Standalone Wear OS Client

Bound for Audiobookshelf

Learn how to stream, download, and speed-read your audiobooks, podcasts, and ebooks directly from your Wear OS smartwatch.

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Interactive Showcase

Experience Bound on the Wrist

Bound is custom-engineered for circular Wear OS screens. Select one of the modes below to interact with simulated watch screens in real-time.

volume_up 70% Crown Volume
The Beginning After the End #11
Providence
TurtleMe
Ch 28/56 · 0:55 / 32:11
arrow_upward Hover and use your mouse wheel over the watch crown to simulate scrolling!

Bound Core Capabilities

wifi_tethering

100% Standalone Sync

Stream audiobooks and podcasts directly over Wi-Fi or LTE without requiring a paired smartphone. Your progress, speed parameters, and completion states sync back to your Audiobookshelf server instantly.

bolt

RSVP Speed Reader

Read ebooks on your watch screen at speeds up to 1000 WPM using Rapid Serial Visual Presentation. Aligns and centers words at their Optimal Recognition Point (ORP) to minimize eye movements and maximize comprehension.

download_done

Smart Offline Downloads

Save entire book libraries and podcast queues directly to local watch storage. Transcode streams automatically for faster starts, and manage space with intuitive long-press deletion prompts.

headphones

System Audio Out

Quickly toggle Bluetooth connections to headphones, earbuds, or speakers. Fully integrated into the native Wear OS media controller layer for background playback and remote tracking.

grid_view

Tiles & Complications

Add the "Continue Listening" Tile to your wear carousel to jump straight back into playing. Watch face complications support Now Playing indicators (ranged progress circles), Next Up chapters, and download states.

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PKCE Secure Auth

Log in easily by entering your Audiobookshelf server URL or using clipboard paste. If SSO is configured, authorize securely using a prompt sent directly to your companion Android phone.

Application Interface

Player Screen Media Player
Library Grid Library View
Book Details Book Detail
Settings Menu Settings
Downloads Downloads Queue

Frequently Asked Questions

When launching Bound for the first time, you will be prompted to enter your Audiobookshelf server URL (e.g., https://your-server.com). You can type this URL manually, or copy it on your phone and click the "Paste URL" button inside the app to load it from the watch clipboard. Once the server connects, enter your username and password, or tap "Sign in with SSO" if Single Sign-On is configured.
To adjust playback volume quickly inside the player, simply rotate the physical watch crown. Scroll up to increase volume, and scroll down to decrease it. For speed settings, tap the playback speed button (e.g., 1.0x) to cycle through speeds up to 2.0x. To configure sleep timers, tap the timer button to cycle through intervals (5m, 15m, 30m, 1h or End of Chapter).
Rapid Serial Visual Presentation (RSVP) displays book text word-by-word at a single visual coordinate. Bound highlights each word's Optimal Recognition Point (ORP) character in orange-red, aligning it perfectly to the center of the watch screen so you do not have to move your eyes across lines.
  • Play/Pause: Single tap anywhere on the screen.
  • WPM Speed: Rotate the physical crown or tap the + and - buttons at the bottom.
  • Exit Reader: Double-tap anywhere on the screen.
By default, Bound queues downloads to sync only when connected to a Wi-Fi network to save battery and mobile data. If you want to download over LTE or any available connection, go to Settings > Downloads & Network and toggle off Downloads Wi-Fi Only. You can also manage active files in the Downloads screen: tap once to cancel/retry, and long-press on any completed file to bring up the delete dialogue.
To add the "Continue Listening" Tile, swipe left or right from your watch face, long-press, scroll to the end of your carousel, tap "Add Tile", and select Bound. For Complications, long-press your active watch face, tap "Customize", select a complication slot, and choose from Bound's providers: Now Playing (circular progress indicator), Next Up (displays upcoming audio track), Download Status, or Library (quick launcher).
To enable Single Sign-On (SSO) via OpenID Connect (OIDC) in Bound, the server owner must perform the following configuration steps:
  1. In the OIDC Provider (e.g., Authentik, Authelia, Keycloak): Add the mobile redirect URI to your application's Allowed Redirect URIs list: https://<your-server-url>/auth/openid/mobile-redirect
  2. In Audiobookshelf Settings: Log in as an admin in the Web UI, navigate to Settings > Authentication, verify that OpenID Connect is configured, and add Bound's redirect URI to the Allowed Mobile Redirect URIs field: https://wear.googleapis.com/3p_auth/com.bound.wear Note: Multiple redirect URIs in Audiobookshelf are comma-separated.

HTTPS Requirement: Bound's Wear OS sign-in flow requires a secure connection. The Audiobookshelf server must be served over HTTPS, and any reverse proxy (like reverse proxying in Unraid or Proxmox) must correctly forward the X-Forwarded-Proto: https header.