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I have an mp3 (or set of mp3s) of audiobooks, downloaded podcasts, or recorded talks I want to listen to.

I’ve tried listening to it on Android’s default mp3 player. I’ve also tried Google Play Music. It seems neither of these weren’t designed for audiobooks.

I’m looking for an app or solution that is designed for listening to audiobooks and has Audible-like features. Specifically,

Required:

  • I can stop playback and even close the app, reboot my phone, and come back to it later and I don’t lose my place in the book. That is, the app remembers the hour and minute I left off at. Audible solves this problem very well. So does the new Google Podcasts app. Google Play Music does not.

Nice to have:

  • I can easily fast forward or rewind 30 seconds

  • I can adjust playback speed to 1.5x, 2x, etc.

Paid apps are fine. What do you recommend?

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  • I'm not using any of them, but there are dedicated apps for AudioBooks. The link goes to a list of them on my Android site. As said, I'm not using any so I cannot say which one matches all your requirements – hence only a comment with a pointer ;)
    – Izzy ♦
    Jun 22, 2018 at 9:41
  • softwarerecs.stackexchange.com/questions/83206/…
    – endolith
    Jun 7, 2022 at 21:01

2 Answers 2

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My recommendation would be PocketCasts

I can stop playback and even close the app, reboot my phone, and come back to it later and I don’t lose my place in the book. That is, the app remembers the hour and minute I left off at. Audible solves this problem very well. So does the new Google Podcasts app. Google Play Music does not.

Just tried reboot and it returned to a few seconds before I stopped the podcast.

I can easily fast forward or rewind 30 seconds

There are buttons for -10 seconds and +30 seconds

I can adjust playback speed to 1.5x, 2x, etc.

From 0.5 to 3.0 times speed at 0.1 increments (the slider is finicky).

If you don't want to spend any money, there are other highly ranked podcast apps in the store. Most of what you describe are the types of features that are expected in popular podcast apps.

Downloaded mp3?

Sadly this capability seems to have been removed.

Looks like a bit of work but it is possible:

From their documentation: https://support.pocketcasts.com/article/adding-custom-episodes/

  • Locate the custom_episodes folder. By default it’s located here: /storage/emulated/0/Android/data/au.com.shiftyjelly.pocketcasts/files/PocketCasts
  • Move your episode files into the folder
  • Open Pocket Casts and refresh by tapping on the Pocket Casts icon in the side menu.
  • You now find a Custom Episodes podcast in your Podcasts tile screen, tap it to view the list of custom episodes.
  • Note: Only the following file types are supported: mp3, m4a, aac, mov, m4v, mp4, 3g2 and 3gp.
  • Note: Pocket Casts will only pick up files in the custom_episodes folder, not any sub-folders.
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  • 1
    Does PocketCasts work for mp3s you downloaded from another source? So, not a podcast.
    – Derek
    Jun 22, 2018 at 19:16
  • 1
    Updated with how it handles custom_episodes, given how involved the process, it is probably worth investigating @Izzy suggestions.
    – Morrison Chang
    Jun 22, 2018 at 21:49
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    This feature seems to have been removed. Pocket Casts now offers a UI for adding custom files for a subscription.
    – mic
    Feb 12, 2020 at 20:56
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Voice (also available on F-Droid) is a free open-source audiobook player that saves your position, allows increasing the playback speed up to 2.5×, skipping silence, and skipping back or forward 20 seconds. It's quite well-designed and pleasant to use overall. You can group multiple files into a playlist to play as one audiobook.

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