Read aloud.

There is one player and it does the sensible thing without being told. If a part is on this phone it plays from there, instantly, with no internet at all. If it isn't, it streams — it starts within a second or two and only pulls down the piece it is playing, so you can drop into the middle of hour three without waiting for the first two.

The recording lives on the same service that serves this site, not on anything at home, so it is just as quick for anyone you hand the app to.

Downloading does two things at once: it keeps a copy inside the app, which is what makes it play with no signal, and it hands the file to your phone so you can put it in Files and open it in whatever player you like. Updating the app will not throw the copy away. Remove the copy takes the space back.