Using mxplayer as an audio player and more importantly as wonderful audiobook and language learning tool.

<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8' standalone='yes' ?><mx-player application="mx_player" version-code="86" version-name="1.7.40"><preferences><bool name="default_deinterlace" value="false" /><bool name="back_to_list" value="false" /><string name="list.theme" value="white" /><bool name="android_40_compatible_mode.2" value="false" /><bool name="italic_tag" value="false" /><bool name="swdecoder_net" value="false" /><string name="http_user_agent" value="Mozilla/5.0 (Linux; Android 2.3.5; en-US; HTC Wildfire S A510e Build/GRJ90) MXPlayer/1.7.40" /><bool name="osd_background" value="true" /><bool name="osd_bottom" value="true" /><bool name="loading_circle_animation" value="true" /><bool name="smart_prev" value="true" /><bool name="interface_auto_hide" value="true" /><bool name="show_hidden" value="false" /><bool name="sync_system_volume" value="true" /><float name="subtitle_default_sync" value="0.0" /><bool name="delete_subtitle_files_together" value="false" /><int name="subtitle_text_color" value="-1" /><bool name="ssa_broken_font_ignore" value="false" /><bool name="prevnext_to_rewff" value="false" /><bool name="fast_seek" value="true" /><bool name="mark_last_played_media_for_each_folders" value="true" /><bool name="resume_only_first" value="false" /><int name="subtitle_typeface_style" value="1" /><bool name="sticky_audio" value="true" /><string name="resume_last" value="resume" /><bool name="show_prev_next" value="false" /><int name="screen.style.control.color.highlight" value="-2006739201" /><bool name="omxdecoder_net" value="false" /><int name="screen.style.control.color.normal" value="-1" /><bool name="try_omx_if_hw_fails" value="false" /><bool name="quit_button" value="false" /><bool name="navi_show_move_buttons" value="true" /><int name="osd_text_color" value="-3355444" /><int name="subtitle_alignment" value="1" /><bool name="allow_edits" value="false" /><int name="fullscreen" value="0" /><bool name="default_swaudio" value="false" /><string name="color_format" value="rgb565" /><int name="screen_orientation" value="6" /><int name="osd_back_color" value="-2013265920" /><bool name="screen_brightness_auto" value="false" /><bool name="button_backlight_off" value="true" /><bool name="album_art" value="true" /><bool name="subtitle_fit_overlay_to_video" value="false" /><bool name="ssa_font_ignore" value="false" /><int name="subtitle_border_color" value="-16777216" /><bool name="status_show_always" value="true" /><bool name="use_speedup_tricks" value="false" /><int name="screen.style.frame_color" value="-2013265920" /><bool name="keep_screen_on" value="false" /><bool name="subtitle_hw_accel" value="true" /><int name="screen_lock_mode" value="0" /><int name="interface_auto_hide_delay" value="1000" /><int name="screen.style.progress_bar.placement" value="1" /><float name="subtitle_text_size.2" value="20.0" /><bool name="respect_nomedia" value="true" /><bool name="show_interface_at_the_startup" value="false" /><float name="subtitle_scale" value="1.0" /><bool name="pause_on_headset_disconnected" value="true" /><int name="screen.style.progress_bar.color" value="-10027111" /><bool name="subtitle_auto_display" value="true" /><bool name="double_tap_back_key" value="false" /><bool name="force_ltr" value="true" /><bool name="swaudio_net" value="false" /><string name="subtitle_folder" value="/mnt/sdcard/Subtitles" /><bool name="try_hw_if_omx_fails" value="false" /><bool name="sticky" value="true" /><string name="subtitle_charset" value="" /><bool name="media_buttons" value="true" /><int name="lock_mode" value="0" /><bool name="cache_thumbnail" value="true" /><int name="gestures" value="56" /><bool name="omxdecoder.2" value="true" /><int name="noticed_version" value="86" /><bool name="battery_clock_in_title_bar" value="true" /><bool name="quick_zoom" value="false" /><string name="user_locale" value="" /><int name="font_cache.version" value="1" /><string name="core_limit" value="0" /><int name="navi_move_interval" value="5" /><bool name="subtitle_border_enabled" value="false" /><bool name="screen.style.frame_border" value="true" /><bool name="subtitle_show_hw" value="false" /><int name="subtitle_bkcolor" value="-2013265920" /><bool name="subtitle_bkcolor_enabled" value="true" /><bool name="scroll_down_to_last_media" value="true" /><bool name="video_zoom_limited" value="false" /><string name="video_scan_roots.2" value="%2Fmnt%2Fsdcard%2FAudiobooks" /><string name="new_tagged_period" value="7" /><int name="screen.style.preset.2" value="0" /><float name="screen_brightness" value="0.05" /><int name="subtitle_bottom_padding.2" value="118" /><bool name="audio_fade_in_on_start" value="false" /><bool name="subtitle_shadow_enabled" value="true" /><float name="subtitle_border_thickness" value="0.08" /><bool name="omxdecoder_notified" value="true" /><string name="playback.theme" value="black_blueAccent" /><bool name="audio_focus" value="true" /><int name="screen.style.progress_bar.style" value="0" /><string name="typeface_dir" value="/mnt/sdcard" /><bool name="headset_show_system_volume_ui" value="true" /><float name="calibrate_hw_play_position" value="0.0" /><float name="drag_seek_speed" value="3.937008" /><bool name="elapsed_time_show_always" value="true" /><bool name="audio_fade_in_on_seek" value="false" /><bool name="omxdecoder_local" value="true" /><bool name="omx_audio_with_sw_video" value="true" /><bool name="hw_audio_track_selectable" value="false" /><bool name="volume_boost" value="true" /><bool name="lock_show_interface" value="true" /><int name="playback_touch_action" value="3" /><int name="screen.style.on_screen_button_background" value="1" /><bool name="toggle_on_media_play_button" value="false" /><bool name="soft_main_keys" value="false" /><bool name="pause_if_obscured" value="false" /><bool name="swaudio_local" value="false" /><bool name="correct_hw_aspect_ratio" value="true" /><bool name="seek_previews" value="false" /><bool name="screen_rotation_button" value="false" /><bool name="display_seeking_position" value="true" /><int name="list.view" value="3" /><bool name="subtitle_auto_display_embedded" value="false" /><bool name="selection_mode" value="false" /><bool name="show_left_time" value="true" /><bool name="swdecoder_local" value="false" /><component name="play_link" value="true" /><component name="audio_player" value="false" /></preferences></mx-player>

