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FAQ

Quick answers to common questions. For problems, see Troubleshooting.

Formats and playback​

What audio formats are supported?​

.m4b, .m4a, .mp4, .mp3, .flac, .ogg, .opus and .mka. A single .m4b and a folder of .mp3 files both play as one book with chapters. .mka needs ffmpeg on the server.

Audible's protected .aax and .aaxc files are not supported. See Supported formats.

Do I need ffmpeg?​

It's optional, but recommended. The Docker image includes it, and the standalone program downloads it if your system lacks it.

  • ffprobe reads lengths and chapters for the few files AudioSilo can't read itself. Without it, those files have no length or chapter list.
  • ffmpeg converts formats a browser can't play, lets every player play an .mka book with MP3 inside, and places community chapters precisely. Without it, books a browser can't play work only in the apps, where the phone can decode them.

Health > System shows whether each was found. See ffmpeg and ffprobe.

Is there a web version, or do I need the apps?​

Both. The server has a web player built in at /web. It works in any current browser (Safari 16.4, Chrome 111, Firefox 128 or newer) and can be added to your home screen. The iOS and Android apps add more phone features.

Can I install the Android app without the Google Play Store?​

Yes. Each app release on GitHub has an APK. The Play Store app and the APK can't update each other, so pick one. See Android without Google Play.

Does it work offline?​

Yes. Download a book and it plays with no connection, in the apps and in the web player over HTTPS. Progress syncs when you're back online. See Listen offline.

Your library and your data​

Can my books live on a NAS or network share?​

Yes. Mount the share on the server machine, then point the library at the mounted folder. If the share drops, the server keeps your books and progress until it's back.

Is my listening progress safe if I reorganize or re-tag my files?​

Yes. Re-tagging changes nothing. If you move or rename a book, the server notices and moves your progress and bookmarks with it.

What should I back up?​

  • Your audiobook folders. AudioSilo never changes them.
  • The server's data folder (--data, or /data under Docker). It holds the settings and the database with accounts, progress and bookmarks. The meta-mirror folder can be left out.

The server also backs up its database every night by itself (see Backups). Those backups don't include config.yaml, so copy the data folder somewhere else too.

Where does the extra "About this book" information come from?​

From the community database, a free audiobook database that people build together. It adds descriptions, characters, recaps, series and chapters. Your admin can switch these lookups off.

Three names come up across these docs:

  • AudioSilo Meta is the website, meta.audiosilo.app. You can browse the database there and add to it yourself. See Use the community metadata site.
  • The community database is the data: the descriptions, characters, recaps, series and chapters.
  • Community metadata is what your server looks up in the database and shows with your books. It is also the name of the settings section where your admin turns the lookups on or off.

Does my server tell anyone which books I have?​

Only what a lookup needs:

  • Community metadata sends meta.audiosilo.app a book's ASIN or ISBN, or the community entry an admin matched it to. Matching a book also sends details like its title and author (see Server settings). The server never sends listener details or full file paths. A match can send up to three names from the book's path (its author, series and book folders) as search terms.
  • Help complete the community database (off by default) sends, once a day, the ASINs the database doesn't know. See Helping complete the community database.
  • Add from LibriVox, when an admin uses it, sends the search text to meta.audiosilo.app. The Bridge then reads the recording's list of sections from meta.audiosilo.app (or the metadata service it is set to use) and downloads the book from archive.org. See Add free books from LibriVox.
  • Podcast search sends the search text to Apple Podcasts or Podcast Index. See Searching podcast directories.
  • The update check asks GitHub once a day for the newest version. See What the update check sends.

To avoid lookups over the internet, your admin can keep a local copy of the community database, or switch community metadata off. Until the copy is ready, or if it fails, lookups still go online. The daily report above, when it's on, still goes online.

Can other people on my server see what I'm listening to?​

Other listeners can't, unless you both turn on See what others are listening to. Your admin can see everyone's listening in Activity.

Users and sharing​

How many users can I have, and can I limit what each one sees?​

There's no limit. Each person gets their own progress, bookmarks and favourites. Invite people with an invite code (see Invite people). People can also add the household members they live with.

To limit what someone sees, use shares: sets of folders you grant to people. See Sharing.

Running the server​

Why do I need a server at all? My files already sit in a folder.​

The folder stays exactly as it is. The server adds:

  • Your place everywhere. Pause on your phone, carry on in the browser.
  • Streaming from anywhere, with chapters, covers and fast search.
  • Separate accounts for everyone, with their own progress.
  • Audiobook features: sleep timer, speed, offline downloads.

Stop using AudioSilo and your library is still a folder of files.

Can I run it on a Raspberry Pi or another low-power box?​

Yes, on a 64-bit OS. Releases include Linux builds for amd64 and arm64. There's no 32-bit ARM build. See Install without Docker.

Why does docker stats show more memory than the server uses?​

docker stats adds two things to the server's own memory. One is file cache, the recently read parts of your books and the database that Linux keeps in memory. The other is memory Linux uses on the container's behalf, such as its record of files and folders.

The first scan reads every book's tags, chapters and covers, so both grow with your library. In one test, a minute after the first scan of about 5,000 books, docker stats showed 291 MiB and the server's own memory was 30 MiB. Linux frees the file cache as soon as anything else needs memory.

Playing a book adds very little to the server's own memory. The server streams the file from disk without loading it into memory.

To see the split, run this from the folder that holds your docker-compose.yml (on Unraid, use docker exec and the container's name):

docker compose exec audiosilo grep -E "^(anon|file|active_file|kernel) " /sys/fs/cgroup/memory.stat
  • anon is the server's own memory.
  • file is the file cache. docker stats counts only its active_file part.
  • kernel is the memory Linux uses on the container's behalf. docker stats counts it too. Older Linux versions don't print this line.

Other apps' docker stats figures include the same two things. To compare two apps, run the same command for each and compare the anon lines.

The project​

Where does the project live?​

On GitHub:

Bug reports and feature requests are welcome as GitHub issues on the matching repository.