EarMemo: A local-first audio player for files you actually own

EarMemo plays audio you already own — podcasts, audiobooks, lectures, voice memos — all locally on iPhone and iPad. No server, no account, no SDK, no tracking. Built for long-form listening: sleep timer, bookmarks, timestamped notes, yearly listening heatmap.

Hey Product Hunt 👋 Maker here. EarMemo is an iOS audio player I built for people who still own their audio files — DRM-free audiobooks from Libro.fm, downloaded podcast episodes, language-lesson MP3s, recorded lectures, voice memos. Files that live on your phone. The honest reason it exists: I bought an 18-hour audiobook on Libro.fm. It arrived as 22 mp3 files. Nothing on my iPhone handled it well — Apple Podcasts won't let you sideload, Apple Music turns it into 22 disconnected tracks, VLC plays anything but has no idea what an "album" or a "bookmark" is. So I wrote my own. **What's in the box:** - 100% local — no account, no server, no analytics, no third-party SDKs - One-time purchase — no subscription, no IAP, no ads - Built for long content: variable speed, sleep timer (with a Dynamic Island Live Activity), bookmarks, per-album notes with tap-to-jump timestamps - Plays mp3 / m4a / aac / flac / wav, plus the audio track of mp4 / mov / m4v lecture videos - Yearly listening heatmap (GitHub-style) for the stats nerds - Universal iPhone + iPad, split-view on iPad - iOS 17+ **What it does NOT do:** stream from any catalog, play DRM-protected files (Audible, Apple Books, Spotify, Apple Music), or phone home. For DRM titles, use the official apps — that's not what this is for. Would especially love feedback from: - Audiobook readers with Libro.fm / LibriVox / ripped CD libraries - Podcast listeners who keep offline copies - Language learners and lecture-recording students - Anyone who's wished iOS had a clean, opinionated player for the files already sitting in their Files app **One question for you:** what's the longest single audio file in your library right now, and which app are you using to listen to it? Genuinely curious — half the design choices in EarMemo came from frustration with that exact moment. AMA below. Thanks for checking it out 🎧 — Yang fan

Quick technical note for anyone curious: EarMemo doesn't index, scrape, or upload your files. Import via Share Sheet → file is copied into the app's sandbox → app never touches the network. The yearly heatmap is computed on-device from your own playback log. There is no "EarMemo cloud" because there is no EarMemo server.

The 18 hour audiobook example makes a lot of sense. Its often the edge cases that expose gaps in existing apps, and long form audio seems to be one of them.