Blue Wave Player - Complete User Guide

2. Core Modes & Quick Start

The entire application operates in one of three specialized modes. You can switch between modes at any time using F1 (Book Mode), F2 (Podcast Mode), and F3 (Music Mode). The player will automatically remember your position in your last-played book, podcast episode, and music track.

2.1. Book Mode & Audiobook Library

This mode is tailored for playing audiobooks from your local computer, featuring detailed listening progress, chapter and track navigation, multi-volume book management, and flexible library organization. It supports all popular audio formats including M4B, MP3, M4A, FLAC, OGG, OPUS, WAV, AAC, WMA, APE, and WavPack (WV).

1. Switching to Book Mode: Press F1 at any time to enter Book Mode. The player automatically remembers your exact position in your last-played audiobook.
2. Setting Your Main Audiobook Folder / Root Folder: Press Ctrl+D to open the "Set Root Folder" dialog and select the main folder on your computer where your audiobooks are stored. The player will automatically scan this directory, treating each sub-folder as an individual audiobook. To clear your root directory, press Ctrl+Shift+D.
3. Adding Books Manually: If your audiobooks are stored outside your main Root Folder, you have two flexible options:
   • Add Book Folder (Ctrl+A): Intended for audiobooks that are kept in their own dedicated folder. The player imports the entire folder as a single book. If the folder contains sub-folders (such as "CD 1", "CD 2", or "Part 1", "Part 2") or multiple .m4b files, the player automatically treats it as a multi-volume audiobook, tracking each volume as well as total book progress.
   • Add Book Files (Ctrl+Shift+A): Created specifically for users who keep multiple standalone audiobook files (such as .m4b or .mp3 files) together in a single shared directory (like a general Downloads or Audiobooks folder). If you added that shared folder using Ctrl+A, the player would merge all those separate books into one single multi-volume book. With Add Book Files, you can select one or multiple audio files at once using the Accessible File Explorer; Blue Wave Player adds each selected file as an independent audiobook in your library with its own playback position and settings.
4. Navigating & Refreshing Your Library: Press Ctrl+L to open the Library window, which organizes your collection into categories such as "All Books", "Started", "Not Started", and "Finished". Press Enter on a category to view the list of books inside it, and press Backspace to return to the category selection view. Navigate the book list with the arrow keys and press Enter on any desired book to open and play it. While focused on any book in a list, press F5 to rescan only that specific book, updating its track list, durations, and file signatures without rescanning the rest of your library; or press F5 in the main window to rescan all books in your library.
5. Track and Multi-Volume Navigation:
   • Track & Chapter Navigation: Press Ctrl+T to open the full track or chapter list. Select any item and press Enter to start listening immediately; pressing Enter on the track or chapter that is already playing starts it again from its beginning. For M4B audiobooks, embedded chapters are automatically recognized and navigated as individual tracks.
   • Multi-Volume Books & Progress Tracking: For audiobooks split across multiple folders or files, press Ctrl+PageDown to jump to the next volume and Ctrl+PageUp to jump to the previous volume. Press Ctrl+Shift+T to open the Folder Tree View to explore all volumes, sub-folders, and individual tracks hierarchically. Press Ctrl+Shift+Alt+G to open the "Jump in Entire Book" dialog to jump directly to any timestamp across the entire collection. The player tracks both volume-level and collection-level progress: press G, D, T, or P to hear elapsed time, remaining time, duration, or progress for the current volume; or press Shift+G, Shift+D, Shift+T, or Shift+P to hear the overall figures across all volumes combined.

2.2. Podcast Mode & Subscriptions

This mode is for discovering, subscribing to, streaming, and downloading podcasts from the internet. The interface and features shift to handle RSS feeds, episode lists, and download management.

1. Switching to Podcast Mode: Press F2 to enter Podcast Mode. The player remembers your position in your active podcast episode.
2. Searching for Podcasts: Press Ctrl+D to open the "Search Podcasts" dialog, type your search term or podcast name, and press Enter to view online search results. During longer network searches, the player periodically announces "Still searching" to keep you informed. Results are ranked by default using intelligent Best Match relevance, which effortlessly handles joined or split words, plurals, and spacing variations. Navigate to a podcast in the results list and press Enter or the Application Key to open the context menu, then select "Subscribe" to add it to your podcast subscription list. You can also open the Sort submenu in the context menu to reorder results by Best Match, Last Published Date, Episode Count, or Name, and the player automatically remembers your choice for future searches. To search through episodes of your subscribed podcasts instead, press Ctrl+O at any time.
3. Manual Subscriptions & Smart Link Resolution: Press Ctrl+A to manually add a podcast. You do not need a direct XML feed link; you can paste web links from popular platforms (such as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Castbox, or podcast websites). The player automatically detects and resolves the RSS feed, fetches full podcast details (title, author/owner, latest publish date in local time, episode count, language, and iTunes categories), and displays them. Press Tab to move to the Subscribe button and press Enter to subscribe.
4. Navigating Subscription Lists & Episode Views: Press Ctrl+L to open the podcast subscription list. Press Enter on any podcast to open its episode list, and press Backspace to return to your podcast list again. While a podcast is playing, press Ctrl+T at any time to jump directly to the episode list of that currently playing podcast.
5. Sorting Podcasts: While in your podcast subscription list, press the Application Key on a podcast to open the context menu, then select the Sort submenu. You can sort podcasts By Name (alphabetically), By Date Added (subscription order), or By Last Published Date (podcasts with fresh episodes appear first), and choose Ascending or Descending order.
6. Episode Sorting & Playback Order: By default, episodes are listed from newest to oldest. For serial or story podcasts where older episodes must be listened to first, press Ctrl+H in the episode list (or during playback) to reverse the sorting order to oldest first. Playback automatically follows this sorting order, so when an episode finishes, the next episode in the list plays next.
7. Viewing Podcast & Episode Details: To view the full description and details of a selected podcast or episode in a list, press Ctrl+D.
8. Streaming Episodes: In the episode list, press Enter to start streaming an episode instantly over the internet. You can also press Shift+Enter on a podcast in your subscription list to resume playback exactly where you left off. It opens the last episode you were listening to in that podcast and jumps to your exact playback position.
9. Episode Status & Finished Episodes Archive: Press Shift+Space on an episode to hear its playback status (Finished, Unplayed, or progress percentage if in progress). Press Ctrl+Shift+L to open the Finished Episodes list, which gathers all episodes you have marked as finished across all your subscribed podcasts into one unified list, making it easy to review completed content or replay past episodes.
10. Automatic Feed Updates & Rescan: To keep your feeds up to date effortlessly, press Ctrl+Shift+Y to configure the New Episode Check Interval (options include: Don't Check for New Episodes, When the Program Starts, Daily, or Weekly). You can also press F5 at any time in Podcast Mode to immediately check all your subscribed podcasts for fresh episodes. In addition, while a podcast is focused in your subscription list, press F5 to check only that podcast for new episodes or Ctrl+F5 to reload its entire feed.

2.3. Music Mode & Local Music Collection

This mode is for playing your local music collection. It features high-quality audio playback with support for all popular formats (MP3, FLAC, OGG, WAV, AAC, etc.), flexible navigation, a smart shuffle system, and integrated playlist and queue management.

