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🔖 How to Use Chapters in VLC Player

This guide will show you how to take full advantage of the new "Chapters" feature in Read-To-Me audiobooks using VLC Player. Chapters make listening to longer documents much easier by letting you jump to specific sections, skip irrelevant parts, and easily pick up where you left off.

(Pro Tip: If you want to jump straight to using chapters, click here)

Why VLC player

VLC Player is a powerful, free, and open-source media player that I recommend for getting the most out of Read-To-Me's chapter feature. Here's why:

• Chapter Support: VLC Player fully supports embedded chapter markers, allowing you to navigate your Read-To-Me audiobooks. This is the key feature we'll be focusing on!
• Resume Playback: VLC Player remembers where you stopped listening, even if you close the app completely. When you reopen the audiobook, it will automatically start playing from the exact point you left off.
• Free and Widely Available: VLC Player is completely free to use and available on virtually every platform (Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS). No hidden costs or subscriptions. You don't even need to sign-up.
• Additional Functionalities: VLC Player has many more handy features, like adjusting playback speed, equalizers, and support for various audio formats.

Prerequisites

Before we start, let's make sure you have everything you need:

• An audio file with embedded chapters: This guide explains how to use VLC Player's chapter navigation feature. This feature requires an audio file that already has embedded chapter markers. These are special pieces of information within the file that tell VLC Player where each chapter begins and ends. Standard MP3 files typically do not contain this information.

  • What are embedded chapters? Think of them like bookmarks within your audio file. They are not audible themselves, but they allow a compatible player (like VLC) to "see" the structure of the audiobook.
  • Where do I get a file with embedded chapters? While you can manually add chapter markers to audio files using specialized software (which is a more advanced process), the easiest way is to use a service that generates them automatically. Read-To-Me automatically creates audiobooks with embedded chapters. If your original document has a clear structure, Read-To-Me will take care of the chapter creation for you.

• VLC Player Installed: Download and install the appropriate version of VLC Player for your device:

  • Android: Link to Google Play Store
  • iOS: Link to Apple App Store
  • Windows/macOS/Linux: VLC Official Website

Demo: Getting Started with Chapters

This section provides a step-by-step walkthrough using screenshots. For brevity, I'll describe the Android version, but the process is very similar on iOS and desktop. I'll note any significant differences.

1. Open the VLC Player App On Your Device

2. Initial Setup (One-Time Only)

• You might see a welcome screen or a request for permissions the first time you open VLC. Follow the on-screen prompts. These usually involve granting VLC access to your device's storage so it can find your media files.

3. (Recommended) Removing Preset Favorites

By default, VLC might have some pre-populated folders in the "Favorites" section (like Downloads, Movies, Music). You can easily remove these to keep your Favorites organized:

• Tap the Browse tab at the bottom of the screen.
• In the Favorites section, locate the folder you want to remove.
• Tap the three vertical dots to the right of the folder name.
• Select Remove from favorites.
• Repeat this for any other unwanted preset folders.

4. (Recommended) Add Your Audiobook Folder to Favorites

• Press "Browse" on the lower menu
• Click on the folder appearing under "Storages"
• Locate your audio file or audiobook's folder.
• Click on the three vertical dots right of the folder
• Select "Add to favorites"

5. Using the Chapter Feature

This is the core of the guide!

• Find your Read-To-Me audiobook file within VLC Player and tap on it to start playing.
• Tap on the three vertical buttons in the upper right corner
• Find and tap on "Go to chapter"
• A list of chapters will appear. Tap on any chapter title to instantly jump to that section of the audiobook.
• If the audiobook is paused, press play

Congratulations! You're now successfully using chapters to navigate your Read-To-Me audiobooks in VLC Player.

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to reach out!

PS: Want to see this whole process in action? Check out the full video guide!