Line up narrations with Up Next

Up Next is the list of narrations Narrator plays after the one you're listening to. When a narration read with the EP-1 voice ends, the next one starts by itself, from where you last left it.

Add a narration to Up Next

Every narration in your library can go in Up Next. Open a narration's More menu under Recent narrations, or Control-click its card or row in All narrations, and choose one of these:

• Play Next puts it first, so it plays after the narration you're listening to.
• Add to Up Next puts it last.
• Remove from Up Next takes it out again. It replaces Add to Up Next while the narration is lined up.

The floating player says what happened for a moment, and VoiceOver says it: Plays next, Added to Up Next or Removed from Up Next. The narration you're listening to can't wait behind itself, so its menu shows both items dimmed.

You can also drag a narration onto the Up Next card on the Narrator page: a narration under Recent narrations by its source line, or a card or row from All narrations. Drop it on the top half of a row to put it before that row, on the bottom half to put it after, or under the last row to put it at the end. Dropping it anywhere else on the page does nothing, so it never starts a new narration by accident. In All narrations the card appears only once something is lined up, so add the first one from its menu.

To line up text you've selected in any app, press ⌥⇧⌘N, your Narrate selection shortcut with ⇧, or Control-click the selection and choose Services → Add to Up Next in Epilude. The text joins your library and goes to the end of Up Next. With nothing loaded, both read it now instead, unless you're dictating; Add a selection to Up Next has the details.

See what's lined up

The Up Next card sits on the Narrator page under the Now playing card. It shows while a narration is loaded or anything is lined up, and it appears above All narrations too while anything is lined up. Each row has the narration's title, where it came from, and how many minutes are left at your speed.

The button at the top of the card reads Skip to Next while a narration is loaded and Play Up Next when nothing is. A row's play button plays that narration now and takes it out of Up Next.

The floating player's More menu has an Up Next section with the first five narrations, Skip to Next or Play Up Next, and Clear Up Next. In the menu bar, click the Epilude icon and open Up Next under Narrator for the first eight narrations and the same items; it shows only while something is lined up. Choosing a narration's title in either menu plays it now.

Change the order

Drag a row on the Up Next card to move it. You can also Control-click a row and choose Move Up or Move Down, or Remove from Up Next, and the × on a row takes it out too.

Clear Up Next on the Narrator page can be undone: choose Undo in the message that appears, within 8 seconds. In the floating player and the menu bar, Clear Up Next takes effect at once. Your narrations stay in the library either way.

What moves the list on

When a narration ends, Up Next starts the next one by itself if it is read with the EP-1 voice.

A narration read with a cloud voice waits for you. The floating player and the Narrator page show it as next, with the note Uses a cloud voice, so it starts when you press Play. Press Play, Space, your keyboard's Play key or F9 to start it. Each press starts one narration, and when that one ends the next cloud narration waits again, so cloud minutes are only used once you press Play.

Up Next decides with the voice you've chosen at the moment each narration ends. Switch to the EP-1 voice and the narrations after it play on by themselves; switch back to a cloud voice and each one waits for Play again.

A meeting note or dictation that stayed on your Mac plays on by itself with the EP-1 voice when that voice is on your Mac and reads its language, even when you've chosen a cloud voice. Once you answer Use cloud voice for it, it waits for Play like any cloud narration.

Up Next also holds in these cases:

• Stop, or starting a different narration yourself, never moves Up Next on.
• If you're dictating when a narration ends, the next one waits for Play. While a dictation is on, the play buttons on the card, in the player and in the menu bar are dimmed; you can still remove, reorder and clear.
• If you chose the EP-1 voice but it isn't on your Mac yet, the next narration waits with Needs the EP-1 voice. Press Play to set it up. Press Play to download the voice.
• If the EP-1 voice can't read a note or dictation that stayed on your Mac, Up Next waits at it with Starts when you press Play. and asks nothing while you're away. Press Play and Narrator asks whether to read it with your cloud voice. Cancel leaves it first in Up Next.

With nothing loaded, the Play or pause shortcut and Space on the Narrator page start Up Next or continue your most recent unfinished narration, whichever you used last.

Use the sleep timer with Up Next

While anything is lined up, the sleep timer offers End of Narration. With End of Narration, Narrator stops when this narration ends, whatever voice the next one uses. End of Chapter in a narration's last chapter does the same.

A minutes timer goes on into the next narration when Up Next starts it by itself, and ends when Up Next waits. When you move to a narration with Skip to Next, a row's play button, its title in a menu, or F7 and F9, the timer goes with you: a minutes timer keeps the time it has left, and End of Narration stops at the end of the narration you moved to. Set a sleep timer covers the timer's other choices.

The floating player while Up Next plays

The floating player stays on screen while Up Next waits for you, showing the next narration's title and note. If you close the player with its × while Up Next plays, it stays closed for the narrations Up Next plays on into. The Up Next card and the menu bar still show the list.

Your list is kept

Up Next stays as you left it when you quit and reopen Epilude. Deleting a narration from your library takes it out of Up Next.

Next steps

• Control Narrator playback
• Start a narration
• How cloud voice minutes work