1. Switching to Music Mode: Press F3 to enter Music Mode. The player remembers your position in your last-played music track.
2. Setting Your Music Library Folder: Press Ctrl+D to select the main folder on your computer where your music is stored. The player will automatically scan this directory and all subfolders to build your music database. To clear your music library folder, press Ctrl+Shift+D. You can also add individual music folders manually at any time by pressing Ctrl+A.
3. Navigating Your Music Collection: Press Ctrl+T to browse tracks in the current folder, and press Enter to start playback. You can also press Backspace to navigate up through folder levels. To browse all tracks across your entire library in a single comprehensive list, press Ctrl+Alt+T. To explore your collection hierarchically, press Ctrl+Shift+T to open the Folder Tree View. Press Ctrl+L to view your manual music folders list.
4. Smart Shuffle Playback: Unlike simple random playback, Music Mode features a true shuffle algorithm that guarantees every track plays once before repeating. Press S to toggle Smart Shuffle on or off. During an active shuffle session, the player tracks your session history, allowing you to press PageUp to return to previously played random tracks.
5. Editing Track Tags: Press Ctrl+D on a track to open its tags in a dialog, each in its own edit box holding the track's current value. Change any of them and press Enter or the OK button to save them to the file, or press Escape or Cancel to close without changes. To enter several artists, genres, or composers, separate them with semicolons (;). Number fields accept numbers only; leave a box empty to clear its tag. In the Comment and Lyrics boxes, press Ctrl+Enter to start a new line.
6. Editing a Folder's Tags: Press Ctrl+D on a folder in the folder list, the Folder Tree View, or the manual folders list to edit shared tags for all tracks in that folder and its subfolders (fields like Title, Track number, and Lyrics are edited separately on each track). Each tag is an editable combo box, as in Mp3tag. It starts with the shared value if all tracks match, <keep> (which leaves each track's own value untouched) if their values differ, or <blank> (which removes the tag from all tracks) if none have it. Albums that differ only by website marks are treated as the same, so "Discovery" and "Discovery (www.musicdownload.com)" both show cleanly as "Discovery". You can use the arrow keys to choose an option or type a new value, then press Enter or OK. Only the tags you change are written to the files, while all other tags stay unchanged. Saving runs in the background. If it takes more than a couple of seconds, the player announces that it is saving and lets you know when finished, reporting how many tracks failed if any could not be saved. If you close the player while tags are still being saved, a message asks whether to stop: choosing Yes finishes the current file safely to prevent file corruption and leaves remaining files with their old tags, while choosing No lets saving finish. If the sleep timer is set to close the player or shut down the computer, it automatically waits for all tracks to finish before closing or shutting down.
7. Track & Folder Information: Press Space on a track to hear its duration, or on a folder to hear the total duration of all the tracks in it and in its subfolders. Press Shift+Space on a track to hear the size of its file, or on a folder to hear how many tracks it holds, subfolders included, and then their total size. Press Ctrl+C on a track or a folder to copy its path. If working this out takes more than a couple of seconds (a very large folder or a slow drive), the player first says "Calculating" and then the result; durations it has worked out once are remembered, so asking again is instant.

2.4. Dynamic & Keyboard-First Interface

Blue Wave Player is built with a dynamic, keyboard-first design focused on speed and simplicity. Content lists switch fluidly within the main window, while settings and dialogs appear in lightweight, accessible windows that keep your place intact. This creates a fast, focused, and seamless experience for screen reader and keyboard users.

• The Escape key is your universal "back" button. It will almost always close the current list or dialog and return you to the previous screen.
• The Application Key (or standard accessibility shortcut Shift+F10) is critical across all lists and trees. It opens a context menu with actions relevant to the item you have selected.
• The Menu Bar (Alt): Press Alt to access the application's menu bar, then navigate between menus with the arrow keys. Menus are arranged logically across all modes:
  • Program Menu: The first menu on the bar allows you to switch between Book Mode, Podcast Mode, and Music Mode, or safely exit the program.
  • Mode-Specific Menus: The second menu dynamically changes depending on your active mode: a Book menu (for library management), a Podcast menu (for RSS feeds, subscriptions, and downloads), or a Music menu (for music folders, track browsing, and the playback queue).
  • Player Menu: Provides universal controls across all modes—including basic playback, seeking, volume, speed, and pitch adjustments. It also includes specific playback settings tailored to each mode, such as Smart Shuffle in Music Mode.
  • Speech Menu: Controls screen reader announcement toggles for volume, speed, pitch, seeking, and track or folder changes. It also contains the "Get information" submenu, which announces details adapted to your active mode (such as book progress in Book Mode, episode details in Podcast Mode, or track names and file paths in Music Mode).
  • Settings Menu: Provides configuration options including Interface Language, Audio Output Settings, and Proxy settings.
  • Help Menu: Provides quick access to this user guide, the project website, checking for updates and its settings, release notes, and the About program dialog.
• Accessible File Explorer: When setting your book or music library folders, adding audiobooks from folders or files, or adding manual music folders, Blue Wave Player provides a custom, built-in Accessible File Explorer designed specifically for screen readers, replacing difficult-to-navigate standard Windows file dialogs:
  • Quick Access: The root view displays your standard user folders (Desktop, Downloads, Documents, Music) and system storage drives directly in the list, navigable with arrow keys or first-letter typing.
  • Navigation: Browse folders with arrow keys, press Enter to open the selected directory, and press Backspace to move up one folder level.
  • Multi-Selection: In multi-select modes, press Space on any file or folder to toggle its selection status, which is announced by the screen reader. Press Ctrl+A to select all items or Ctrl+Shift+A to deselect all.
  • Instant Selection: Press Shift+Enter on a focused item to immediately select it and confirm without having to navigate to the confirmation button.
  • Copy Paths: Press Ctrl+C to copy the full paths of selected items directly to your clipboard.

3. Features and Windows

This section explains every major feature, window, and dialog in detail.

3.1. The Library, Podcast & Music Lists

These are the primary list views for browsing your content across all three modes—including your audiobook library, podcast subscriptions, and music collection. When navigating these lists, you can perform the following actions on any focused item:

• Context Menu: Press the Application Key on a focused item to open its context menu. The available options adapt dynamically based on your active mode and the selected item type.
• Copy Information: Press Ctrl+C on a focused item to quickly copy relevant details to your clipboard. On a podcast it copies the RSS feed URL, on an episode the audio file URL, on a music track the local file path on your computer, on a music folder the folder's path, and on a book or one of its tracks the path on your computer.
• Renaming Items: Press F2 on a focused book or podcast in its list to open a dialog to rename it. On a music track, press F2 in any list (track lists, the Folder Tree View, playlists, search results, or the Playback Queue) to rename its file on your disk directly in place: an edit box opens with the current file name without its extension; type the new name and press Enter to save, or Escape to cancel.
• Deleting & Unsubscribing: Press Shift+Delete on a manual book in your book list to remove it from your library without deleting the audio files on your disk, on a podcast in your subscription list to remove it from your subscriptions, or on a manual folder in the manual music folder list to remove it from your library.

3.2. Bookmark Manager (Book & Podcast Modes)

The Bookmark Manager is available in both Book Mode and Podcast Mode. It allows you to save your exact listening position at any point in an audiobook or podcast episode so you can return to it later.

3.2.1. Creating Bookmarks

• Quick Bookmark (M): While listening to a book or podcast, press M to instantly create a bookmark at your current playback position. This bookmark is saved without a title or note—perfect for quickly marking a spot.
• Bookmark with Note (Shift+M): To save a bookmark with a title and descriptive note, press Shift+M during playback. A dialog will open where you can enter a custom title and note. This is useful for marking notable passages, interview quotes, or topics you want to reference later.

3.2.2. Managing Bookmarks

Press Ctrl+M to open the Bookmark Manager tree-view window. The hierarchy adapts to your active mode:

• Book Mode: Displays bookmarks for the current book, organized hierarchically by volume and track.
• Podcast Mode: Displays bookmarks across your subscribed podcasts, organized hierarchically by podcast and episode.

