Playing Audio

JW Library makes it possible to play the audio of a large number of publications. The really nice thing is that it is possible to find the exact verse you want to hear from the Bible, or the specific paragraph you want in a publication, and start the audio playback there. You can also just start the audio at the beginning of the chapter with an easy to find button in the top bar of the app.

Play from the beginning

When in the NWT Study Bible, look up the Bible book and chapter you would like to listen to following the directions given in the Bible section of this guide.

When the chapter you want to read opens VoiceOver focus will be on the back button.

Swipe right twice. Passing the name of the Bible book and chapter, and then the words "Study Bible."

VoiceOver should say: "Audio button."

When you double tap the Audio Button a dialog will appear. Focus will be on a Play AudioButton." Double tap to start playing the audio streamed from the Internet.

There will Also be a "Download Audio" button that will allow you to store the audio on your device for later off-line use.

Finally there is a "Cancel" button, in case you don't actually want to play anything right now.

Voiceover's 2 finger double tap--called magic tap--will allow you to pause and resume playback without having to find the on-screen controls.

Playing audio of a publication

You might be tempted to look for a publication in audio format by going to the Library tab and doing a 3 finger swipe left a couple times to get to the audio section, but the audio section only contains Music, dramas, and audio described convention sessions. The audio of digital publications in JW Library is accessed from within those publications.

Open the publication.

Find and open the chapter or lesson you want to hear.

From the Back button where VoiceOver focus lands when the chapter or lesson opens: swipe right twice.

The name of the chapter or lesson will be spoken. Then the title of the publication. Then focus will land on the "Audio" button.

Double tap the 'Audio" button and decide whether to Play, Download, or Cancel.

If you downloaded the audio of this chapter or lesson before there will be a "Delete Audio" button in place of the "Download Audio" button.

Start Audio from specific verse or paragraph

When on any verse number in the NWT Study Bible double tap to bring up a menu.

In other publications: Double tap any paragraph. As long as VoiceOver focus is not on a link or image the menu will appear.

You will know the menu has appeared if Voiceover says: "Display Study pain, button."

Wait a second after you tap the verse number to listen for that announcement, because it can take a second for it to appear. Sometimes it will fail to appear at all, but don't worry. Just double tap the verse number again if it didn't work the first time.

When you hear "Display Study pain, button," swipe right with 1 finger.

You can swipe right repeatedly to move through the menu items, but if you accidentally tap the screen instead the menu will disappear.

The "Play Audio" button is likely the last option in the menu on the screen of an iPad.

On an iPhone it is usually necessary to swipe right until you hear ""Right Triangle" button. Double tap it.

Now Voiceover should say: "Play Audio, button." When you double tap it playback should start at the verse you chose.

Note: If Voiceover is set to provide image descriptions it might say: "Possibly: Play," after the Right Triangle" button. Ignore this confusing message, because it isn't a play button in this case. It is just that a right triangle is evidently what the play button looks like in some cases.

Media Control Bar

It is always possible to stop and resume playback of audio and video with the Voiceover "Magic" Tap. That is double tapping with 2 fingers.

If you want more control of audio playback in JW Library you can find some basic controls near the bottom of the screen, right above Home on the tab bar.

I find it easiest to find it by turning my Voiceover rotor to containers and swiping down with 1 finger. VoiceOver will say a percentage when focus lands in the media bar's container.

If you swipe left on the media bar there will be a place that says what is being played. That can be useful if you are coming back to JW Library after a while and don't remember what you had been listening to.

If you continue to swipe left you'll find the time elapsed, a play/pause button, and many more controls. The last item in the media bar is a Close button to make the media bar go away.

Media player

If you play a video the full-screen media player will automatically open, but playing audio does not open it.

To open the full media player when audio is playing: Turn the Voiceover rotor to containers and swipe down with 1 finger. You have found the minimized media player if VoiceOver speaks a percentage. Do not double tap on the percentage, because that sometimes makes the media player disappear completely. 😖

Instead, swipe right 2 times until you find the name of the media playing. Double tap there to open the full media player.

