Voca Player User Guide

1. Getting Started

Connecting to Audiobookshelf

1. Open Voca and you'll be greeted by the server selection screen
2. Tap Audiobookshelf
3. Enter your server URL (e.g. https://audiobooks.example.com or http://192.168.1.100:13378 for a local server)
4. Enter your username and password
5. Tap Sign In
6. Select the library you want to browse and tap Continue

Connecting to Plex

1. Open Voca and tap Plex
2. Tap Sign in with Plex, and a browser window will open
3. Sign in to your Plex account and grant access
4. Once redirected back to Voca, select your Plex server
5. Select the audiobook library you want to browse and tap Continue

Playing Local Files

No server? No problem. Voca can play audiobooks stored directly on your device (or accessible via the Files app).

Folder structure required:

Root Folder/
  Author Name/
    Book Title/
      chapter01.mp3
      chapter02.mp3
      cover.jpg        ← optional cover art
      notes.pdf        ← optional extras (PDF, EPUB, TXT)

Setup:

1. Open Voca, then tap Local Files on the server selection screen
2. Tap Choose Folder and select your root audiobook folder
3. Voca scans the folder and builds your library automatically

Supported audio formats: MP3, M4A, M4B, AAC, FLAC, OGG, Opus, WAV

Cover art: Place a file named cover.jpg, cover.jpeg, cover.png, or folder.jpg inside the book folder to display cover art.

Extras: Place PDF, EPUB, or TXT files inside the book folder. They appear in the Extras section on the book's detail page, just like server-hosted extras.

Progress: Your listening position is saved locally on your device. It is not synced to any server.

Permissions: Voca stores a secure bookmark to your chosen folder so it can access the files after you close and reopen the app. You only need to grant access once.

Switching Libraries

If your server has multiple libraries, you can switch between them at any time from Settings → Library.

On a Mac

Voca runs on Macs with Apple silicon. Install it from the Mac App Store, where it appears under iPhone & iPad Apps; it's the same app, so the Offline Playback purchase carries over with the same Apple Account. In a wide window the player, chapters and documents sit side by side, as on iPad. See Keyboard Shortcuts for the Playback and Go menus.

On iPhone Duo

On the front screen Voca works as it does on any iPhone. Open the Duo and it spreads across the larger display: the library gains a sidebar, and the player and book pages split in two, with the player or cover on one side and chapters or a document on the other.

• Open flat: the library with its sidebar, and the player beside its chapters or an open PDF or EPUB
• Held upright: the library in one column, and the player with its cover above the controls
• Half folded, propped up like a laptop: the cover stands on the upper half and the controls lie on the lower half, within reach
• Close it and Voca carries on, on the front screen, with your book still playing

2. The Library

The Library tab is your home screen. It organises your books into curated horizontal rows that update as you explore.

Tapping a section header (where it appears as a link) opens a full grid view of all books in that section.

"More…" Button

Each horizontal row ends with a More… card. Tap it to open a full-screen grid showing all books in that section, which is useful for rows like Discover or Recently Added where the horizontal view shows only a preview.

Book Cards

Each book card shows the cover art, title, and author. A progress bar appears below the title if you've started listening. An orange paperclip badge in the top corner indicates the book includes extra files (PDFs, EPUBs).

All Books

The All tab (bottom tab bar on iPhone, sidebar on iPad and Mac) shows your entire library in a scrollable grid with sort and filter options.

Series

With an Audiobookshelf library, a Series tab sits between All and Search (in the sidebar on iPad and Mac, and on Android and Apple TV too). It shows the series you're part way through (In Progress), the next book in each series you're reading (Continue Series, as on the Library page), series with new books (Recently Added), then every series A to Z with its author. Each series cover shows the number of books in the corner, an orange bar for how far through the series you are, and a green tick once you've finished them all. Tap a series to see its books in reading order. Plex and local libraries don't have the tab.

3. Playing Audiobooks

Starting Playback

1. Tap any book to open its detail page
2. Tap the Play button to start streaming immediately

The player opens automatically and playback resumes from where you last left off.

