Your books.
Exactly as narrated.
“Last time you listened to Eleanor Voss. You used the Late Night preset. Restore it for this book?”
Meringo Listen asks this when a narrator’s saved preset isn’t the one playing.
For people who own their books: local M4B and MP3, or your Audiobookshelf server. $14.99 once, after a 14-day free trial. Android 13 or newer.
The Shelf
Point Meringo Listen at a folder of M4Bs and MP3s, sign into your Audiobookshelf server, or do both. Local files and server books land on the same shelf, sorted the way you actually listen: in-progress at the top, recently added next, finished in the long tail. Browse by author, series or what you played last.
Download a book from your server and its row shows the progress, then reads Offline once the book will play without a connection. The rest is just your library — calm, current, and exactly where you left it.
Audiobookshelf
A premium, paid native Android client for Audiobookshelf, built in Compose with no web-shell seams. Real two-way position sync. Real offline downloads. Multi-library. And real conflict resolution: listening done offline is checked against your server before it is sent, and if another device has since got a minute or more further — “your Audiobookshelf server is ahead of this device by 35 min” — you choose which place to keep.
Your bearer token is stored encrypted in the Android Keystore, and your device talks straight to your server — nothing proxies through us.
The voice EQ
Seven presets built for the situations spoken word actually lives in — Neutral, Deep Voice, Tame Bright, Phone Speaker, Clarity, Late Night, and Subway, which pairs an EQ shift with a real downward compressor so narration sits steady when the train doesn’t.
Add a one-tap Noisy-room boost (Subway, Stroller, Kitchen) for the moments the world gets loud. It’s the same 64-bit double-precision engine that ships in Meringo, the sister music player, re-tuned for narration.
The Voice EQ Workbench
Want the controls, not just the presets? The Workbench gives you all ten bands by hand, with a live curve. Paste an AutoEQ profile and Meringo Listen maps it onto the cascade. A hand-tuned curve isn’t saved: it lasts until you pick a preset or close the app.
Per-narrator memory
Find the preset that makes a narrator sound right, and Meringo Listen remembers it. Start another book by the same reader and it asks: “Last time you listened to Eleanor Voss. You used the Late Night preset. Restore it for this book?”
The memory lives entirely on your device — no preset cloud, no account, no telemetry. Tap Restore and stop thinking about EQ for the rest of the book.
Speed
Meringo Listen changes speed with Media3’s Sonic time-stretch — the Sonic algorithm (originally Bill Cox’s), which shifts tempo while holding pitch. A narrator keeps their natural voice, and their consonants stay crisp, all the way up to 3×.
Pitch correction is on at every speed, so voices never turn into chipmunks. And at 1.0× the time-stretch is a clean passthrough — nothing touches the audio you didn’t ask it to, and the route badge says so.
Listen anywhere
Pause for a meeting and Meringo Listen smart-rewinds to the last natural pause when you come back — far enough to find the sentence, not so far you re-hear a paragraph. Force-stop the app or reboot the phone: the queue, the position, the speed are all exactly where you left them, and it waits for a press of play before any sound: yours, or the one some cars send as they connect.
Drift off with the Sleep Mode envelope — a gentle fade, and a screen that dims as a timed countdown runs out — that never nags. Drop a bookmark on a passage worth keeping; it stays on your device. Android Auto and chapter-aware Bluetooth controls come along for the drive.
Honest audio
Tap the route badge and Meringo Listen tells you the truth about your audio path. When nothing is touching the bytes, it reads BIT-EXACT. Turn on speed, a compressor, or volume leveling and the badge decorates rather than lies — “Speed 2.5×”, “LRC Subway”, “Leveling −2.1 dB”.
For most audiobooks this is a quiet detail. For the listener who imported a 24-bit / 96 kHz audio-drama production, it’s the whole point — the same honest engine, and the same route badge, that ships in Meringo, the sister music player.
Don’t take our word. Read the diagnostics.
A built-in Diagnostics screen lays out the exact playback chain — sample rate, bit depth, output route, focus state — ready to screenshot for a forum post. The claims on this page are the claims the app makes about itself, on your device.
- device
- QUALCOMM FiiO M21 · Android 13
- abi
- arm64-v8a · SDK 33
- engine
- PEQ 44100Hz / PCM16 · 10 bands
- narrator
- EQ preset = OFF → engine disabled
- route
- BIT-EXACT · passing bytes verbatim
- rewind
- smart rewind = on
Is Meringo Listen for you?
We’d rather you read this and bounce than download and refund.
Built for you if…
- You own your audiobooks — locally, on a server, or both.