The first button in the media player is "Media Player minimize," which closes the player, but does not stop either audio or video from playing.

The Close button in the top right corner will both close the player and stop audio and video from playing.

The percentage slider tells you what percent of the file has been played. It can also be used to change where you are in the file. VoiceOver users can swipe up or down on this control to change the number by 10 percent. Make sure to double tap the slider after you have finished adjusting it to make it skip to that position. It is only possible to use the slider while playback is paused.

Note: It is possible, but quite tricky to adjust sliders by a smaller percentage. It is necessary to double tap and hold 1 finger on the slider, and without lifting your finger slide it left or right very carefully. Usually when you lift your finger the number is no longer exactly what you last heard and were aiming for. Doing this can still be useful in some cases. Again double tap the slider when you are finished adjusting it in order to skip to that position.

After the slider the name of the media playing is shown.

Next the time elapsed in the file is shown in comparison to the entire length of the file.

The play button is in the bottom left corner of the screen. After the play button are the most useful controls. The Back and Forward buttons. These give much more precise control than the percentage slider.

The Previous and Next buttons go to the previous or Next chapter, lesson, song, Etc.

There is a mute button just because that makes the interface pretty much the same for either audio or video. I can't imagine any reason for muting audio that is playing.

The last button on the bottom right of the screen is a more recent addition I love. It is a Settings button.

When you double tap the Settings button the first thing you'll find is the Done button. Use it when you are finished changing settings. It will bring you back to the player screen.

The Share button will let you send a link to this audio file found on jw.org via text message, Email, Airdrop, or various other methods depending on what apps you have installed.

The Speed button shows the current playback speed of audio or video. Double tap the speed button to change it. Maybe you would like to have audio played at 1.2 times normal as I do, or you are learning another language and slowing the audio to something far less than normal is helpful. The speed control will close once you double tap the speed option you want.

Note that the speed setting is for the media player in general, not just the audio being played right now. The setting will hold until you either switch it to a new speed setting, or JW Library is completely closed. Meaning it no longer is in the task switcher. Remember this if you go from listening to something yourself to sharing a video with someone you meat.

The Shuffle button is nice for playing music, because it will cause songs to play in random order.

The repeat button will cause the current media to play again and again. Guess it is for when a new song is released and you either can't get enough of hearing it or want to memorize it.

Last is the Airplay button. If you have a Home pod, Apple TV, or some other Airplay compatible device you can play the media on it. You can also go back in the settings to switch back to the iPhone or iPad.

Gestures and Keyboard Commands

There are gestures to control the media player, but they will not work while VoiceOver is on. That is because Voiceover uses those gestures for itself.

You can turn Voiceover off once the media player is opened, Meaning taking up the whole screen not just the little strip of controls, and then use these gestures to try to control it.

Tap with 2 fingers to play/pause. Swipe up/down for volume. Swipe left/right for Previous and Next. Double tap at the right or left of the screen to go forward or back.

I'm always a little afraid of what I might do while Voiceover is off, but it actually should be pretty safe.

The left and right arrow keys on a bluetooth keyboard will go back/forward respectively. Up/down arrows will control the volume. Spacebar will play/pause. Voiceover can be on, but Quick-Nav must be off.

Video tip:

As a blind person you may want to "watch" a video by just listening to it with the screen locked so as to not bump buttons or use more battery power than necessary. This is completely possible by double tapping the Picture in Picture button that is in the top left corner of the screen when a video is playing.

The video controls will be shrunken down to a small strip at the top of the screen on an iPhone. On an iPad the video controls will be in the top right corner of the screen.

Once a video is playing with picture in Picture on, you can lock the screen and it will continue playing. When the screen is unlocked Voiceover Magic Tap will play and pause it as usual. In fact you can accidentally make the video controls disappear completely and only be able to play and pause using that 2 finger double tap.