Mini Player

While a book is playing, a mini player appears above the tab bar. Tap it to open the full player.

Full Player Controls

Tip: Double-tap the left half of the cover art to go to the previous chapter, or the right half to go to the next chapter.

Captions

On iPhone, iPad and Mac with iOS 27 or later, on a device that can transcribe speech, the player has a captions button (a speech bubble) in the row with the sleep timer. Turn it on to see the narration as it's read, scrolling like lyrics with the sentence being spoken highlighted. On a phone, and on an iPad or iPhone Duo held upright, the captions take the cover's place; on an iPad in landscape, a Mac window or an iPhone Duo opened like a book, they fill the right-hand side and the cover and controls stay on the left. Captions are made on the device itself as the book plays, so nothing is sent anywhere, but unusual names may be spelled the way they sound. They take a few seconds to start, catch up after you skip, pause while Voca is in the background, and start off each time you open the player. Tap the button again to turn them off. Devices that can't transcribe don't show the button.

Lock Screen, Headphones & Control Centre

Voca registers with your device so you can control playback from the lock screen, Control Centre, and Bluetooth headphones without opening the app.

Bluetooth Headphone Controls

On AirPods and single-button earbuds: double-tap skips forward, triple-tap skips back.

Progress Sync

Your listening position is saved locally and synced back to your server every 10 seconds while playing, and immediately when you pause or close the app.

4. Sleep Timer

Set a timer to automatically pause playback, great for falling asleep to an audiobook.

1. In the full player, tap the moon icon
2. Choose a time: 15 min, 30 min, 45 min, 1 hour or 2 hours
3. Or stop at a chapter's end: End of chapter, End of 2 chapters or End of 3 chapters
4. For anything else, use Or set your own: choose Minutes or Chapters, adjust with − and +, then tap Set
5. Open the timer again to see the time remaining or to cancel it

Chapter timers pause exactly at the end of the chapter, whatever your playback speed. Skipping a little way past the chapter's end still pauses there; jumping well beyond it cancels the timer. A chapter timer ends with its book. The chapter options appear only for books with chapters.

5. Playback Speed

Adjust how fast the narrator speaks.

1. In the full player, tap the speed indicator (e.g. 1.0×)
2. Choose from 0.5× to 3.0×

Your preferred speed is remembered across sessions.

6. Chapters

Viewing Chapters

Scroll down on a book's detail page to see the full chapter list. The currently playing chapter is highlighted.

Jumping to a Chapter

Tap any chapter in the list to jump directly to it. In the full player, use the Previous and Next chapter buttons.

7. Extras: PDFs & EPUBs

Some audiobooks include companion files such as PDFs (maps, liner notes) or EPUBs (the full text). Voca lets you read these alongside your audiobook.

Accessing Extras

1. Open a book's detail page, where an Extras section appears below the description if files are available
2. Tap any extra file to open it

The paperclip badge on book cards indicates a book has extras.

PDF Viewer

• Scroll and pinch to zoom
• Voca remembers your page, so the PDF reopens exactly where you left off

EPUB Reader

• Continuous vertical scrolling
• Tap the Aа icon (top right) to adjust text size (50%–200%) and background theme (Dark, Light, Sepia, or Cream)
• Voca remembers your scroll position, so the EPUB reopens where you left off

Extras Offline

If you've downloaded a book, its extra files are downloaded alongside the audio. The PDF and EPUB readers work fully offline using the local copies.

8. Reading List

Save books you want to listen to later.

Saving a Book

• From the detail page: tap the bookmark icon (top right of the screen); it fills orange when saved
• From any book card: long-press the card and choose Save for Later

Viewing Your Reading List

The Reading List section appears on the home screen once you've saved at least one book, showing your saved books in the order you added them. Tap the Reading List header to open the full grid view.

Removing a Book

• Tap the filled bookmark icon on the detail page to unsave
• Long-press a card and choose Remove from Reading List

9. Podcasts

If your server includes a podcast library, Voca supports browsing and playing podcast episodes.