- You self-host Audiobookshelf and have squinted at the official Android client.
- You keep an M4B / MP3 archive and you’re tired of an interface from 2014.
- You’ve ever rewound because a notification or a noisy train swallowed a sentence.
- You’ve ever wished a player would remember the EQ preset you chose for a narrator.
- You’re on Android 13 or newer, on a phone or a DAP.
Not for you if…
- You primarily listen to Audible — AAX is DRM and we don’t decode it. Ever.
- You want a catalog or a subscription to discover books in. There isn’t one.
- You need Dropbox, Google Drive, or OneDrive sources. Server or local files only.
- You’re an F-Droid purist who won’t pay for closed-source. (Try Voice — it’s great.)
- You’re on iOS. Prologue, SoundLeaf, ShelfPlayer and AudioBooth already serve you.
- You want streaks, leaderboards, or gamification. One quiet screen of counts (books finished, hours into your library) is the whole stats surface.
Built by one person, on the same engine as Meringo Music. The rule is the same: claim less than the code does, lead with what it won’t do, and never make the listener pay rent for software they already bought.
Adam Siemaszko, Meringo Labs LLC. Sister apps: Meringo and Meringo Minutes.
Questions
Can Meringo Listen play my Audible books?
No. Audible’s AAX files are DRM-protected and Meringo Listen does not decode them — that’s a deliberate, permanent choice, not a roadmap item. It’s built for books you own DRM-free: downloaded from a retailer like Libro.fm, ripped yourself, or served from your own Audiobookshelf library. If your library lives in Audible, stay with Audible.
Do I need an Audiobookshelf server?
No. Point Meringo Listen at a folder of audiobooks and everything works — playback, chapters, voice EQ, speed, bookmarks, sleep timer. Audiobookshelf is a first-class option for people who self-host, not a requirement. Local files and server books sit on the same shelf.
Which formats does it play?
M4B, MP3 (including ID3v2 CHAP chapter frames), M4A, AAC, OGG/Opus, FLAC, and WAV. Chapter navigation works from container metadata and MP3 CHAP frames.
Is there a subscription?
No. $14.99 once, then it’s yours — after a 14-day free trial of the full app. If you reinstall or switch phones, your purchase restores automatically against your Google account. No ads, no premium tier behind a second purchase.
Does it track me?
No analytics SDK, no ad SDK, no listening data sent anywhere. Crash reports through Sentry are opt-in and off by default. With them on, Sentry also learns each time the app is opened and how long it stays open, to count crash-free sessions — no screens, taps, books or listening. Your server URLs are redacted before any crash payload leaves the device. Apart from Google Play’s own billing library, which checks your purchase each time the app starts, your Audiobookshelf server and optional Sentry are the only outbound connections.
How does it compare to Smart AudioBook Player or Voice?
Smart AudioBook Player is a long-running local-files player. Voice is excellent, free and FOSS, deliberately minimal — with no EQ. Meringo Listen is the paid, premium-aesthetic option with a 64-bit voice EQ, per-narrator memory, and first-class Audiobookshelf. Different trade-offs; all three can exist.
Is this the official Audiobookshelf app?
No. Meringo Listen is an independent third-party client and is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Audiobookshelf project. The official client is free and will keep existing; this is a paid, native-Compose alternative for listeners who want a premium client. Your device talks directly to your server — nothing proxies through us.
Can I stream from Dropbox, Google Drive, or OneDrive?
No. The source list is Audiobookshelf and local folders (via Android’s Storage Access Framework).
Will there be an iOS version?
Not in the next twelve months. iOS Audiobookshelf listeners are already well served by Prologue, SoundLeaf, ShelfPlayer and AudioBooth. Meringo Listen is Android-first by deliberate choice.
Does it work with Android Auto?
Yes — bookshelf browse and playback controls are wired through Android Auto, with chapter-aware transport. A double-press on a Bluetooth headset skips to the next chapter, not the next file.
How do I get it right now?
Meringo Listen is in closed testing ahead of its public launch. To try it early, email support@meringo.app with the Google account email you’d use on the device, and Adam will add you to the test track.
Request early access.
Meringo Listen is in closed testing ahead of its public launch. Send the Google account you use on your phone to support@meringo.app and I’ll add you to the test.
Reach Adam at support@meringo.app
Meringo Listen’s sister apps: Meringo, a bit-perfect player for your music library, and Meringo Minutes, a note-taking app for meetings, on the Mac.
