A bookmark is an exact spot in a book you want to come back to: a quote, the moment you got distracted, the start of a scene. One tap to set, and one tap from the list takes you back.
A bookmark keeps a second in the book and a title; the title is filled in from the time, so you do not have to invent a name mid-listening, and later you can rewrite it and add a note and a colour. A book’s bookmarks live in its card and in the player, and the list across the whole library opens from the Now tab.
Bookmarks are free and unlimited. With Pro sync they travel between iPhone and iPad together with the position. The “Has bookmarks” condition is available in the library filters and in smart shelves.
01/08
Set a bookmark from the player
In the second row of player buttons, next to speed and the timer, there is “bookmark”.
In the player tap “bookmark”, the button with the bookmark icon. The bookmark lands on the current second straight away, with the time as its title, and playback is not interrupted.
The list of bookmarks opens from “•••” → “Bookmarks”.
By voice, while a book is open in the player: tell Siri “Bookmark in Akoue” or “Add a bookmark in Akoue”. The phrase follows Siri’s language, and each of the app’s five languages has its own. The app stays closed and Siri says the time; the bookmark lands when the command runs, a few seconds after the place you wanted. Shortcuts has an “Add bookmark” action. In the Aura and Night Light themes there is also a bookmark button on the Now tab, next to “Continue”: it sets a bookmark at the book’s current place without opening the player.
02/08
Add a note or remove the bookmark straight away
After you set a bookmark, a line with its time appears at the top of the player for a few seconds.
Tap “Note”: the “Bookmark” sheet opens with the title, note and colour. Playback is not interrupted.
Tap “Restore” if you do not want the bookmark: it is removed at once.
If you tap nothing, the line fades by itself and the bookmark stays.
If a bookmark already sits within 2 seconds of this place, no new one appears: the line says “already exists” and offers only “Note”. The lock screen, the Now tab, the bookmarks sheet and voice follow the same rule: there is no line, and Siri says the bookmark is already there.
03/08
Return to a bookmark
The bookmarks sheet in the player shows the time, title and note of each bookmark. A tap takes you there.
In the player tap “•••”, then “Bookmarks”.
Tap a bookmark row. The sheet closes and the player seeks to its place.
Bookmarks are ordered by their place in the book, not by creation time: that makes the right chapter easier to find.
04/08
Edit a bookmark: title, note, colour
The time filled itself in; the meaning comes later: name the bookmark, write down the thought, mark it with a colour.
In a book’s bookmarks — the “bookmarks” row on its card — or in the library-wide list, swipe a row to the right and tap “Edit”. Or touch and hold the row, then choose “Edit”.
Fill in “Title” and “Note”. The note can run to several lines.
Pick a “Colour”: no colour, orange, blue, green or red. The selected one has a ring around it.
“Time” does not change: the bookmark stays where it was set.
Tap “Done”. The edit shows everywhere this bookmark appears: in the player, in the book card, in the library-wide list and in search.
The player’s bookmarks sheet has no editing — only deleting. A bookmark you have just set can be changed with “Note” in the line at the top of the player. The colour shows as a stripe to the left of the bookmark in the library-wide list; the note is searchable from the Search tab.
05/08
Delete a bookmark
Deleting works the same everywhere: in the player, in the book card and in the library-wide list.
Swipe a bookmark row to the left and tap “Delete”.
Or touch and hold the row, then choose “Delete the bookmark”.
Deletion happens at once, with no confirmation. With sync on, the bookmark disappears from the other device too.
06/08
Every bookmark in the library, in one list
Cannot remember which book the quote was in? The library-wide list gathers bookmarks from every book.
On the Now tab tap the bookmark icon in the top right corner.
Bookmarks are grouped by book; books with recent bookmarks come first.
Search by note, title or book name in the “Note, title, book” field.
Tap the filter icon and pick a book to keep only its bookmarks. “All books” clears the filter.
Tap a row: the book opens in the player at the bookmark’s place.
07/08
Find a bookmark with search
Bookmark notes are part of the general search, alongside books, authors and chapters.
Open the Search tab and type a word from the bookmark’s note or title.
A “Bookmarks” section appears in the results: title, book and time.
Tap a result: the player opens at the bookmark’s place, not on the book card.
The “All” scope shows at most five bookmarks. Switch to the “Chapters” scope to see them all.
08/08
A book’s bookmarks and their export
Every book has its own list of bookmarks in its card. From there the list can be sent as text.
Open the book card and tap the “bookmarks” row. The number next to it shows how many there are.
Tap a bookmark to listen from that place; swipe left to delete it.
Tap “Share” in the top left corner: the list leaves as a Markdown file with the title, the author and the bookmarks grouped by chapter.
The file is named “Book title — bookmarks.md”. Bookmark notes go into it as separate lines.
What bookmarks do not do
There is no bookmark button of its own in CarPlay or widgets.
Bookmarks in a text: the reader has none, only audio does.