Browsing

• The Library tab shows your podcast shows in a grid
• Tap a show to see all its episodes, sorted by most recent first

Playing Episodes

Tap an episode row to start playback immediately. The full player works the same as for audiobooks.

Downloading Episodes

Tap the download icon next to any episode to save it for offline listening. Requires the Offline Playback unlock.

10. Offline Downloads

Local Files users: Books played from a local folder are already on your device, so downloads are not needed and are not available for local file libraries.

Downloading books requires the one-time Offline Playback in-app purchase.

Unlocking Offline Playback

1. Open any book's detail page and tap the download icon
2. If not yet unlocked, a purchase screen appears
3. Tap Unlock Offline Playback, which is a one-time purchase
4. Once purchased, the download begins immediately

Restoring a purchase: If you've already purchased on another device, go to Settings → Unlock Offline Playback → Restore Purchase.

Downloading a Book

1. Open the book's detail page
2. Tap the download icon (arrow pointing down)
3. A progress ring shows the download status; tap it to cancel
4. When complete, the icon changes to a green Downloaded badge

Downloaded books include:

• All audio files
• Cover art
• Chapter markers
• Any companion extras (PDFs, EPUBs)

Managing Downloads

Go to Settings → Available Offline to see all downloaded content. Tap a row to play it, or swipe to delete and free up storage.

11. Available Offline

When your device has no connection to your server, Voca automatically switches to Available Offline mode on the Library tab.

• Your downloaded books and podcast episodes are shown in a grid
• Tap any item to start playback from your locally saved files
• Playback resumes from your last saved position
• Extras (PDFs, EPUBs) open from local storage, with no connection needed

When connectivity is restored, the library switches back to your full server library automatically.

12. Search

Tap the Search tab to find books by title, author, narrator, tag, or series name.

• Results appear as you type
• Tap any result to open the book's detail page
• Tap an author name on a book's detail page to instantly search all books by that author
• Tap a series chip on the home screen or a book's detail page to search for all books in that series
• Tap a tag chip (e.g. Fantasy, Star Wars: Thrawn #1) to find all books sharing that tag

Tip: Tag and series searches search your local library directly, so they work even if the title doesn't obviously match the tag text.

13. Apple Watch

Voca includes a companion app for Apple Watch that lets you listen to downloaded audiobooks directly from your wrist, with no iPhone needed once the book is on your Watch.

Installing the Watch App

If you have Automatically Install Apps enabled on your Watch (Watch app → General → Automatically Install Apps), the Voca Watch app installs automatically when you install Voca on your iPhone. Otherwise, install it manually:

1. Open the Watch app on your iPhone
2. Scroll down to Available Apps
3. Tap Install next to Voca

Sending a Book to Your Watch

Sending a book to your Watch requires the Offline Playback in-app purchase to be active.

From the book detail page:

1. Download the book to your iPhone first (the download icon must show a green badge)
2. Tap the Watch icon (Apple Watch with arrow) next to the download button
3. The icon turns green once the transfer is queued

From Settings → Available Offline:

• Each downloaded book has a Watch icon on the right
• Tap it to send that book to your Watch
• The icon turns green once queued

The Watch must be paired, connected, and have the Voca Watch app installed for the button to appear.

Downloading on Watch

Voca Watch can also download books directly from your server without going through your iPhone:

• On your iPhone, open the Voca Watch app and select a book, or wait for Voca on iPhone to push it automatically after a send request
• On the Watch, open Voca and watch the Downloading section in the Library tab
• A progress bar shows the download status, and downloads continue in the background even if you lower your wrist

Self-signed certificates: Voca Watch supports self-hosted servers with self-signed TLS certificates, so local Audiobookshelf servers work without any extra configuration.