You can navigate this tree view with arrow keys and perform the following actions:

• Jump to Bookmark: Press Enter on any bookmark to instantly jump to that position. In Podcast Mode, the player automatically loads the podcast and episode if needed.
• Hear Bookmark Note: Press Space on a selected bookmark to read its saved note aloud via your screen reader.
• Edit Bookmark: Press F2 to edit the selected bookmark's title and note.
• Delete Bookmarks: Press Delete to remove bookmarks hierarchically. If you select a specific bookmark, only that bookmark is deleted. If you select a track or episode, all bookmarks in that track or episode are deleted. If you select a book or podcast root node, all bookmarks for that entire book or podcast are deleted.
• Filtering Bookmarks: Press Ctrl+F to open the filter menu and filter the bookmark tree between all bookmarks, bookmarks with notes, or bookmarks without notes.

3.3. Category Manager & Playlists

This feature provides a personalized organization system for your audio content—managing book categories in Book Mode, podcast subscriptions and individual episode categories in Podcast Mode, and playlists in Music Mode.

Opening the Manager Windows:

• Press Ctrl+K to open the Category Manager in Book and Podcast Modes, or the Playlist Manager in Music Mode.
• Press Ctrl+Shift+K in Podcast Mode to open the Episode Category Manager, which allows grouping individual episodes across different podcasts into custom playlists (such as favorites, interviews, or specific topics).

Actions Inside the Manager Window: Once inside any manager window, use these standard shortcuts to manage your collections:

• Press Ctrl+N to create a new category or playlist.
• Press F2 to rename the selected category or playlist.
• Press Delete to delete the selected category or playlist.
• Press Enter to open the selected category or playlist and view its items.
• Press Alt+Up Arrow or Alt+Down Arrow on an item inside an open music playlist or episode category to move it up or down and change the playback order.
• Press Delete on an item inside an open category or playlist to remove it from that group. This will not delete the local file or unregister your subscription.
• Press Ctrl+E while viewing an open category or playlist to manage items in bulk. In Book Mode and for podcast subscription categories, this displays a flat checklist of your books or podcasts. In Music Mode playlists and in Episode Categories, it opens an accessible hierarchical tree view to browse directory folders and tracks in Music Mode or podcasts and episodes in Podcast Mode. In these tree views, pressing Space on a parent node, such as a music folder or a podcast, checks or unchecks all items inside it at once, while individual tracks or episodes can be expanded and toggled individually. Press Enter to save changes.
• Press Enter on an item inside an open category or playlist to start sequential playback. While playing from a music playlist or an episode category, press PageDown or PageUp to navigate to the next or previous item, and press Home or End in the main window to jump directly to the first or last item. When an item finishes, playback seamlessly continues to the next item in that collection.

Adding & Managing Item Assignments:

• Checklist Dialog: Press Ctrl+A on any focused book, podcast, episode, or music track to open a Checklist dialog of available categories or playlists. Checked items indicate active assignments—toggle items with Space, then press Enter or select the Save button to save.
• Quick Popup Menu: Press Ctrl+~ (Grave Accent) on a selected item to open a quick popup menu listing your categories or playlists. Selecting any entry instantly toggles its assignment on or off. In the main window, Ctrl+~ applies to the currently playing book, episode, or track.
• Folder-Level Playlist Assignment (Music Mode): In the folder view or folder tree view, open the context menu on any music folder and select the Playlists submenu to check or uncheck playlists in bulk. You can also press Ctrl+0 through Ctrl+9 directly on a folder to toggle all tracks inside that folder into that numbered playlist.

Quick-Access Shortcuts (Ctrl+0 to Ctrl+9):

You can assign numbers Ctrl+0 through Ctrl+9 to up to 10 categories or playlists in each mode. Book Mode, Music Mode, and Podcast Mode each have their own independent set of shortcuts. In Podcast Mode, these 10 shortcuts are shared between podcast categories and episode categories to prevent overlap. To assign a shortcut, select an item in any Manager window and press the desired number. Once assigned, these shortcuts work throughout the player:

• Open Collection: In the main window, press the assigned shortcut to open that category or playlist directly.
• Toggle Items: On any focused book, podcast, episode, track, or music folder in a list, press the shortcut to instantly add or remove it from that collection.
• Clear Shortcut: In any Manager window, select a category or playlist and press Ctrl+- to remove its assignment.

3.4. Playback Queue (Music Mode)

The Playback Queue allows you to control exactly which tracks will play next, independent of your active folder structure or shuffle mode.

• Adding/Removing Tracks & Managing Queue: Pressing Ctrl+Q on a focused music track in a list instantly adds it to or removes it from the playback queue. Pressing Ctrl+Q in the main window opens the Playback Queue manager window to view and manage all queued tracks.
• Enabling/Disabling the Queue: Press Ctrl+Alt+Q to toggle the Playback Queue on or off. Disabling the queue does not remove your queued tracks; they remain safely in place. As soon as the queue is turned on, the first queued track plays next after the current song finishes. The queue and its state are permanently saved, so they are remembered even when you close and reopen the application.
• Clearing the Queue: Press Ctrl+Shift+Q to clear all tracks from the Playback Queue.
• Removing Tracks: Pressing Delete on a track inside the Queue Manager removes it from the playback queue.
• Reordering Tracks: In the Queue Manager, select a track and press Alt+Up Arrow to move it up, or Alt+Down Arrow to move it down. Playback automatically follows this order.
• Auto-Play Integration: You can control playback continuation when the queue finishes by configuring Auto-Play (Ctrl+N). Setting Auto-Play to Only for Playback Queue ensures that the player automatically plays through all queued tracks in order and then stops playback as soon as the queue is empty, preventing unwanted tracks from playing afterward.

3.5. Download Manager & Offline Listening (Podcast Mode)

Blue Wave Player provides a complete system for downloading podcast episodes for offline listening, managing download queues, and organizing saved audio files. All downloaded episodes are stored in a downloads folder inside the application directory, neatly organized into dedicated folders for each podcast. You can quickly access this folder at any time by pressing Ctrl+Alt+J.

• Downloading Individual Episodes: In any episode list or search results, press Ctrl+S on an episode to start downloading it. Pressing Ctrl+S again cancels an ongoing download, or, after confirmation, deletes an already downloaded episode. Press Space on any episode to announce its current download status (Downloaded, Downloading with progress percentage, Queued, or Not Downloaded). When an episode is downloaded, press Shift+Enter to play the local file directly, or press Ctrl+F to reveal its file in File Explorer.
• Downloading All Episodes of a Podcast: In your podcast subscription list, press Ctrl+S on a focused podcast or choose "Download all episodes" from its context menu to queue every episode that is not yet downloaded, oldest first. The player asks for confirmation and announces how many episodes will be downloaded. While any episode of that podcast is queued or actively downloading, pressing Ctrl+S again cancels all of that podcast's downloads after confirmation; episodes that have already finished downloading are safely kept. Episodes download one at a time, appearing in the podcast's folder only after completion. If available disk space falls below approximately 500 MB, downloading automatically pauses and the player notifies you; the remaining queue resumes when you add another download or restart the application.
• Active & Queued Downloads: Press Ctrl+J to open the Download Manager window displaying all downloads currently in progress or waiting in queue. The status column updates in real time from "Queued" to "Downloading [progress]%". While in this window, press Space to announce the status of the selected download, Ctrl+S to cancel it, or Ctrl+Shift+S to cancel all active and queued downloads at once after confirmation. Use Alt+Up Arrow or Alt+Down Arrow to reorder items and adjust their priority in the download queue.
• Downloaded Episodes Library: Press Ctrl+Shift+J to open a dedicated library of all completed downloads, organized by podcast. Press Enter to play an episode locally, Delete to remove its file from disk, Ctrl+D to view its full description, Ctrl+C to copy its stream link, or Ctrl+F to reveal the file in File Explorer.

