle.
- Tap Edit > Add Widget.
- Search for SoundLeaf, pick a widget and a size, and tap Add Widget.
On the Lock Screen:
- Press and hold the Lock Screen, then tap Customize and choose Lock Screen.
- Tap the widget area, then pick a SoundLeaf widget.
Which widgets are there?
| Widget | What it shows | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Now Playing | The book you’re listening to, with a play/pause button on most sizes | Home Screen (small, medium) and Lock Screen |
| Recently Played | Your latest books and episodes. Tap one to play it | Home Screen (medium, large) |
| Listening | Listening today, your streak, activity and goals | Home Screen (small, medium, large) |
| Goal | Your listening goal, or your yearly book goal | Home Screen (small) |
| Your Listening | Listening time, books and episodes finished this month or this year | Home Screen (medium) |
| Library | Your library totals. The large size adds your progress and resume buttons | Home Screen (small, medium, large) |
| By Library | A line for each library, with a total | Home Screen (small) |
| Book Cover | The cover of your current book or podcast. Tap to open the player | Lock Screen |
| Cover & Progress | Your cover with a progress ring and percentage | Lock Screen |
Now Playing
What’s playing, with cover art. The Home Screen sizes and the round Lock Screen size have a working play/pause button that controls playback without opening the app. The Lock Screen also has a rectangle and a one-line size.
Goal and Your Listening
To change what they show, press and hold the widget and choose Edit Widget. Goal can show Listening goal or Yearly book goal. Your Listening has a Period of This month or This year.
Goals are set in the app. See listening stats and goals.
What do short listening times like 2y 4mo mean?
Large totals use days, months and years instead of a five-digit hour count. For example, 2y 4mo means two years and four months.
The sleep timer on your lock screen
Start a sleep timer set in minutes and it counts down on your lock screen as a Live Activity, and in the Dynamic Island on the iPhones that have one. Chapter and episode timers don’t show one.
The lock screen card has a cancel button. Hold the Dynamic Island open and you get +15 min and Cancel. Everything the timer can do is on the sleep timer page.
Control Audiobookshelf playback with Siri
You can use these with Siri, the Shortcuts app or the Action Button:
| Say | What it does |
|---|---|
| ”Resume my book in SoundLeaf” | Picks up your most recent book or episode where you left it |
| ”Pause SoundLeaf” / “Play or pause SoundLeaf” | Pauses, or plays if paused |
| ”Play a book in SoundLeaf” | Asks which book, then plays it |
“Resume SoundLeaf”, “Continue my book in SoundLeaf” and “Continue listening in SoundLeaf” all reach the first one too.
They all run in the background, so nothing takes over your screen while you’re driving or your hands are full. If something fails, Siri says so rather than going quiet.
Set a sleep timer with Shortcuts
The Shortcuts app has one more SoundLeaf action: Set Sleep Timer, where you choose how many minutes it runs. It answers “Sleep timer set for 30 minutes”, or “Nothing is playing right now” when there’s nothing to stop.
It has no spoken phrase of its own. Build a shortcut around it, name the shortcut what you’d like to say, and Siri runs it by that name.
Using the Action button
On an iPhone with an Action Button:
- Open Settings > Action Button
- Swipe to Shortcut
- Tap Choose a Shortcut
- Pick the SoundLeaf action you want
Resume Last Book is the useful one here. Press and your book starts.
Building your own shortcut
You can use the SoundLeaf actions in your own shortcuts and automations in the Shortcuts app. A common one: an automation that resumes your book when CarPlay connects.
Troubleshooting
The play/pause button looks out of date
iOS decides when a widget redraws, so there can be a moment’s lag after you play or pause somewhere else. The button itself always acts on what’s actually happening, not on what the widget last drew.
Why are my widget numbers out of date?
iOS controls when widgets update, so their numbers can lag behind the app. Opening the app refreshes them.
Siri asks which book, or picks the wrong one
Say the title as it appears in your library.
The Live Activity doesn’t appear
Only a timer set in minutes shows one. If yours is, check that Apps > SoundLeaf > Live Activities is on in the iPhone Settings app.