Playing on Watch

• Open the Voca app on your Apple Watch
• The Library tab shows books ready to play, grouped into Continue (books in progress) and On Watch (not yet started)
• Tap any book to start playback immediately
• Control playback from the watch face using the Voca complication, or from the Now Playing app

Bluetooth headphones are required. Connect AirPods or other Bluetooth headphones before pressing play; playing through the Watch's own speaker isn't currently supported. Background playback, continuing when you lower your wrist or switch apps, has always needed Bluetooth too, since watchOS only grants that to apps routed to an eligible Bluetooth device.

Adjusting Volume on Watch

The Digital Crown scrolls the player screen, so volume lives one tap away:

1. Tap the speaker icon next to the speed button
2. The system Now Playing screen opens
3. Turn the Digital Crown to adjust volume
4. Swipe back to return to Voca

Scrubbing Through a Book on Watch

Skipping 15 or 30 seconds at a time is impractical in a book that runs many hours, so Voca has a dedicated scrub screen driven by the Digital Crown.

1. Tap the progress bar, or the ⟷ button next to the speed control
2. Turn the Digital Crown to move through the book, where the whole book spans roughly one full rotation regardless of its length
3. As you turn, the screen shows the time you're moving to, how far that is from where you are now (e.g. +2h 14m), and the chapter at that point if the book has chapters
4. Tap Jump to go there, or Cancel to leave playback untouched

Nothing moves until you tap Jump, so an accidental turn of the Crown can't lose your place.

Watch Face Complication

Voca provides a complication so you can see what's playing, and jump straight back into the app, without opening it first.

Adding it to a watch face:

1. Press and hold the watch face, then tap Edit
2. Swipe to the Complications screen
3. Tap the slot you want to use
4. Scroll to Voca and select it
5. Press the Digital Crown to save, then tap the face to use it

What it shows:

When nothing is playing, the complication shows the Voca headphones icon. Tap it any time to open Voca.

Refresh rate: The complication updates when playback starts, pauses, or moves between chapters, not continuously, since watchOS limits how often complications may refresh to protect battery life. Expect the progress indicator to advance in steps rather than second by second.

Removing a Book from Watch

Swipe left on any book in the Library and tap Remove to delete it from your Watch and free up storage. The book remains downloaded on your iPhone.

Watch Playback Controls

The full-screen player on Watch shows:

Progress syncs back to your iPhone and server whenever you return to the Library tab.

14. Apple TV

Voca on Apple TV brings your library to the big screen. It connects to the same Plex and Audiobookshelf servers as the iPhone app and streams from them directly. Offline downloads are an iPhone, iPad and Watch feature, so Apple TV always plays from your server.

Signing In

Apple TV has no browser, so signing in differs slightly:

• Plex: Voca shows a short code on screen. On your phone or computer, go to plex.tv/link and enter it. Your servers appear once it's accepted.
• Audiobookshelf: enter your server address, username and password with the on-screen keyboard.

Add further servers or libraries at any time from Settings → Add Server / Library.

Home

The Library page shows Continue Listening, Continue Series, your Reading List (saved on your iPhone or iPad and synced through iCloud), Recently Added, Discover and Listen Again. Books you've finished show a green tick, and books in progress show how far through you are.

Series

With an Audiobookshelf library, the Series tab shows In Progress, Continue Series and Recently Added rows, then every series A to Z with its author. Each series cover shows the number of books in the corner, an orange bar for how far through the series you are, and a green tick once you've finished them all. Choose a series to see its books in reading order.

Refreshing the Library

To pick up titles, descriptions or covers changed on your server, go to Settings → Refresh Library. A book's page always shows its latest details.

Playing a Book

Select a book to open it, then press Play (or Continue), or select a chapter to start from it. Each chapter shows its length. The description shows its first few lines; select it (Read more) to read the whole description over the page, moving through it with up and down, and press Back to close it.

The progress bar follows the current chapter. Press up or down on the remote to switch it to the whole book and back.

