Phials documentation
Developer docs

Audio

Phials can play many common audio formats directly in the app. The audio preview shows tag information when available, optional artwork from the same folder as the file, and controls to play, pause, skip, and change volume. You can open a larger fullscreen player for a focused listening view.

This page covers files such as MP3, WAV, FLAC, AAC, M4A, OGG, Opus, AIFF, WMA, and WebM when it is audio-only (and similar types the app recognizes as audio).

Prerequisites

  • The file must be a type the preview treats as audio (it appears under audio-related categories in the browser).
  • Playback uses the app’s embedded player. Your operating system still controls the overall output device and system volume.
  • For where previews appear while you browse, see File previews.

What you see

Artwork and title

  • If a matching cover image sits in the same folder as the audio file, Phials may show it. Typical names include cover, folder, album, or front, with extensions such as .jpg, .jpeg, .png, or .webp. Files whose names contain “cover” or “folder” may also be picked up.
  • If no image is found, you see a music icon on a soft gradient background.
  • The title comes from embedded tags when present; otherwise the file name is shown. Artist, album, and year appear when the file includes them.

Progress and playback

  • A horizontal bar shows how far into the track you are and the total length. Drag the control to jump to another time (scrub).
  • Play / Pause is the large center button.
  • Skip back 10 seconds and skip forward 10 seconds sit on either side of play (icons with “10” replay / forward cues).

Volume

  • Use the speaker button to mute or unmute. The small slider next to it sets preview volume for this player (this is separate from system volume).

Technical details

  • When the file provides them, you may see genre, bitrate, sample rate, and the file size as small labels under the controls.

In grid thumbnails, audio files use the same artwork-or-icon look, with a tiny equalizer-style badge in the corner to signal that the item is audio (the badge is decorative, not a live meter).

Open the audio preview

  1. Select an audio file in the file browser so it loads in the preview area.
  2. Press Play when you are ready to listen. The preview loads enough of the file to show duration and tags. A short buffering pause may occur before sound starts.

Fullscreen player

Use Open in fullscreen from the preview toolbar, or double-click the file when your default behaviors are set to open the rich preview (the default for audio is to open fullscreen instead of the system’s default app, unless you changed per-extension behavior).

In fullscreen you get a larger layout with the same controls, autoplay when the view opens, and the file name (plus bitrate and sample rate when known) in the header strip.

Keyboard

  • Space: play or pause (the view catches the key so the page does not scroll).
  • Escape: close fullscreen, the same as leaving the large overlay in other previews.

Click outside the central player card to dismiss it, the same way you would for other overlays, if your build supports that. If you are unsure, Escape always leaves fullscreen from here.

Tips and common questions

  • No artwork: add an image next to the audio file using one of the supported names above, or embed cover art with an external tag editor. Phials reads tags for text fields and looks beside the file for a separate image.
  • Wrong title or missing artist: tags may be empty or inconsistent. What you see reflects what is stored in the file, or the file name for the title.
  • Double-click opens another app: check Default behaviors so audio files use preview (fullscreen) if that is what you want.