MXPLAYER is mainly a video player App for Android.

But when tweaked through the huge amount of settings it has it can be a very cool tool for audiobooks and language learning.

First let me explain how I use it:

Listening books.

I like to be able to pause, rewind a few seconds and change volume anytime

without having to unlock the phone every time or without it wasting battery unnecessarily.

Language learning tool.

Like in the case of listening books, but with stress on rewinding, and lots of pauses, all without having to look at the screen (I want to be focused on the task, not on clicking buttons on the screen of my phone).

There are many audiobook tools out there. When looking at them one of the main pain points (for me) was the size of the buttons. I use a tiny smartphone for these tasks and the buttons had to be huge. In this regard Audio Book Player of Fredrik M. has been always my favourite, until I started using an old smartphone for the audiobooks and in that android version this App was not compatible.

All the other players did not satisfy me. mxplayer did, to some degree, but I had to change lots of things.

How I changed the settings on mxplayer

I won't list here all the changes as that would be very difficult, but will speak about the main. I had to go through many iterations until I got it how I wanted.

- Use as audio player (that is the first thing)

- Remember the position played for each file

- Screen controls

Remove next/previous (to don't touch them accidentally)

Go to full screen

Pause on screen touch and show controls

Don't allow the phone to lock

Display extra info when on full screen

The main resulting characteristics are now (after the changes):

- The whole screen is the pause button, and then (when the controls appear) most of the screen is play button too, so my finger on the center of the screen will give me the pause/play functionality. This is very important specially when using the audio to learn languages (like for example the Pimsleur course).

- I can rewind just with a gesture, not even looking at the screen

- Most of the screen is black, so battery use is minimized

I attach here the settings I have now. You may be able to import them and save all the hassle of change-try-test-change that I had to do.

I hope it helps others.

PS: There is one thing I could not change yet. I'd like the progress bar to be removed from the controls window, as sometimes I touch it accidentally. If you know how to remove it, please let me know.