Captions

On an Apple TV 4K with tvOS 27 or later, the player has a captions button (a speech bubble). Turn it on to see the narration as it's read, like lyrics: the cover moves left with the chapter, book and progress beneath it, and the sentences fill the right of the screen, the one being spoken highlighted. The buttons are put away while captions show, but the remote still works: Play/Pause plays and pauses, left and right skip back and forward, and up or down switches the progress bar. Captions are made on the Apple TV itself as the book plays, so nothing is sent anywhere, but unusual names may be spelled the way they sound. They take a few seconds to start, catch up after you skip, and start off each time you open the player. Press Back to turn them off and bring back the buttons.

Profiles

Each profile on the Apple TV has its own Voca: its own sign-in, library, progress, settings, Reading List and Top Shelf. Two people can use the same server with their own accounts, or different servers. Switch profiles in Control Center; Voca closes and opens again as the new profile left it. A new profile starts signed out.

Browse While Listening

Press Back on the remote, or select the house button, to leave the player with your book still playing. The Library page shows a Now Playing card at the top; select it to return to the player. The playing book's own page shows Now Playing in place of Play. Back from All Books, Series, Search or Settings returns to Library, and Back on Library goes to the Apple TV Home Screen.

Audio keeps playing when you leave Voca, so you can return to the Home Screen or switch apps without stopping your book. The book shows in Control Center, where you can play, pause and skip without going back to Voca.

Top Shelf

Move Voca into the top row of the Home Screen, then highlight it to see the Top Shelf: two rows of covers, Continue Listening (led by the book you're listening to) and Recently Added. Select a book you're part way through to resume it in the player, or a recent addition to open its page. Press Play on the remote to start either.

Sleep Timer

Press the moon button in the playback controls to stop playback after a set time (15, 30 or 45 minutes, 1 or 2 hours), or at the end of this chapter or the next two or three. While a timer is running the button shows the time remaining, so you can see it from across the room. Open it again to change the time or turn it off.

Note: Apps cannot switch an Apple TV off, so the timer stops playback rather than powering down the device. Voca stops holding the screen awake at that point, so the Apple TV then sleeps on its own according to Settings → General → Sleep After on the device itself.

While Playing

Choose what the screen does during playback from Settings → While Playing:

Managing Servers

Settings lists each of your libraries, grouped by server. Select one to switch to it; the active library is ticked.

• Press and hold a library to remove that server connection. If it's the one you're using, Voca switches to the next signed-in server.
• Sign Out removes every server at once.

Not on Apple TV

Offline downloads, companion documents and sending books to Apple Watch are iPhone, iPad and Mac features. Everything else, your library, chapters, playback speed, the sleep timer and progress syncing, works the same.

15. Keyboard Shortcuts

On a Mac, and on an iPad with a keyboard attached, Voca has Playback and Go menus. On a Mac they are in the menu bar; on an iPad, hold ⌘ to see them.

Note: Playback shortcuts work once a book is loaded.

16. Settings

Access Settings from the bottom tab bar (iPhone) or sidebar (iPad and Mac), or press ⌘, on a Mac or an iPad with a keyboard.

Changing Servers

To connect to a different server, go to Settings and tap your current server. You can sign out and go through the onboarding flow again to connect to a new server.

17. Listening Stats

Go to Settings → Listening Stats to see a summary of your listening activity pulled directly from your server.

Below the summary, Recent Sessions lists your latest listening sessions with title, author, duration, and date, so you can see exactly what you've been listening to and when.

Listening Stats are fetched from your Audiobookshelf server and reflect progress synced from all your devices. This section is not available for Local Files libraries, where progress is stored on-device only.

Tips

• Resume position is saved locally so playback resumes even if you're offline when you reopen the app
• AirPlay & CarPlay are fully supported; connect and control playback from your car or speakers
• Background playback continues when you lock your screen or switch apps
• The Discover section on the home screen reshuffles each time your library loads, so use it to rediscover forgotten books
• Books appear in Books with Extras after you've tapped into their detail page at least once, as Voca discovers the companion files on first visit
• Apple Watch downloads continue in the background even when the Watch screen is off, so a long book will be ready by the time you need it
• The Watch button only appears when the Offline Playback IAP is active and your Watch is paired and has the Voca app installed