DeerReader

📖 Overview

DeerReader is a full-featured audiobook player built natively for Apple platforms. It combines a clean listening experience with powerful library management, cross-device sync, and seamless integration with DeerLibrarian servers for content discovery.

🚀 Getting Started

From a fresh install to your first listen in just a few steps.

🗺️ App Navigation

DeerReader is organized into five tabs at the bottom of the screen, plus a persistent mini-player.

A Now Playing bar sits just above the tab bar whenever a book is loaded. Tap it to open the full player; tap the cover art or title for quick context. The bar stays visible across all tabs so you can always get back to your book.

📚 My Books Library

My Books is your personal audiobook collection. Everything you import or download lives here.

View Modes

Toggle between Grid and List view using the icon in the toolbar. Grid view shows large cover art — great for visual browsing. List view is compact and information-dense.

Sorting & Filtering

• Sort by: Title · Author · Date Added · Last Read
• Filter by progress: All · Currently Reading · Unfinished · Finished
• Search: Type in the search bar to filter by title, author, or narrator instantly

Book Actions

Long-press any book cover (or tap the context menu button) to access:

• Edit Metadata — change title, author, narrator, or cover art
• View Info — see file details and sync status
• Add to Collection — place the book in one or more collections
• Delete — remove the book from your library (with confirmation)

🎧 Audio Player

Tap any book to open the full-screen player. The UI automatically adapts its colors to match the dominant tones in the book's cover art.

Playback Controls

• Play / Pause — large centered button
• Skip Back / Forward — jumps by your configured skip interval (default 30 seconds)
• Scrubber — drag to seek anywhere in the current file
• Audio Route — tap the speaker icon to switch between device speaker, headphones, AirPlay, or Bluetooth

Playback Speed

Tap the speed button to cycle through presets or pick a custom value:

Speed is saved per book — switching to a different title won't change its saved speed.

Lock Screen & Background

Playback continues when you lock your screen or switch to another app. Standard iOS media controls (lock screen, Control Center, AirPods) all work with DeerReader.

Repeat

Toggle Repeat Book from the options menu (···) to have the current book restart automatically when it finishes.

📑 Chapter Navigation

For books with chapter markers, DeerReader surfaces full chapter navigation in the player.

• The current chapter title is displayed prominently below the cover art
• Tap the chapter title or the chapter list button to open a scrollable list of all chapters
• Tap any chapter to jump directly to it
• Use the Previous Chapter and Next Chapter buttons flanking the skip controls
• The scrubber shows your position within the current chapter

🌙 Sleep Timer

Set the app to stop playing automatically after a set amount of time or at a chapter boundary.

Open the sleep timer from the player's options menu (···). Available durations:

• 15 minutes
• 30 minutes
• 1 hour
• 2 hours
• End of current chapter

A countdown indicator appears in the player while the timer is active. Tap it to cancel the timer at any time.

🗂️ Collections

Group your audiobooks into collections — by genre, mood, series, or anything else you like.

Creating a Collection

Apple Intelligence Auto-Collections

DeerReader can use Apple Intelligence to analyze your library's metadata and automatically suggest collections — for example grouping books by genre, series, or theme. Look for the Auto-Generate option in the Collections tab. A progress indicator will appear while the operation runs.

🔍 Search

The Search tab lets you find content across your entire library — and optionally across remote DeerLibrarian servers too.

Search Scopes

• All — searches books, collections, and remote libraries simultaneously
• Books — your local library only (title, author, narrator)
• Collections — find a specific collection by name
• Libraries — content available on connected DeerLibrarian servers (can be toggled in Settings)

Results are grouped by source. Tap a book to open it, tap a collection to browse it, or tap a remote result to view its details and queue it for download.

✏️ Metadata Editing

DeerReader automatically extracts metadata when you import a book, but every field is editable at any time.

Editable Fields

• Title
• Author
• Narrator
• Cover Art — choose any image from your Photos library

How to Edit

There are three ways to reach the metadata editor:

• Long-press a book in My Books → Edit Metadata
• In the player, tap the options menu (···) → Edit Book
• Tap a book in Search results → Edit

📥 Importing Audiobooks

There are several ways to get audiobooks into DeerReader.

From the Files App

Open the Files app, navigate to your audio file, tap Share → DeerReader. The file is imported and metadata is extracted automatically.

From the Import Button

In My Books, tap the import (⊕) button to open a file picker. You can select one or multiple audio files at once.

From a DeerLibrarian Server

Browse the Libraries tab, find the book you want, and tap Download. See the Download Manager section for details.

Supported Formats

DeerReader plays any audio format supported by iOS, including M4B, M4A, MP3, and AAC. M4B files with embedded chapter markers are fully supported.

🌐 Remote Libraries

The Libraries tab connects to DeerLibrarian servers on your local network, giving you access to a shared catalog of audiobooks.

Discovering Servers

DeerReader uses local network discovery — servers running DeerLibrarian on the same Wi-Fi network appear automatically. No manual IP entry is needed in most cases.

Browsing a Library

• Tap a discovered server to browse its catalog
• Browse by section or use the search bar to find specific titles
• Tap any book to see its details: title, author, narrator, duration, and download status
• Tap Download to add the book to your download queue

Download Status

Each book in the remote library shows its current status: Available, Queued, Downloading, or Downloaded. Once a download finishes, the book is automatically imported into My Books.

⬇️ Download Manager

DeerReader's download system is built for large audiobook files — it's fast, resumable, and works in the background.

How Downloads Work

• Downloads run in parallel chunks for maximum speed
• If interrupted (app backgrounded, network drops), the download resumes automatically from where it left off
• Background downloads continue even when DeerReader is not the active app
• When a background download completes, the book is imported and ready to play the next time you open DeerReader

Monitoring Progress

Active downloads show a progress bar, current speed, and estimated time remaining. You can queue multiple books and they will download sequentially.

🔄 Playback Sync

Pair DeerReader with a DeerLibrarian server to keep your listening position perfectly in sync across all your devices.

Setting Up Sync

How Sync Behaves

• Position is synced when you pause playback
• Position is synced when the app enters the background
• Periodic sync happens during long listening sessions
• If the server is unreachable, updates are queued and sent when connectivity returns

Unpairing

Go to Settings → Sync → Unpair. You can optionally clear the local sync cache when unpairing.

🖼️ Sharing

Share what you're listening to with a beautiful, auto-generated card.

From inside the player, open the options menu (···) and tap Share. DeerReader generates a square image featuring:

• The book's cover art
• A progress ring showing how far through the book you are
• Time elapsed and time remaining
• The current chapter title
• A color background derived from the cover art
• A subtle "Created with DeerReader" footer

The standard iOS share sheet opens so you can send the image to Messages, social media, email, or anywhere else.

📲 Widgets

Add DeerReader widgets to your Home Screen or Lock Screen to check your listening progress and jump back in with one tap.

To add a widget, long-press your Home Screen → tap + → search for DeerReader → choose a size.

🚗 CarPlay

DeerReader has a dedicated CarPlay interface for safe, distraction-free listening on the road.

• Browse your full library from the car display
• Quick-access list of Recently Played and Unfinished books
• If a book is already loaded, a Now Playing shortcut appears at the top for instant resume
• Full playback controls: play, pause, skip, chapter navigation
• Works with both wired and wireless CarPlay

⚙️ Settings Reference

All available settings, what they do, and their defaults.

Display

Playback

Search

Sync