Audiobookshelf (ABS) books download from your own server, so a flaky connection between your device and that server shows up differently than a local file problem. This page covers the three situations people run into most.
Server unavailable
A book you've already downloaded from Audiobookshelf keeps playing normally even if your server goes offline — once it's on your device, playback doesn't depend on the server being reachable. What does need a live connection is browsing your library, downloading a book for the first time, or re-downloading a missing one. If Squabble can't reach your server for one of those, you'll see a No active ABS connection message instead of your library.
To reconnect:
- Confirm your server is actually running and reachable at its usual address. Self-hosted setups behind a VPN or Tailscale need that connection active on your device too.
- Check your own network — switching between Wi-Fi and cellular can drop an in-progress connection to the server.
- Give it a minute and try again. A server waking up from sleep can take a moment to respond.
The "Reconnect Audiobookshelf" prompt
Your saved sign-in to a server can go stale over time. When it does, Squabble shows a Reconnect Audiobookshelf prompt instead of failing silently — tap it and sign back in with your server address and credentials, the same as when you first connected your server.
Re-downloading a book
An Audiobookshelf book lives on your device the same way any downloaded book does, but certain events can still leave one missing — reinstalling Squabble, clearing device storage, or archiving a book are the common causes. Open the book's details screen and look for a Re-download from Audiobookshelf button, which re-downloads it in place without creating a duplicate.
For the full picture on books that show up as missing or "Not on Device" after a reinstall, see downloads and missing books.