3.6. Search System

Blue Wave Player features a fast, integrated search engine accessible from anywhere in the application by pressing Ctrl+O. The search interface adapts dynamically to your active mode, allowing you to instantly locate audiobooks, podcast episodes, or music tracks without manually browsing through folders or lists:

• Book Mode: Pressing Ctrl+O opens a search dialog to quickly find any audiobook in your library by title. Search results display matching books alongside their listening progress and total duration.
• Podcast Mode: Pressing Ctrl+O opens an advanced episode search dialog across your subscribed podcasts. You can type your search term, press Tab to choose the search scope from a combo box to search across All Podcasts or restrict the search to a specific podcast, and press Tab again to reach the checkbox to optionally search inside full episode descriptions as well as titles. Results are displayed sorted by release date with newest episodes first. To search the online directory for brand new podcasts to subscribe to, press Ctrl+D from the main window instead.
• Music Mode: Pressing Ctrl+O opens the track search dialog. The search engine features intelligent multi-word search, matching tracks that contain all your search terms separated by spaces. You can also enable the Search in folder paths checkbox to match folder names as well as file names, or enable Show file path to display directory paths in the results. Results are sorted alphabetically by track name.

Search Results Navigation & Actions:

• Instant Playback: Press Enter on any matching item in the results list to start playing it immediately.
• Refine Search: If you want to modify or refine your search query, press Backspace while in the results list to return directly to the search input dialog.
• Close Search: Press Escape at any time to dismiss the results list and return to the main window.
• Item Management: All standard list actions remain fully functional directly within search results using their respective shortcut keys or the context menu (Application Key). For example, you can queue songs in the playback queue, assign items to categories or playlists, download episodes, check download or playback status, view full episode descriptions, copy stream links or file paths, and rename books or music tracks.

3.7. Sleep Timer

Press Ctrl+S to open the Sleep Timer dialog. This is a highly configurable tool for listening before you go to sleep, with settings saved separately for each mode. The dialog allows you to choose an activation mode, a trigger, and an action:

• Activation Mode: Choose One-time where the timer runs once, Always enabled where the timer remains active and automatically resets after each action, or Disabled.
• Triggers: You can set the timer to activate after the current track or episode finishes, after a specific number of minutes, or at a precise time of day (e.g., 23:30).
• Actions: When triggered, you can make the player simply pause playback, close the application entirely, or shut down your computer, with an option to force the shutdown. You can also enable a "fade out" so the volume gently decreases before the action occurs, and choose how many seconds before the action the fade starts.

3.8. Rewind After Pause

Press Ctrl+R to open the Rewind After Pause settings dialog. This is a quality-of-life feature to help you re-orient yourself after an interruption: the longer playback stays paused, the further back the playback position moves, so you hear the last part again when you resume. The dialog has these settings, saved separately for each mode:

• Enable rewind after pause: Turns the feature on or off.
• Start rewind after (seconds): How long playback must stay paused before rewinding begins.
• Rewind amount (seconds): The maximum total amount to rewind.
• Rewind duration (seconds): Over how many seconds of pause the rewind amount is gradually applied.

For example, with a start of 10, an amount of 30, and a duration of 60, rewinding begins after 10 seconds of pause and moves back half a second for every second of pause, up to 30 seconds in total.

3.9. Equalizer Settings

Press Ctrl+I when an audiobook, podcast, or music library is open to display the Equalizer Settings dialog. This dialog allows you to fine-tune sound output and audio balance. All equalizer adjustments and balance settings are remembered separately for each book, each podcast, and your music library:

• Equalizer Presets: Choose from built-in sound profiles tailored to your current mode, with voice-optimized profiles for spoken content in Book and Podcast Modes and diverse musical profiles in Music Mode.
• 5-Band Equalizer: When selecting Custom or a user-created preset, five frequency sliders appear (SubBass, Bass, Midrange, Presence, Treble) adjustable from -15 to +15 dB. Adjustments apply to the sound immediately in real time.
• Custom Presets: You can save your customized equalizer band adjustments as new named presets, or update, rename, and delete existing user presets.
• Pan & Mono: Adjust the left and right stereo balance with the Panning slider, or check Mono to combine both audio channels. A Reset button restores all equalizer bands and audio balance to default values.

3.10. Loudness Normalization

Audio files often vary greatly in volume: older recordings and quiet voice tracks are often recorded much lower than modern masters, and audiobook files or podcast episodes rarely share the same loudness. Loudness normalization automatically brings every file to a consistent perceived loudness (measured in LUFS, the international broadcast and streaming standard), eliminating the need to constantly reach for the volume controls when switching between different tracks, episodes, or books.

Unlike basic volume compression that squashes dynamic range, Blue Wave Player applies one fixed gain adjustment per file, preserving the natural loud and quiet passages of the performance (whispers remain soft and dramatic moments remain loud). Nothing needs to be scanned or analyzed in advance: when a file is played for the first time, its loudness is quickly estimated from brief samples across the file in a fraction of a second, and its true loudness is measured continuously from the audio as it plays. The measured result is remembered in a small local cache (only a few bytes per file), so subsequent playback starts instantly at the exact target level.

Normalization settings and targets are configured and saved separately for Book Mode, Podcast Mode, and Music Mode.

Press Shift+B to toggle normalization on or off for the active mode, and press Ctrl+Shift+B to open the Normalization Settings dialog. This dialog provides the following eight configuration options:

• Target Loudness: Selects the overall listening level in LUFS. The built-in presets are tailored for different listening environments:
  • Broadcast, most dynamic (-23 LUFS): Conforms to broadcast standards (EBU R128), leaving wide dynamic range for classical music or cinematic audio.
  • Quiet, dynamic (-18 LUFS): Very dynamic with gentle leveling.
  • Moderate (-16 LUFS): The default target for Book and Podcast modes, matching standard spoken-word and podcast platform recommendations.
  • Standard (-14 LUFS): The default target for Music mode, matching the standard used by modern streaming services (such as Spotify and YouTube Music).
  • Loud (-11 LUFS): A louder target suited for modern pop and rock masters.
  • Custom: Allows choosing an arbitrary target level using the numeric control below.
• Custom Target Loudness (LUFS): Visible when Custom is selected in the Target Loudness list. Allows you to set any target value from -30.0 to -6.0 LUFS in steps of 0.5 LUFS.
• Maximum Boost for Quiet Files: Sets the maximum gain in decibels (from 0 to 24 dB, with a default of 12 dB) that can be applied to raise quiet files. This prevents ancient, noisy recordings from having background tape hiss or hum amplified excessively. Setting this to 0 dB ensures the player only ever lowers loud files and never boosts quiet ones, meaning the audio signal will never risk clipping and the limiter has no work to do.
• Dynamic Leveler: Off by default, with selectable strengths: Off, Light, Medium, or Strong. While normal normalization applies a single fixed gain across the entire file, the dynamic leveler actively evens out loud and quiet passages within a file in real time. This is especially helpful for dramatized audiobooks with quiet dialogue and loud sound effects, interview podcasts with a soft-spoken guest, or live internet streams. The leveler holds still during pauses so ambient background silence is not pulled up.
• Correct the Level While a File Plays for the First Time: Enabled by default. When an unanalyzed file is played for the first time, playback begins using the quick initial estimate (or without an estimate for live internet streams). As the track plays and more audio is measured, this setting gently refines the gain in real time (at about 1 dB per second) to reach the true loudness. If turned off, the volume level never shifts while you listen, and the full measurement is saved to apply automatically from the next play onward.
• Make Room for Equalizer Boosts: Enabled by default. When equalizer bands are raised above 0 dB in Equalizer Settings, this setting automatically attenuates the overall signal by half of the strongest equalizer boost before it reaches the limiter. This creates headroom so that boosted frequencies do not distort or heavily trigger the limiter.
• Limiter Ceiling (dBFS): Configurable from -6.0 to 0.0 dBFS (default is -1.0 dBFS). A look-ahead peak limiter sits at the end of the audio processing chain. When quiet files are significantly amplified, or when Volume Boost and equalizer boosts are active, audio peaks could exceed digital full scale (0 dBFS) and cause clipping distortion. The limiter transparently catches these peaks inaudibly. This setting defines the highest peak level the limiter allows through.
• Current File & Forget All Measurements: Shows what is known about the current file when opening the dialog: its loudness in LUFS, whether it is estimated or fully measured, and the applied gain (for example: -7.3 LUFS (estimated), gain -6.7 dB). Loudness normalization must be turned on to apply and display the active gain (when off, the gain is 0.0 dB), and a file must be loaded (otherwise it shows Not known yet). The Forget All Measurements button clears all remembered loudness data from the player's local cache, allowing tracks to be re-estimated and re-measured from scratch.

