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akoue/guides/on your watch

On your watch

Put a book on your watch and listen without your phone: on a run, at the gym, on a walk. The book travels straight from your iPhone, and your position finds its way back to the phone on its own.

The watch player is free. Only sound travels to the watch: texts don’t show up there, and of several narrations of a book, one travels. You need a watch on watchOS 11 or later and Akoue on your iPhone; it installs on the watch by itself or from the Watch app on iPhone.

Akoue on the watch doesn’t go online by itself: it is connected only to your phone, and the system handles the transfer. Book titles and everything else stay on your devices.

01/08

Put a book on the watch

The book travels directly from the phone: files go to the system a few at a time.

  1. On iPhone, open the book’s menu, its card or the player and choose “Send to Apple Watch”. The item isn’t there until Akoue is on the watch: install it from the Watch app on iPhone.
  2. The book appears on the watch at once, with the share that has arrived. You can listen as soon as the chapter with your position is there.
  3. Reach a chapter that is still on its way, and the watch tells you and asks the phone to send it first. With “Wait”, the book starts by itself as soon as the chapter arrives; “Go back” returns to your books. If iPhone is not connected, the chapter arrives once it’s back in range.
  4. A book in iCloud: the phone downloads its chapters as the transfer goes, so this needs internet and space on iPhone. If the files are only on another device, Akoue says where.

Transfer runs while the watch is near the phone or on the same Wi‑Fi network. If the connection drops, it resumes on its own; what has arrived isn’t sent again. If it stalls while the phone is locked, open Akoue on iPhone. If something never arrives, “Retry transfer to watch” appears in the book’s menu.

02/08

How much has arrived

Progress shows on the book card, in the “watch” line.

  1. While the book is on its way, the line gives the share: “sending · 8%”. Once it has arrived — “on the watch”.
  2. If it says “transfer stopped · 8%”, the book’s menu offers “Resume Sending to Watch”. If it says “Files not delivered: 3” — “Retry transfer to watch”.
  3. Changed your mind — “Cancel transfer to watch” in the book’s menu or, if it isn’t there, “On watch · Remove”. Remove the book from the watch and the line goes away.
03/08

Which chapters are on the watch

For a book with one edition, the chapter and file lists carry a watch icon too.

  1. On the book card, open “chapters” or “files”.
  2. A watch icon means the chapter or file is on the watch. A watch with waves means it is on its way right now.
  3. A chapter counts as arrived when all its files are on the watch.
04/08

Listen

The same skips and speed as on the phone, on a small screen.

  1. Open Akoue on the watch: the latest book and “Listen” are at the top, the others below.
  2. The player has back, play and forward. Skip intervals match your iPhone. The crown changes the volume. On watches with double tap, tapping your fingers twice pauses and resumes.
  3. Swipe up for chapters. Pick one and the player returns to the buttons.
  4. “…” opens the menu: “Speed”, “Sleep timer” (minutes from 5 to 90 or “To the end of the chapter”; the sound fades as gently as on the phone), “Previous chapter” and “Next chapter”.
05/08

Where the sound goes

Headphones connected to the watch start right away. Without them, it depends on the model.

  1. On SE 3, Series 10 and later, Ultra 2 and later, the book plays through the speaker, and once the watch warns that this drains the battery faster.
  2. On other watches, the system offers a choice of headphones or a speaker. Close it and “Connect headphones” appears.
  3. While charging, any watch plays only through headphones.
06/08

Your position on watch and phone

Listen wherever suits you: your position catches up by itself.

  1. Without the phone, your position and the “finished” mark build up on the watch: the books screen shows “iPhone not connected · position will catch up”.
  2. Once it meets the phone, the position merges by the same rule as between your other devices.
  3. Usually the most recent position wins. But if another device wrote it, both are less than a day old and the newer one is well behind, Akoue asks rather than choosing silently: “Where to continue?” on the watch, “This book is open on another device” on iPhone. Answering on one device closes the question on the other.

With Akoue Pro the position travels further — through iCloud to iPad and your other devices. Between the watch and your own iPhone, the exchange is free.

07/08

Watch storage

Books get a set amount of space, so the watch doesn’t run out of memory.

  1. Set the amount on iPhone: “Settings → Apple Watch”, “Space for books”: 1, 2, 3, 5 or 10 GB, 3 GB by default.
  2. If it doesn’t fit, the phone asks what to remove and offers “Remove and send”: finished books first, then what you haven’t opened in a while. It leaves the book in the player alone.
  3. To remove one book: swipe its row on the watch and choose “Remove from watch”, or use “On watch · Remove” in the book’s menu on iPhone.
  4. To remove everything: the gear on the watch → “Remove all books”. Positions and bookmarks stay on iPhone.

If the watch learns about the shortage before the phone, it asks the same question: “Remove and take” or “Don’t take”.

08/08

Control the phone from your wrist

The book plays on iPhone, while pause and skips are on the watch.

  1. Start a book on iPhone.
  2. On the watch, open the system Now Playing app: it has the title, cover, pause and skips with your intervals.

This doesn’t need Akoue on the watch. Your phone’s settings apply here too: with “Hide the title on the lock screen” you see “Audiobook” instead of the title, and with “Headphone double-press — chapter” chapter buttons may replace the skips.

What the watch doesn’t have yet

  • Showing bookmarks and the book card: bookmarks travel with the book, but you can view and add them only on iPhone.
  • Watch face widgets and Siri commands.
  • Silence skipping, volume leveling and moving on to the next volume: the book simply ends.
  • Choosing a narration: of several, one travels, and you can’t take another yet.
  • Compression and splitting: a book travels as it is, so large files take longer and use more space.
  • Getting books without the phone: books reach the watch only through iPhone.
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