EarMemo.app Reviews and Details

Questions & Answers

1. What makes EarMemo.app unique?

   EarMemo is an offline audiobook and long-form audio player for iPhone and iPad, built for people who already own MP3, M4B and other local audio files and want to remember what they hear.

   Unlike a traditional audio player, EarMemo puts timestamped notes at the centre of the listening experience. Tap once to bookmark the exact moment, add a line of text, and return to that moment later simply by tapping the note.

   It also supports whole-folder import with the subfolder structure preserved, M4B chapter navigation, local Wi-Fi file transfer from a desktop browser (no cable, no iTunes), automatic playback resume, and Markdown export of notes. Notes remain even if the original audio file is deleted.

   There is no account, no subscription, no advertising and no tracking. Audio and notes stay on the device; EarMemo does not collect or send user data, and purchases are handled by Apple's App Store.

2. Which are the primary technologies used for building EarMemo.app?

   EarMemo is a native iOS app built with Swift and SwiftUI. AVFoundation handles audio playback. The app recognizes MP3, M4A, M4B, AAC, FLAC, WAV, AIFF, and CAF files, and can play the audio tracks of MP4, MOV, and M4V files when their codecs are supported by iOS.

   StoreKit handles two non-consumable, one-time in-app purchases and purchase restoration. ActivityKit powers the sleep-timer Live Activity on the Lock Screen and, on supported iPhone models, the Dynamic Island. Siri and Shortcuts integration uses App Intents.

   EarMemo has no external backend, database service, or third-party SDKs. It stores app data locally using files and UserDefaults. When the user enables Wi-Fi Transfer, the device runs a temporary HTTP service discovered with Bonjour; file transfers stay on the local network. StoreKit communicates with Apple for purchases and restoration. EarMemo does not send personal data to its own external server.

3. Who are some of the biggest customers of EarMemo.app?

   EarMemo is a consumer iOS app, and we do not publish individual customer names. It is designed for audiobook listeners, students working through recorded lectures, and language learners who maintain their own offline audio libraries.

4. Why should a person choose EarMemo.app over its competitors?

   EarMemo is worth considering as a BookPlayer alternative for iPhone users who want timestamped notes alongside their own audiobooks, or as a VLC alternative for people who prefer a library organised around long-form listening rather than a folder of files.

   It is particularly useful when you want to:

   • Play DRM-free MP3 and M4B audiobooks with chapter navigation, downloaded lectures, and long audio recordings on iPhone or iPad.
   • Bookmark exact moments, write timestamped notes, and revisit the original audio with one tap.
   • Import entire folders while preserving their structure, so a multi-file audiobook or a course lands as one album.
   • Transfer audio from a computer to an iPhone over local Wi-Fi without iTunes.
   • Export listening notes as Markdown for personal knowledge-management workflows.
   • Listen offline without creating an account or paying a subscription.

   EarMemo is not an audiobook streaming service, a transcription app, or a podcast RSS manager. It does not play DRM-protected purchases from Audible or Apple Books.

   It is free to download with a limited listening allowance. EarMemo Pro is available through a one-time in-app purchase, with no recurring subscription.

5. How would you describe the primary audience of EarMemo.app?

   EarMemo is for people who already own their audio files and listen in long stretches, on iPhone or iPad. That includes audiobook listeners with DRM-free libraries (Libro.fm, LibriVox, ripped CDs, personal archives), students working through recorded lectures and courses, language learners with large MP3 sets, podcast listeners who keep offline copies, and anyone who works with recorded interviews and needs to find a specific moment again.

   Concretely, it is built for the moment when someone is halfway through a 22-file audiobook and wants to resume exactly where they stopped; when a student replays the 40th minute of a lecture to catch one sentence; when a language learner loops the same fifteen seconds; or when an interviewer remembers "he said something about the budget" and needs that moment back.

   A secondary audience is privacy-minded listeners who want an audio app that never phones home.

6. What's the story behind EarMemo.app?

   EarMemo started with an 18-hour audiobook. The developer bought it on Libro.fm and it arrived as 22 separate MP3 files. Nothing on the iPhone handled that well: Apple Podcasts will not let you sideload, Apple Music turned the book into 22 disconnected tracks, and VLC plays anything but has no concept of an "album" or a "bookmark". After losing his place — and his notes — one time too many, he built the player he wanted: an offline, local-first audio player for iPhone and iPad that treats a folder of files like a book, remembers where you stopped, and lets a note point back to the exact second it came from. It is made by a solo developer, Fan YANG.