3.11. Silence Detection, Podcast & Music Playback Settings

Press Ctrl+Y to manage playback transitions, track mixing styles, and silence handling. Because each mode has unique playback requirements, the behavior of Ctrl+Y adapts dynamically depending on your active mode:

3.11.1. Book Silence Detection

Pressing Ctrl+Y instantly toggles automatic Silence Detection on or off. When enabled, the player automatically detects and skips the silence at the beginning and end of each audio file, so moving from one file to the next feels seamless.

3.11.2. Podcast Playback Settings

Pressing Ctrl+Y opens the Podcast Playback Settings dialog, allowing you to configure episode playback start behavior and the handling of finished episodes:

• Episode playback start behavior: Choose whether to Resume from last playback position or Always start from the beginning. Tip: Whichever default you choose, pressing Ctrl+Enter on any episode in an episode list, category, or search results plays that episode using the inverted behavior—instantly starting from the beginning or resuming from your last position without changing your global settings.
• When replaying a finished episode: Choose whether to Keep marked as finished or Mark as unfinished. You can also manually toggle an episode's finished status at any time by pressing Ctrl+Shift+H in the episode list, category, search results, or during playback in the main window.

3.11.3. Music Playback Settings

Pressing Ctrl+Y opens the Music Playback Settings dialog, providing an advanced audio mixing engine for your music collection. Its settings are arranged across two tabs: Automatic Transitions and Manual Track Change. When the dialog opens, focus is placed directly on the tab bar: use the Left and Right arrow keys to switch between tabs, and press Tab to enter the controls inside the selected tab (you can also press Ctrl+Tab or Ctrl+Shift+Tab at any time to move between tabs). The settings include:

• Transition Mode: Choose how consecutive songs blend into each other:
  1. Smart Radio: An intelligent, broadcast-grade mixing engine. It analyzes how the outgoing track ends and how the next track begins. Every song is measured on its own: where its music really stops (the bass, drums and voices, not the hiss or reverb after them), how it got there (an abrupt stop, a held note, a long fade) and how long a reverb or noise tail rings on after it. If a track ends on an abrupt beat or chord ("Cold End"), it can transition immediately to the next track. If it has a sustained melody, a gentle fade or a ringing tail, the next song arrives around the moment the music stops and the tail fades out under it instead of being cut off. Only what can no longer be heard next to the song (or a steady noise floor at the very edge of the file) is trimmed; quiet lead-ins and tails are kept and faded.
  2. Classic Crossfade: A traditional fixed-duration blend where both tracks play simultaneously for a set number of seconds before the previous track fades out completely.
  3. Off: Disables crossfading; tracks play one after another.
• Mixing Preset: Available when Smart Radio mode is selected. This chooses the character of the smart transitions:
  1. Standard (balanced Smart Radio): Adapts to every song: the overlap follows how the song ends (up to 3.5 seconds), a song that ends abruptly gets a short one-second blend, and a next song that opens with vocals comes in late so its first words stay clear.
  2. Full Blend (classic 3-second crossfade, always fades in): Every transition is exactly 3 seconds and the next song always rises smoothly from silence, whatever the ending or intro, abrupt endings included.
  3. Quick Blend (brisk 1.5-second crossfade): Like Full Blend but shorter: every transition is exactly 1.5 seconds and always fades in.
  4. Gentle Flow (long, dreamy fades): Every transition is a soft 6-second blend with gentle S-curves. Suited to acoustic, classical, ambient and relaxed listening.
  5. Energetic Radio (fast and punchy): Short adaptive transitions (up to 2.5 seconds); a song that ends abruptly cuts straight to the next one on its last beat. Ideal for pop and broadcast-style playlists.
  6. Club / DJ Continuous (long overlaps): Every transition is a long 8-second blend, so the music never stops, like a continuous dance mix.
  7. Slam Cut (quick drop on the cue): A quick transition without fade: the outgoing song drops quickly where its music stops while the next one comes in at full level almost at once; abrupt endings cut straight through.
  8. Gap Close (removes gaps, minimal overlap): Removes the gaps between songs with only a very short overlap, for back-to-back playback without blending (a tail still fades out over about 1.5 seconds instead of cutting off abruptly).
  9. Custom: Shows the individual settings below. When you switch to Custom, they start from the preset that was selected before.
• Smart Radio parameters: Available when Smart Radio mode is selected, located directly under the Mixing Preset. Every parameter is always shown with the values of the selected preset, so you can see what each preset does. Changing a parameter of a built-in preset turns it into Custom, starting from that preset's values; choosing a preset again shows its own values.
  • Your own presets: Save as Preset, shown for Custom, keeps the current parameters as a preset of your own under a name you choose; it appears in the Mixing Preset list after the built-in presets. When one of your presets is selected, Rename and Delete are available; after you change its parameters, Save stores the changes in it and Save as New Preset keeps them as another preset. The built-in presets cannot be changed, renamed or deleted. If you press OK with unsaved changes to one of your presets, they are used as Custom and the preset stays as it was saved.
  • Maximum Overlap: The longest time both songs may play together (0.5 to 10 seconds). A reverb or noise tail after the music fades out within this time (never faster than 1.5 seconds).
  • Always Use the Full Overlap: Every transition lasts exactly the Maximum Overlap, whatever kind of ending the song has. This creates a classic fixed-length crossfade. When off, the overlap adapts to how each song ends.
  • When a Track Ends Abruptly: For songs that end abruptly on their last beat: cut straight to the next song on that beat, blend for about one second, or use the normal overlap like any other ending.
  • Start Blending When a Fade-Out Has Dropped By: For songs that fade out on their own, the next song starts once the music has become this many decibels quieter than its normal level in that song. A smaller number starts the blend earlier.
  • Reverb and Noise Tails After the Music Stops: What happens to the sound that rings on after the music of a song has stopped (reverb, cymbal wash, noise). Fade Out Under the Next Track (the default, used by every preset) keeps it and fades it out while the next song comes in. Cut Right After the Music Stops drops it a quarter of a second after the last note, and the blend happens before the music stops instead.
  • Adapt to How the Next Track Starts: When the next song starts at full level right away (for example with vocals on the very first beat), the previous song fades through the whole overlap and the new one enters in its last second with a short fade, so its first words are not buried under the outro; a quiet intro is not faded further. When this is off, the next song always rises from silence across the whole overlap.
  • Maximum Fade-In of the Next Track: Limits how long the next song takes to reach full level (0 = across the whole overlap). A very small value makes the next song enter at once, as in Slam Cut.
  • Fade-Out Curve / Fade-In Curve: The shape of the fades. Equal Power keeps the combined loudness steady; Linear is a straight ramp with a slight dip in the middle; Logarithmic changes by the same number of decibels each second, which sounds evenly paced; S-Curve starts and ends gently.
• Crossfade Duration and Crossfade Curve: Available when Classic Crossfade is selected. Sets the overlap length between songs, from 0.5 to 10 seconds in half-second steps, along with the shape of the fade. The duration is in real seconds, even when the playback speed is changed.
• Play Consecutive Tracks of the Same Album Gaplessly: When the next song is the following track of the same album (same album tag, same folder and the next track number), it plays straight after the current one with no crossfade and nothing trimmed. This keeps live albums, DJ mixes and albums whose songs flow into each other intact. Other transitions still use the selected mode.
• Enable Silence Detection: Available in Classic Crossfade and Off modes. Trims dead silence from the beginning (Cue-In) and ending (Cue-Out) of tracks, so they start promptly while initial note attacks and natural reverb decay are kept. In Classic Crossfade mode the crossfade then starts where the music of a song stops, so a long tail fades out during the crossfade instead of being played out before it.
• Manual Track Switch: These settings cover every track change you make: next, previous, choosing a track from a list, and Backspace if you set it up below. They are separate from the automatic transitions above, so they work the same in Smart Radio, Classic Crossfade and Off; the change at the end of a song is never affected.
  • Manual Switch Style: Crossfade fades the current song out while the next one fades in. Next Track First lets the next song rise before the current one starts to fade, so the current song lasts a little longer and there is never a dip. Quick Cut drops the current song within a quarter of a second and starts the next one at full level. Instant stops the current song and starts the next one at once, with no blending. Blending is only used while music is playing; when playback is paused or stopped, the next song simply starts.
  • Manual Switch Fade Length: Shown for Crossfade and Next Track First. Sets how long the blend lasts, from 0.2 to 5 seconds.
  • Adapt the Fade-In to How the Next Track Starts: Shown for Crossfade and Next Track First, and off by default. The next song's fade-in follows how it opens, as in the automatic Smart Radio transitions: a song that starts at full level, often with vocals on the very first beat, comes in almost at once so its first words are not lost, and a song with a quiet intro is not faded further. When off, the next song always fades in over the whole fade length.
  • On a Manual Switch, Start the Next Track: Where Its Music Begins (the default) skips what would sound empty: silence, noise or hiss before the music, and the part of a slow fade-in that is still too quiet to hear, measured against each song's own opening. At Its First Sound only skips real silence. From the Very Beginning of the File skips nothing.
  • When Pressing the Backspace Key: Go to the Beginning of the Track jumps to 0:00, as in the other modes. Start the Track Based on the Manual Switch Settings starts the song over with the settings above: from the start point you chose, blended in the chosen style while music is playing. When playback is paused it only moves to that point.

