Feature description
Proposed Solution
Add an option (e.g., under Settings > Playback > “Scale duration by playback speed” or scoped to audiobook media types) that scales all visible timestamps to reflect real-world listening time:
Displayed Track Length: Length / Speed (e.g., a 60-minute chapter at 1.5x displays as 40:00)
Displayed Elapsed Time: Counts up at normal 1.0x real-world seconds, accurately reflecting actual time spent listening
Displayed Remaining Time: Scaled to reflect true wall-clock time remaining (Remaining Audio / Speed)
Key Scope & Implementation Details
In-App Now Playing Screen: Update the track progress bar, elapsed timer, and total/remaining time readouts to use the scaled values whenever variable speed is engaged.
Android Auto / MediaSession Integration: Expose the scaled duration and position to Android Auto’s native MediaSession metadata so the in-car dashboard display and progress bar match the real-world drive time.
Preserve Default Behavior: Keep this setting optional so users who prefer tracking absolute file positions (standard 1.0x timestamps) are unaffected.
Problem solved
Problem / Context
When listening to audiobooks or podcasts at variable speeds (e.g., 1.25x, 1.5x, 2.0x), the UI displays absolute audio file timestamps rather than actual wall-clock listening time.
Current behavior: The UI displays absolute audio length (e.g., 60:00), which forces the elapsed seconds counter to visibly tick faster at 1.5x speed while the total duration remains fixed.
Brought benefits
Why this is an issue: It makes it difficult to gauge how much real-world time remains in a chapter without doing mental math. This is especially cumbersome when using Android Auto, where a quick glance is needed to determine if a track will finish before reaching a destination.
Device type
All
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