EarMemo

EarMemo is a local-first audio player for iPhone and iPad, built for long-form listening to files you already own — downloaded podcast episodes, DRM-free audiobooks, lecture and conference recordings, language lessons, and voice memos. It is not a streaming app and not a music catalog: you bring your own files, and EarMemo plays them well.

It plays mp3, m4a, aac, flac, and wav, plus the audio track of mp4, mov, and m4v video files (audio-only, so you can listen to a lecture video without watching it). Import happens through the iOS Share Sheet from Messages, Mail, Files, or any app with a share action, and audio is organized into albums.

Built for sessions longer than three minutes: background playback with full Lock Screen and Control Center controls, variable playback speed, a sleep timer with a Live Activity countdown on the Dynamic Island and Lock Screen, one-tap bookmarks that jump you back to any saved point, and per-album notes you write while listening — auto-saved with timestamp markers that jump you back to the exact moment. A yearly listening heatmap (plus weekly and monthly breakdowns) shows what you actually heard.

Privacy is the default, not a setting: EarMemo never connects to any server, requires no account, and contains no third-party SDKs, analytics, advertising, or tracking. Everything — settings, playback progress, bookmarks, notes, and statistics — stays on your device and follows your own iCloud device backup if you have one enabled. It works identically in airplane mode.

Universal app for iPhone and iPad (split-view layout on iPad) that also runs on Apple Silicon Macs. One-time purchase, no subscription, no in-app purchases.

Note: EarMemo plays DRM-free files only. It does not play Audible (.aax/.aaxc), Apple Books audiobooks, or Spotify/Apple Music tracks — use the official apps for those.