# FlixCast 0.1.0.218

A podcast player for Windows you can drive entirely from the keyboard and with
a screen reader.

<https://flixcast.app> · Build `a4404c6` · *Deutsche Fassung: `README_DE.md`*

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## What FlixCast is

FlixCast was built from the start for screen readers and the keyboard, rather
than made accessible afterwards. Every control is focusable and labelled, every
command has a menu entry, and status changes are written to the status bar so
NVDA speaks them instead of them happening silently.

FlixCast also runs on iPhone and Apple Watch. With an account, every device
shares one library.

## The four places

| Key | Place | What it holds |
|---|---|---|
| `Ctrl+1` | Queue | What you are listening to and what comes next |
| `Ctrl+2` | Inbox | New episodes from your subscriptions arrive here |
| `Ctrl+3` | Library | Your subscriptions as a tree, `Ctrl+F` searches it |
| `Ctrl+4` | Trending | Search the directory and subscribe |

The same player bar sits below all of them.

## The one rule that explains the rest

> **Position one of the queue is what is in the player.**

So moving an episode to the top means playing it. When an episode ends, the next
one moves into position one and keeps going.

There is no second, invisible "now playing" state beside the list — the list
**is** the state. If you know what is at the top, you know what will happen.

| Key | Action |
|---|---|
| `Ctrl+E` | Add to the end of the queue |
| `Ctrl+Shift+E` | Play next |
| `Ctrl+Shift+Up` / `Down` | Move one position |
| `Ctrl+Shift+Home` / `End` | Move to the top or the bottom |
| `Delete` | Take out of the queue |

## Listening

| Key | Action |
|---|---|
| `Ctrl+Space` | Pause / resume |
| `Ctrl+Left` | Back 15 seconds |
| `Ctrl+Right` | Forward 30 seconds |
| `Ctrl+PgUp` / `PgDn` | Faster / slower |
| `Ctrl+Up` / `Down` | Louder / quieter |
| `Ctrl+J` | Jump to a position |
| `Ctrl+Shift+Left` / `Right` | Previous / next episode |
| `Alt+Left` / `Right` | Previous / next chapter |
| `Alt+C` | Chapter list |
| `Ctrl+T` | Transcript, when the podcast ships one |

There is a sleep timer in the **Playback** menu.

## Two things that make listening easier

### Skip silence — `Alt+S`

Longer pauses in the conversation are skipped. About 150 milliseconds of quiet
is left on each side of the jump so speech never sounds clipped, and pauses too
short to be worth it are left alone.

### Normalise loudness — `Alt+L`

Measures the episode to EBU R128 and lifts or lowers it to an even level, so the
next podcast is not suddenly twice as loud as the last.

Both are analysed once, the first time an episode plays, and remembered.

## Subscriptions

| Key | Action |
|---|---|
| `Ctrl+L` | Add a podcast by feed address |
| `Ctrl+O` | Import OPML (moving from another player) |
| `Ctrl+R` | Fetch new episodes |
| `F2` | Edit the feed |
| `F3` / `F4` | Favourite / played |
| `Ctrl+D` | Download |
| `Ctrl+Shift+P` | Settings for this podcast |

OPML export is in the **File** menu. Each podcast can have its own settings:
what to download automatically, where new episodes go, how long they stay.

Downloaded episodes play offline. Without a download, they stream.

## Account and sync

Optional — FlixCast works completely without an account, and then everything
stays on this machine.

With an account, the desktop, the iPhone and the Watch share one queue, one set
of play positions and one set of subscriptions. Where you stop is where you
carry on. `Ctrl+Shift+S` syncs immediately; otherwise it happens by itself in
the background, and a change made on another device usually arrives within
seconds.

## Every shortcut: `F1`

The list behind `F1` is generated from the same table the menus are built from,
so it cannot show a shortcut the program does not actually bind — unlike this
file, which is written by hand.

**When the two disagree, `F1` is right.**

## Where your data lives

In `%APPDATA%\FlixCast` — subscriptions, play positions, settings and downloads.
Not in the program folder, and not in the registry.

That is true of both editions, installed and portable. They see the same
library, so you can switch between them without losing anything.

**Portable.** Nothing is installed and nothing is written to the registry. Run
`flixcast.exe` from wherever the folder sits, including a USB stick. Deleting
the folder deletes the program, not your podcasts.

**Installed.** Uninstall through *Settings → Apps*. Your library is kept,
because it lives in `%APPDATA%\FlixCast`.

The three `.dll` files beside `flixcast.exe` are the Microsoft C runtime. They
have to stay next to it.

## The warning from Windows

The first time you run it, SmartScreen speaks up. FlixCast is not yet signed
with a certificate, and Windows warns about every program it does not recognise.

The way through is **More info**, then **Run anyway**.

Checksums for the downloads are at
<https://flixcast.app/download/SHA256SUMS.txt>