3.12. Proxy Settings

If you are on a restricted network or need to route your traffic through a proxy server, you can configure this globally for the entire application. Press Ctrl+P to open the Proxy Settings dialog.

• Proxy Mode: You can set the mode to Disabled, use System default proxy settings, or configure a Manual proxy.
• Proxy Type: For manual configuration, you can choose between standard HTTP proxy or SOCKS5.
• Authentication: You can provide a Host, Port, Username, and Password if your proxy requires authentication.

These settings apply to all network requests in Blue Wave Player, including podcast searches, RSS feed updates, and episode streaming/downloading.

3.13. Audio Output Settings

Pressing Ctrl+U (or selecting Settings > Audio Output Settings from the menu bar) opens the Audio Output Settings dialog. This dialog allows you to choose your main audio output device, configure an optional second audio output for simultaneous playback, and align the two devices to eliminate delay:

• Main Audio Output: Displays a list of all sound devices connected to your computer (such as speakers, USB headsets, or virtual sound cards). This allows you to instantly switch audio output without changing your system's default device.

  Important: The selected output device is saved separately for each book, each podcast, and your music library, so different content can play through different devices automatically.

• Second Audio Output: Plays the same audio at the same time on a second sound device, for example speakers and headphones together, or a Bluetooth speaker in another room. The default is disabled.

  Everything you hear is sent to both devices in step: books, podcasts, and music, including crossfades between songs, crossfading seeks, pause and resume fades, the equalizer, mono, balance, loudness normalization, and volume. The player keeps the two devices together on its own (after a seek, or when the two sound cards' clocks drift apart over a long listening session). Like the main output device, the second output is saved separately for each book, each podcast, and your music library.

  The main output device cannot be the second one as well: choosing the same device for both in the Audio Output Settings dialog turns the second output disabled, and if the main device is later changed to the second one, the second output simply pauses until they differ again.

• Lining the Two Devices Up (Second Output Delay): Some devices add a delay of their own after the sound leaves the player, most often Bluetooth headphones and speakers (usually between 100 and 300 milliseconds), so they sound a little later than wired speakers, like an echo when both are in the same room.

  The player cannot measure this delay, so the Audio Output Settings dialog has a second output delay box, in milliseconds, to line them up by ear:

  • Positive value: Makes the second device play later (use it when the second device is the faster one).
  • Negative value: Makes the main device play later instead (use it when the second device is the Bluetooth one). For example, with wired speakers as the main device and Bluetooth headphones as the second one, start at about -200 and adjust in steps of 10 until the echo disappears.
  • 0 (default): Plays both devices at the same moment.

  The delay is saved together with the second device, for each book, each podcast, and your music library, and it stays the same after seeking, pausing, and changing tracks.

3.14. Other Settings

• Volume Step Size ( Ctrl+Shift+V ): Opens a dialog that lets you define how much the volume changes each time you press the Up or Down arrow. Set a smaller number for fine control, or a larger number for big changes.
• Speed Step Size ( Ctrl+Shift+X ): Opens a dialog to define how much the playback speed changes each time you press C or X. Pressing Z resets the speed to normal (1). For example, you can set it to 0.05x for very fine speed adjustments.
• Pitch Step Size ( Ctrl+Shift+C ): Opens a dialog to define how much the audio pitch changes each time you press H (raise pitch) or J (lower pitch). Pressing K resets the pitch to normal (0). Pitch shifting adjusts the high or low tone of the voice or music without affecting playback speed, allowing you to tailor narrator voice pitch to your personal listening preference.
• Interface Language ( Ctrl+Alt+U ): Opens a dialog with a list of all available interface languages. Selecting a language and confirming immediately updates the player interface and saves your preference.
• Pause and Seek Fades ( Ctrl+Shift+I ): Instead of stopping or jumping abruptly, playback can fade out and back in, which avoids clicks and makes pausing and seeking sound smooth. Book, Podcast and Music modes each keep their own settings, and all fades are off until you turn them on:
  • Fade on Pause and Resume: Pausing fades the sound out over the Pause Fade-Out time before playback stops, and resuming fades it back in over the Resume Fade-In time (in milliseconds). Pressing pause again while it is still fading out simply fades back in.
  • Fade on Seek: Choose a seek fade style. Seeking while paused is always immediate. All times can be set up to 5 seconds.
    • Crossfade (Old and New Position Overlap): The old position keeps playing and fades out while the new position fades in, with no silence in between. The fade-out time of the old position and the fade-in time of the new position are set separately (in milliseconds). When you seek repeatedly (for example by holding an arrow key), the sound does not cut out; it dips by the Volume Dip While Seeking Repeatedly amount, each jump blends quickly into the next, and full volume returns smoothly once you stop. For this, the player keeps a second, paused copy of the current file open while the option is on; it is closed when you turn the option off. Seeking while a song is still fading in (at the start of a music transition or a manual track switch) also crossfades: the new position picks up the level the song had reached and finishes rising from there, while the previous song keeps fading out undisturbed. Internet streams cannot crossfade, so they use the style below.
    • Fade Out, Jump, Fade In: The sound fades out over the Seek Fade-Out time, jumps, then fades back in over the Seek Fade-In time. When you seek several times in quick succession, the sound stays faded out and only fades back in once you stop.
• Auto-Play Next Track / Episode ( Ctrl+N ): Controls whether playback automatically advances to the next track or episode when the current one finishes:
  • Book & Podcast Modes: Pressing Ctrl+N instantly toggles automatic playback on or off.
  • Music Mode: Pressing Ctrl+N opens the Music Auto-Play Settings dialog with three selectable modes:
    1. Enabled: Plays queued tracks first, then automatically continues with consecutive tracks in your active folder, playlist, or shuffle order.
    2. Only for Playback Queue: Automatically plays consecutive tracks only while there are items in your Playback Queue. Once the queue is exhausted or if the queue is empty, playback stops automatically.
    3. Disabled: Automatically stops playback after each track ends, even if tracks are queued.

