Guides · Features
Up Next, playlists and bookmarks in SoundLeaf for Audiobookshelf
Queue books and podcast episodes in Up Next, build Audiobookshelf playlists, and save bookmarks from the player, CarPlay, Apple Watch or the ebook reader.
Touch and hold a book or episode to add it to Up Next or a playlist. Tap the bookmark button in the player to mark a spot. Up Next stays on your phone, while playlists and book bookmarks are saved on your Audiobookshelf server.
How do I queue a book to play next?
Touch and hold a book, or open the … menu on its page, and choose:
- Play next in book queue puts it at the front of Up Next.
- Add to book queue puts it at the end.
If the book is already queued, the same menu offers Move to front of book queue and Remove from book queue.
To queue a whole series, open the series, tap …, and under Book queue choose Add all 5 books or Add 3 unfinished (with your series’ numbers). Books already in the queue aren’t added twice.
A collection’s … menu has Add Collection to Queue. It skips finished books, the same as the unfinished choice for a series.
Books and podcasts have separate queues. A book never runs on into a podcast episode, or the other way round.
Where is Up Next?
- Tap the Up Next button on the mini player at the bottom of the screen.
- On Home, tap the button beside the search field. It shows a count of what’s waiting.
- In the player, tap the Up Next button in the row along the bottom. It opens the player’s contents with Up Next, Bookmarks, History, and Chapters when the book has them.
- In CarPlay, the Up Next button on the Now Playing screen shows what’s waiting.
How do I reorder or remove items in Up Next?
- To reorder, tap Edit and drag. Tap Done when you’re finished.
- To remove one, swipe the row and tap Remove. You can undo it.
- Touch and hold a row for Play Now, Move to Top, Move to Bottom and Remove from Queue.
- Clear empties Up Next but keeps the book that’s playing.
Tap a row to play it straight away. The book you were listening to goes to the top of Up Next, so you can come back to it.
Does Up Next sync to Audiobookshelf?
No. Up Next stays on the device you’re using. Audiobookshelf has nowhere to store a queue, so another device won’t see it. Each account you’ve added to SoundLeaf has its own Up Next.
What plays when a book ends?
- The next book in Up Next.
- If Up Next is empty and Settings > Playback > Continue with the next in series is on, the next unfinished book in that series.
- Otherwise playback stops. If the series has a next book, SoundLeaf shows Finished. Next in the series: with its title and a Play button.
Continue with the next in series is off to start with. A sleep timer set to the end of the chapter still stops playback.
If you want queued books ready offline, turn on Download queued books in Settings > Downloads. Books download as soon as you queue them. With mobile data downloads off, they wait for Wi-Fi.
How do I queue podcast episodes?
On a show’s page, swipe an episode left for Play Next or Add to Queue. The episode’s menu says Play next in podcast queue and Add to podcast queue.
When an episode finishes, it leaves Up Next and the next one starts.
How do I sort podcast Up Next?
Open Up Next and tap the Order Episodes button in its header. Choose Oldest First, Newest First or Group by Podcast. It sorts what’s waiting once. After that you can still drag episodes around.
Add new episodes to Up Next automatically
In a show’s settings (the gear on the show page), Downloads > Add to Up Next puts each newly downloaded episode at the Top or Bottom of Up Next. Choose Don’t add to turn it off.
Settings > Downloads > Download queued episodes downloads episodes as soon as you add them to Up Next. With mobile data downloads off, they wait for Wi-Fi. More in podcasts.
How do I make a playlist?
- Open Library > Playlists, or in a podcast library, the … menu > Manage Playlists.
- Tap + (Create playlist), give it a name and tap Create.
- To add something, touch and hold a book or episode and choose Add to Playlist. You can make a new playlist from that screen too, with New playlist.
A playlist holds books in a book library, or episodes in a podcast library. A series’ … menu can add the whole series to a playlist. You can also select several books and use Add to Playlist.
Playlists are Audiobookshelf playlists. They are saved on your server, so they show up in the Audiobookshelf web page and on your other devices too.
Reorder, play or rename a playlist
Open the playlist:
- Edit, then drag to reorder or swipe to remove.
- The … menu has Play Now, Add to book queue (or Add to podcast queue), Rename and Delete Playlist. Podcast playlists also have Order Episodes.
If something is already waiting in Up Next when you play a playlist, SoundLeaf asks: Replace what’s queued, or Add to queue.
Deleting a playlist doesn’t delete the books, episodes or downloads in it.
What is the difference between a collection and a playlist?
Both come from Audiobookshelf.
| Collections | Playlists | |
|---|---|---|
| Holds | Books only | Books or podcast episodes |
| Who sees it | Everyone who can see that library | Only you |
| Made in | The Audiobookshelf web page | SoundLeaf or the web page |
| Add to it in SoundLeaf | Touch and hold a book, Add to Collection | Touch and hold, Add to Playlist |
Collections are under Library > Collections. SoundLeaf can’t make a new collection, so create it in Audiobookshelf first. Add to Collection shows up only if your Audiobookshelf user has permission to edit the library (Can Update). See Audiobookshelf users and permissions.
How do I add a bookmark?
Tap the bookmark button in the player. It saves straight away, named with the time, and a message says Bookmark saved with Rename and Undo.
You can also add one:
- In CarPlay, tap the bookmark button on Now Playing (books only). While the button stays filled in, tapping it again takes that bookmark back off.
- On Apple Watch, set Left button or Right button to Bookmark in Settings > Apple Watch on the iPhone. See Apple Watch.
- In the ebook reader, the … menu has Add audio bookmark, which marks where the audio is. Audio bookmarks lists them.
- The sleep timer adds one to a book when a timer starts and another when it ends, so you can find the last part you remember. See Sleep timer.
- An NFC tag or QR code set to Bookmark adds one when you scan it. See NFC tags and QR codes.
Where do I find my bookmarks?
- In the player’s contents, on the Bookmarks tab, for what’s playing.
- On Home, the Bookmarks section shows the latest ones you added yourself. Tap it for the full Bookmarks list. The section appears once you’ve added a bookmark.
Tap a bookmark to jump there. Swipe or touch and hold for Delete, and for bookmarks you added yourself, Edit to change the title. The moon button hides or shows sleep timer bookmarks.
Are bookmarks saved to Audiobookshelf?
Book bookmarks are, including new titles and deletes. Ones made offline are sent when the server is back. Sleep timer bookmarks follow Settings > Playback > Sleep Timer Bookmarks (Audiobooks) > Sync to Server, which is on to start with.
Podcast episode bookmarks stay on this device. Audiobookshelf can’t tell one episode’s bookmark from another’s in the same show, so SoundLeaf keeps them local. That’s also why the CarPlay bookmark button is only for books.