Privacy Policy
The short version
Meringo Listen is built local-first. It has no analytics, no ads, and no engagement tracking beyond Sentry’s count of crash-free sessions, and that only while crash reports are on. The only data that ever leaves your device is (1) traffic to the Audiobookshelf server you choose to connect, (2) optional crash reports and their session records, which are off by default, and (3) what Google Play’s billing library exchanges with Google Play: it checks your purchase each time the app starts, and handles buying and restoring it. We never see your books, your listening, or your identity.
Your audiobooks & local files
When you add a folder, Android’s Storage Access Framework grants Meringo Listen read access to only that folder. Your audio never leaves the device — there is no upload, no scan sent anywhere, no cover-art lookup that transmits your files.
Audiobookshelf
If you connect an Audiobookshelf server, your device talks directly to that server to stream, download, and sync your position. The connection is encrypted when your server’s address starts with https://. A server on plain http://, common on a home network, works too, but that connection is not encrypted. Your access token is stored encrypted in the Android Keystore. Nothing is proxied through Meringo Labs, and your server’s address is never shared with us.
Crash reports (opt-in)
Crash reporting via Sentry is opt-in and off by default. If you turn it on and the app crashes, the report contains the stack trace and the app’s version, plus the state of the device at that moment: its model and processor, Android version, build and build ID, kernel version, whether it is rooted, when it last started up, language and time zone, battery level and temperature and whether it was charging, free memory and storage, connection type (Wi-Fi or mobile data), screen size, the permissions the app holds, the screen that was open, and whether the app came from Google Play.
Sentry gives each installation a random ID so that repeat crashes from one device are counted together. It is not your advertising ID, and it is not tied to your name or any account. Sentry is set not to store IP addresses, so reports carry no location. Your server URLs are redacted before any payload leaves the device, and reports never include book titles, listening positions, or account tokens.
With crash reports on, the app also tells Sentry each time it is opened and how long it stays open: a session record carrying the same random installation ID, which Sentry uses to count crash-free sessions. It contains no screens, taps, books or listening.
From version 1.2.1 you can turn crash reports off at any time, in Settings → Crash reports; earlier test builds have no switch for it. To request deletion of any crash data, write to support@meringo.app.
Purchases through Google Play
Buying Meringo Listen and restoring your purchase go through Google Play. Google’s billing library is part of the app. It connects to Google Play each time the app starts, to check your purchase, and again when you buy or restore it, under Google’s Privacy Policy. For our accounts, Google gives us a record of each sale, including the order number, the price, and the buyer’s country, region and postal code.
What we never collect
No advertising ID, no account, no contacts, no location, no microphone, and no listening history. There is no recommendation engine and no social feed by design.
The one identifier that can reach us is Sentry’s random installation ID, and only while crash reports are on. It is what Google Play’s data-safety section means by “Device or other IDs”, and the crash reports are what it files under “Analytics”.
Your rights
Uninstalling Meringo Listen removes all local data (folder permissions are released; Keystore entries are dropped). EU/EEA users may lodge a complaint with their national data-protection authority; California residents may contact the California Attorney General. For any privacy question, write to support@meringo.app.
Open-source notice
Meringo Listen bundles a Meringo-built FFmpeg derivative (libavcodec, libavutil, libswresample) under the GNU LGPL v2.1 or later. Build configuration, version, license texts, and a written offer for the source are available in the app under Settings → Open-Source Licenses, or by emailing support@meringo.app.
Terms of Service
The license
Meringo Listen is offered as a 14-day free trial of the full app, followed by a one-time $14.99 purchase that grants a perpetual, personal licence to use the app. There is no subscription. If you reinstall or change devices, your purchase restores against the Google account you bought with.
Refunds
Purchases are processed by Google Play and are subject to Google Play’s refund policy. For anything Google’s flow doesn’t cover, write to support@meringo.app — a fair outcome matters more than a sale.
Your content
You are responsible for the audiobooks you add and for having the right to listen to them. Meringo Listen does not supply, sell, or host any audiobook content, and it does not circumvent any copy protection.
As-is
The software is provided “as is,” without warranties of any kind to the fullest extent permitted by law. Meringo Labs LLC is not liable for indirect or consequential damages arising from its use.
Legal Notice
Trademarks
Meringo Listen is a trademark of Meringo Labs LLC. Audiobookshelf is a trademark of its respective owner; Meringo Listen is a third-party client and is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Audiobookshelf project. Audible is a trademark of Audible, Inc.; Meringo Listen does not support Audible AAX files. FiiO, HiBy, iBasso, and Shanling are trademarks of their respective owners. Narrator and publisher names appearing within the app are the trademarks of their respective owners and are used in a nominative-fair-use capacity for the purpose of identifying audiobook metadata.