4. Keyboard Shortcuts

The tables below list all keyboard shortcuts available in Blue Wave Player. Playback and announcement shortcuts work from the main window once a book, episode, or track is loaded.

4.1. Playback Controls

These shortcuts control playback, navigation within tracks, volume, and speed across all three modes.

Playback Controls

Shortcut	Action	Mode
Space, MediaPlayPause	Main window: Toggles playback (play/pause). Track and chapter lists (Book, Music, Search, Tree View): Announces track duration without playing. On a music folder: Announces the total duration of its tracks, subfolders included. Episode lists and Download Manager: Announces download status. Bookmark Manager: Reads saved note. File explorer & checklists: Toggles selection or check state.	All Modes
Right Arrow	Seeks forward by 5 seconds.	All Modes
Left Arrow	Seeks backward by 5 seconds.	All Modes
Ctrl+Right Arrow	Seeks forward by 30 seconds.	All Modes
Ctrl+Left Arrow	Seeks backward by 30 seconds.	All Modes
Shift+Right Arrow	Seeks forward by 1 minute.	All Modes
Shift+Left Arrow	Seeks backward by 1 minute.	All Modes
Ctrl+Alt+Right Arrow	Seeks forward by 5 minutes.	All Modes
Ctrl+Alt+Left Arrow	Seeks backward by 5 minutes.	All Modes
Backspace	During playback: Seeks to the beginning of the book track or episode; in Music Mode it can instead start the track based on the manual switch settings. In navigation: Moves up one level (parent folder, category/podcast list, or returns to search input).	All Modes
Ctrl+Backspace	Seeks to the middle (50%) of the current track or episode.	All Modes
Shift+Backspace	Seeks near the end (30 seconds before the end) of the current track or episode.	All Modes
Up Arrow	Increases playback volume based on the volume step size.	All Modes
Down Arrow	Decreases playback volume based on the volume step size.	All Modes
B	Toggles Volume Boost beyond 100%.	All Modes
Shift+B	Turns loudness normalization on or off.	All Modes
Ctrl+Shift+B	Opens the Loudness Normalization settings.	All Modes
C	Increases playback speed based on the speed step size.	All Modes
X	Decreases playback speed based on the speed step size.	All Modes
Z	Resets playback speed to normal (1).	All Modes
H	Increases audio pitch based on the pitch step size.	All Modes
J	Decreases audio pitch based on the pitch step size.	All Modes
K	Resets audio pitch to normal (0).	All Modes
[	Sets point A for AB repeat loop.	All Modes
]	Sets point B and starts repeating the loop.	All Modes
\	Clears active AB repeat loop.	All Modes
L	Toggles Repeat mode for the current track or episode.	All Modes
PageDown, MediaNextTrack	Jumps to next track, chapter, or episode.	All Modes
PageUp, MediaPreviousTrack	Jumps to previous track, chapter, or episode.	All Modes
Home	Jumps to the first track of the current book volume (or of a single-volume book), the first episode of the podcast or episode category, or the first track of the current music folder or playlist. In Music Mode, unavailable while Smart Shuffle is on or while tracks are waiting in an enabled Playback Queue.	All Modes
End	Jumps to the last track of the current book volume (or of a single-volume book), the last episode of the podcast or episode category, or the last track of the current music folder or playlist. In Music Mode, unavailable while Smart Shuffle is on or while tracks are waiting in an enabled Playback Queue.	All Modes
Ctrl+Home	Jumps to the first track of the entire multi-volume book, or the first track of the music library. In Music Mode, unavailable while Smart Shuffle is on or while tracks are waiting in an enabled Playback Queue.	Book / Music
Ctrl+End	Jumps to the last track of the entire multi-volume book, or the last track of the music library. In Music Mode, unavailable while Smart Shuffle is on or while tracks are waiting in an enabled Playback Queue.	Book / Music
Ctrl+PageUp	Jumps to the previous book volume or the previous music folder. In Music Mode, unavailable while Smart Shuffle is on or while tracks are waiting in an enabled Playback Queue.	Book / Music
Ctrl+PageDown	Jumps to the next book volume or the next music folder. In Music Mode, unavailable while Smart Shuffle is on or while tracks are waiting in an enabled Playback Queue.	Book / Music
S	Toggles Smart Shuffle playback.	Music Mode

4.2. Information Announcements

These shortcuts announce playback progress, time information, and track details via speech without interrupting playback.

Information Announcements

Shortcut	Action	Mode
F	Announces total duration of the current track or episode.	All Modes
R	Announces elapsed time in the current track or episode.	All Modes
E	Announces remaining time in the current track or episode.	All Modes
P	Announces percentage progress through the current book (or the current volume of a multi-volume book), or through the current episode.	Book / Podcast
G	Announces elapsed time in the current book (or the current volume of a multi-volume book).	Book Mode
Shift+G	Announces total elapsed time across all volumes in a multi-volume book collection.	Book Mode
T	Announces total duration of the current book (or the current volume of a multi-volume book).	Book Mode
Shift+T	Announces total duration across all volumes in a multi-volume book collection.	Book Mode
D	Announces remaining time in the current book (or the current volume of a multi-volume book).	Book Mode
Shift+D	Announces total remaining time across all volumes in a multi-volume book collection.	Book Mode
Shift+P	Announces total percentage progress across all volumes in a multi-volume book collection.	Book Mode
N	Announces current track/episode title (Book / Podcast) or next upcoming track title (Music Mode).	All Modes
Shift+N	Announces current volume name, or book name for single-volume books (Book), podcast title (Podcast), or relative folder path of the next upcoming track (Music).	All Modes
Shift+Space	On a podcast episode in list or search: Announces playback status (Finished, Unplayed, or progress percentage). On a music track: Announces its file size. On a music folder: Announces how many tracks it holds, subfolders included, and their size. On a book: Announces the size of its audio files. On a book's track: Announces its size.	All Modes

4.3. Application & List Navigation

These shortcuts are used for navigating lists, opening views and dialogs, and managing items.

