diff --git a/auditui/playback.py b/auditui/playback.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..aed8ab3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/auditui/playback.py
@@ -0,0 +1,160 @@
+"""Playback control for Auditui."""
+
+import os
+import shutil
+import signal
+import subprocess
+from pathlib import Path
+from typing import Callable
+
+
+StatusCallback = Callable[[str], None]
+
+
+class PlaybackController:
+    """Manage playback through ffplay."""
+
+    def __init__(self, notify: StatusCallback) -> None:
+        self.notify = notify
+        self.playback_process: subprocess.Popen | None = None
+        self.is_playing = False
+        self.is_paused = False
+        self.current_file_path: Path | None = None
+        self.current_asin: str | None = None
+
+    def start(self, path: Path, activation_hex: str | None = None) -> bool:
+        """Start playing a local file using ffplay."""
+        if not shutil.which("ffplay"):
+            self.notify("ffplay not found. Please install ffmpeg")
+            return False
+
+        if self.playback_process is not None:
+            self.stop()
+
+        cmd = ["ffplay", "-nodisp", "-autoexit"]
+        if activation_hex:
+            cmd.extend(["-activation_bytes", activation_hex])
+        cmd.append(str(path))
+
+        try:
+            self.playback_process = subprocess.Popen(
+                cmd, stdout=subprocess.DEVNULL, stderr=subprocess.DEVNULL
+            )
+
+            if self.playback_process.poll() is not None:
+                return_code = self.playback_process.returncode
+                self.notify(f"Playback process exited immediately (code: {return_code})")
+                self.playback_process = None
+                return False
+
+            self.is_playing = True
+            self.is_paused = False
+            self.current_file_path = path
+            self.notify(f"Playing: {path.name}")
+            return True
+
+        except Exception as exc:
+            self.notify(f"Error starting playback: {exc}")
+            return False
+
+    def stop(self) -> None:
+        """Stop the current playback."""
+        if self.playback_process is None:
+            return
+
+        try:
+            if self.playback_process.poll() is None:
+                self.playback_process.terminate()
+                try:
+                    self.playback_process.wait(timeout=2)
+                except subprocess.TimeoutExpired:
+                    self.playback_process.kill()
+                    self.playback_process.wait()
+        except ProcessLookupError:
+            pass
+        except Exception:
+            pass
+        finally:
+            self.playback_process = None
+            self.is_playing = False
+            self.is_paused = False
+            self.current_file_path = None
+            self.current_asin = None
+
+    def pause(self) -> None:
+        """Pause the current playback."""
+        if not (self.playback_process and self.is_playing and not self.is_paused):
+            return
+
+        if not self.is_alive():
+            self.stop()
+            self.notify("Playback process has ended")
+            return
+
+        try:
+            os.kill(self.playback_process.pid, signal.SIGSTOP)
+            self.is_paused = True
+            self.notify(self._status_message("Paused"))
+        except ProcessLookupError:
+            self.stop()
+            self.notify("Process no longer exists")
+        except PermissionError:
+            self.notify("Permission denied: cannot pause playback")
+        except Exception as exc:
+            self.notify(f"Error pausing playback: {exc}")
+
+    def resume(self) -> None:
+        """Resume the current playback."""
+        if not (self.playback_process and self.is_playing and self.is_paused):
+            return
+
+        if not self.is_alive():
+            self.stop()
+            self.notify("Playback process has ended")
+            return
+
+        try:
+            os.kill(self.playback_process.pid, signal.SIGCONT)
+            self.is_paused = False
+            self.notify(self._status_message("Playing"))
+        except ProcessLookupError:
+            self.stop()
+            self.notify("Process no longer exists")
+        except PermissionError:
+            self.notify("Permission denied: cannot resume playback")
+        except Exception as exc:
+            self.notify(f"Error resuming playback: {exc}")
+
+    def check_status(self) -> str | None:
+        """Check if playback process has finished and return status message."""
+        if self.playback_process is None:
+            return None
+
+        return_code = self.playback_process.poll()
+        if return_code is None:
+            return None
+
+        finished_file = self.current_file_path
+        self.playback_process = None
+        self.is_playing = False
+        self.is_paused = False
+
+        self.current_file_path = None
+        self.current_asin = None
+
+        if finished_file:
+            if return_code == 0:
+                return f"Finished: {finished_file.name}"
+            return f"Playback ended unexpectedly (code: {return_code}): {finished_file.name}"
+        return "Playback finished"
+
+    def _status_message(self, prefix: str) -> str:
+        """Generate status message with filename if available."""
+        filename = self.current_file_path.name if self.current_file_path else ""
+        return f"{prefix}: {filename}" if filename else prefix
+
+    def is_alive(self) -> bool:
+        """Check if playback process is still running."""
+        if self.playback_process is None:
+            return False
+        return self.playback_process.poll() is None