Application & List Navigation

Shortcut	Action	Mode
F1	Switches to Book Mode.	All Modes
Ctrl+F1	Opens this user guide.	All Modes
F2	Switches to Podcast Mode (when not on a list item). On a focused item: Renames selected book, podcast, category, or playlist, edits bookmark title and note, or renames a music track's file in place.	All Modes
F3	Switches to Music Mode.	All Modes
Escape	Closes current view, dialog, or search results, and returns to main window.	All Modes
F5	Book Mode: On a focused book, rescans that book; in the main window, rescans all books. Podcast Mode: On a focused podcast, checks that podcast for new episodes; in the main window, checks all podcasts for new episodes.	Book / Podcast
Ctrl+F5	On a focused podcast: Reloads its entire feed.	Podcast Mode
Ctrl+L	Opens Book Library (Book Mode), Podcast Subscriptions (Podcast Mode), or Manual Music Folders list (Music Mode).	All Modes
Ctrl+Shift+L	Opens All Books list (Book Mode) / Opens Finished Episodes list (Podcast Mode).	Book / Podcast
Ctrl+Alt+L	Opens Started Books list.	Book Mode
Ctrl+Alt+Shift+L	Opens Finished Books list.	Book Mode
Alt+Shift+L	Opens Not Started Books list.	Book Mode
Ctrl+T	Opens track (or chapter) list for current book, episode list for current podcast, or the Music Library Explorer focused on the current track for browsing folders and tracks.	All Modes
Ctrl+Alt+T	Opens a comprehensive list of all music tracks across the entire library.	Music Mode
Ctrl+Shift+T	Opens hierarchical Folder Tree View of volumes/parts (Book Mode) or entire collection (Music Mode).	Book / Music
Ctrl+D	Sets root folder (Book Mode), sets music library folder (Music Mode), or searches podcasts online / shows podcast or episode description (Podcast Mode). On a music track in a list: Opens the track's tags for editing. On a music folder: Edits the shared tags of its tracks.	All Modes
Ctrl+Shift+D	Clears root folder (Book Mode) or Music Library folder (Music Mode).	Book / Music
Ctrl+A	Adds book folder (Book Mode), podcast feed URL (Podcast Mode), or manual music folder (Music Mode). On a focused item: Opens category/playlist checklist. In file explorer: Selects all items.	All Modes
Ctrl+Shift+A	Adds individual audio files directly as independent books (Book Mode). In file explorer: Deselects all items.	Book / Music
Ctrl+O	Opens search dialog to find audiobooks, podcast episodes, or music tracks.	All Modes
Ctrl+K	Opens Category Manager (Book / Podcast) or Playlist Manager (Music).	All Modes
Ctrl+Shift+K	Opens Episode Category Manager to manage custom episode playlists across podcasts.	Podcast Mode
Ctrl+0 to Ctrl+9	Main window: Opens assigned category/playlist. On a focused item: Toggles assignment. In Category/Playlist Manager: Assigns shortcut to selected category or playlist.	All Modes
Ctrl+-	In Category/Playlist Manager: Removes assigned shortcut from selected category or playlist.	All Modes
Ctrl+~	Opens quick Category/Playlist popup menu to toggle assignments instantly—for the focused item in a list, or for the currently playing book, episode, or track in the main window.	All Modes
Ctrl+J	Opens active and queued downloads window.	Podcast Mode
Ctrl+Shift+J	Opens completed downloads library.	Podcast Mode
Ctrl+Alt+J	Opens the downloads folder in File Explorer.	Podcast Mode
Ctrl+H	Toggles episode sorting order (newest-first / oldest-first) in episode list or during playback.	Podcast Mode
Ctrl+Shift+H	On a selected or playing podcast episode: Toggles finished/unfinished status.	Podcast Mode
Enter	Opens or plays selected book, music track, folder, podcast, or episode.	All Modes
Ctrl+Enter	Plays podcast episode with inverted start behavior (resumes vs starts from beginning).	Podcast Mode
Shift+Enter	On an episode: Plays the downloaded file locally. On a podcast in the subscription list: Resumes the last episode you listened to (Podcast Mode). In the Accessible File Explorer: Immediately confirms the selection.	All Modes
Delete	Removes item from an open category, episode category, or playlist; deletes the selected category or playlist in its Manager; deletes bookmarks; removes track from the Playback Queue; or deletes a downloaded episode's local file.	All Modes
Shift+Delete	Removes a manual book from the library, unsubscribes from a podcast, or removes a manual music folder (after confirmation). Audio files on your disk are not deleted.	All Modes
Alt+Up, Alt+Down	Moves the selected item up or down in the Playback Queue, an open music playlist, an open episode category, or the Download Manager queue.	Music / Podcast
PageUp, PageDown	In lists: Moves focus up or down by a page of items.	All Modes
Letters and digits	In lists: Jumps to the next item whose name starts with the typed text. Type quickly to match several characters or press the same letter repeatedly to cycle.	All Modes
Alt	Opens the menu bar.	All Modes
Alt+F4	Exits the application.	All Modes
Application Key, Shift+F10	Opens context menu for the focused item.	All Modes

4.4. Feature & Settings

These shortcuts open various settings dialogs and toggle specific playback or speech announcement features.

Feature & Settings

Shortcut	Action	Mode
Ctrl+S	Main window: Opens Sleep Timer dialog. In episode list: Downloads episode (or deletes download). In podcast list: Downloads all episodes of the podcast (or cancels its downloads). In Download Manager: Cancels download.	All Modes
Ctrl+Shift+S	In Download Manager: Cancels all active and queued downloads (after confirmation).	Podcast Mode
Ctrl+R	Opens Rewind After Pause settings dialog.	All Modes
Ctrl+G	Opens Jump in Track dialog to seek to an exact timestamp within the current track or episode.	All Modes
Ctrl+Shift+G	Opens Jump in Book dialog (or Jump in Volume for multi-volume books) to jump directly to a specific timestamp.	Book Mode
Ctrl+Shift+Alt+G	In multi-volume books: Opens Jump in Entire Book dialog to jump directly to a specific timestamp across all volumes.	Book Mode
Ctrl+Shift+V	Opens Volume Step Size settings dialog.	All Modes
Ctrl+Shift+X	Opens Speed Step Size settings dialog.	All Modes
Ctrl+Shift+C	Opens Pitch Step Size settings dialog.	All Modes
Ctrl+U	Opens Audio Output Settings dialog.	All Modes
Ctrl+Alt+U	Opens interface language selection dialog.	All Modes
Ctrl+I	Opens Equalizer Settings dialog.	All Modes
Ctrl+Shift+I	Opens Pause and Seek Fades settings dialog.	All Modes
Ctrl+P	Opens Proxy Settings dialog.	All Modes
Ctrl+N	Main window: Toggles auto-play next track (Book / Podcast) / Opens Music Auto-Play Settings dialog (Music Mode). In Category/Playlist Manager: Creates a new category or playlist.	All Modes
Ctrl+Y	Toggles silence detection (Book Mode) / Opens Podcast Playback Settings (Podcast Mode) / Opens Music Playback Settings (Music Mode).	All Modes
Ctrl+Shift+Y	Opens Automatic Podcast Check Interval dialog.	Podcast Mode
Ctrl+Shift+U	Opens Application Update Check Interval dialog.	All Modes
Ctrl+V	Toggles volume change speech announcement.	All Modes
Ctrl+X	Toggles speed change speech announcement.	All Modes
Ctrl+C	Main window: Toggles pitch change speech announcement. Lists and managers: Copies podcast RSS/stream URL, local audio path, music folder path, book or book track path, or selected explorer paths.	All Modes
Ctrl+F	Main window: Toggles track or episode change speech announcement. On a downloaded episode: Shows its file in File Explorer. In Bookmark Manager: Opens filter options.	All Modes
Ctrl+Shift+F	Toggles book volume or music folder change speech announcement.	Book / Music
Ctrl+E	Main window: Toggles seek position speech announcement. In Category/Playlist view: Opens bulk item assignment dialog (checklist or tree view).	All Modes
Ctrl+B	Toggles AB repeat speech announcement.	All Modes
Ctrl+W	Toggles whether remaining time announcements are based on the current playback speed.	All Modes
M	Creates a quick bookmark at current position (Book / Podcast) / Announces current track name (Music Mode).	All Modes
Shift+M	Opens custom bookmark dialog with note (Book / Podcast) / Announces current track relative path (Music Mode).	All Modes
Ctrl+M	Opens Bookmark Manager tree view window.	Book / Podcast
Ctrl+Q	Main window: Opens Playback Queue. On a track: Adds or removes track from queue.	Music Mode
Ctrl+Alt+Q	Toggles Playback Queue feature on or off.	Music Mode
Ctrl+Shift+Q	Clears all tracks from the Playback Queue.	Music Mode

5. Credits and Contact