iPhone Audiobooks on ios 8.4?

[dordale]

Does anyone here use their iPhone for audiobooks? I haven't updated my phone to ios 8.4 yet. Based on what I've read in the Apple Discussion forums, I'm not sure I want to.

I've read that they moved audiobooks from the music app to iBooks in ios 8.4--which isn't a problem for me, but it sounds like they've messed with the formatting and people who've upgraded aren't seeing the title information anymore. Apparently, any actual track titles have been replaced with generic listings: "Track 1", "Track 2", etc.

Most of my audiobooks are ripped from CDs--where I create one track for each CD. All the tracks have the same album name. Not sure how these will appear in the new iBooks app--will each track appear as a separate audiobook, or will iBooks recognize that they are all part of the same book? Does anyone here know?

I've also read that folks are having problems with iBooks remembering the last position played within a track--always starting at the beginning beginning of the track. Other posts have mentioned that the screen isn't updating the track position correctly as the audio book is being played--just stays at 0:00. Still others have said they are having problems with the quick 15 second rewind/ff not working.

Needless to say, after reading the above I'm a little hesitant to upgrade to ios 8.4...Would appreciate it if anyone with "Real World" experience of audiobook functionality on ios 8.4 would share their findings.

Thanks!

[kyteflyer]

Confirmed that all tracks are named by Track 1 etc. Even books which are bought from Apple have that. I wish they were titled by Chapter. I have a couple of ripped a-books, and they are recognised as a-books by their title, and subtitled track 1 etc. instead of chapter names. To be absolutely honest I cannot remember if the chapter titles were ever available. I suspect a book ripped to *one* track will still show as a book but subtitled by Track 1, if my multitrack rips are anything to go by.

I'm not having issues with ibooks remembering where it is.

[edit] Just read back and see that all your books have the same album name. THat is something you'll need to change. They will need to be titled by book name. Otherwise your worst fears will come to pass.

[dordale]

Originally Posted by kyteflyer

Confirmed that all tracks are named by Track 1 etc. Even books which are bought from Apple have that. I wish they were titled by Chapter. I have a couple of ripped a-books, and they are recognised as a-books by their title, and subtitled track 1 etc. instead of chapter names. To be absolutely honest I cannot remember if the chapter titles were ever available. I suspect a book ripped to *one* track will still show as a book but subtitled by Track 1, if my multitrack rips are anything to go by.

I'm not having issues with ibooks remembering where it is.

[edit] Just read back and see that all your books have the same album name. THat is something you'll need to change. They will need to be titled by book name. Otherwise your worst fears will come to pass.

Thanks kyteflyer--I think I'll hold off on updating for awhile. Maybe Apple will make some improvements for audiobooks in the next firmware release.

And to clarify--all my audiobooks don't have the same album name. Most of my books are ripped from CDs. As an example, I have an unabridged audiobook named "Vanished" by Joseph Finder. The audiobook came on 9 cds. I've converted each of the CDs to an individual audio track. All 9 cds have the album name "Vanished" and song/chapter titles: "Vanished 1 of 9", "Vanished 2 of 9", etc. So, I'd want these to show up as one audiobook with 9 tracks and of course be in the correct order.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by dordale

Thanks kyteflyer--I think I'll hold off on updating for awhile. Maybe Apple will make some improvements for audiobooks in the next firmware release.

And to clarify--all my audiobooks don't have the same album name. Most of my books are ripped from CDs. As an example, I have an unabridged audiobook named "Vanished" by Joseph Finder. The audiobook came on 9 cds. I've converted each of the CDs to an individual audio track. All 9 cds have the album name "Vanished" and song/chapter titles: "Vanished 1 of 9", "Vanished 2 of 9", etc. So, I'd want these to show up as one audiobook with 9 tracks and of course be in the correct order.

If you're ripping your own CDs to MP3, won't they be treated like any other MP3 album would? The iPhone won't know it's an audiobook.

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by HarryT

If you're ripping your own CDs to MP3, won't they be treated like any other MP3 album would? The iPhone won't know it's an audiobook.

You can flag the file(s) as an audiobook, as opposed to music, in iTunes.

[HarryT]

Thanks, I wasn't aware of that. Is there any benefit in doing so?

[Josieb1]

I have hundreds of my own audio books on my iPhone. They are all flagged as audiobooks in iTunes, each one is a single file and named correctly. They all now appear in books which I must admit I really like as I don't use ibooks for anything else so it's like I have a dedicated app for them now

My audio books are mb4 files ( I think,iTunes isn't open for me to check) they are not mp3.

[dordale]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Thanks, I wasn't aware of that. Is there any benefit in doing so?

In versions before ios 8.4, mp3 files flagged as "audiobooks" would show up under the audiobook category in the music app (as opposed to being lumped in with music files). Flagging a file as an audiobook allows you to increase or decrease the playback speed. And it enables a 15 second quick rewind and 15 second quick fast forward option.

I believe files flagged as audiobooks are set to automatically remember your playback position and to be skipped when shuffling music. These last two aren't really necessary anymore since iTunes enables you to set these options separately.

[HarryT]

Thanks, I'll have to have a play with that. A significant proportion of what's on my iPhone is recorded radio drama, and that sounds useful.

[dordale]

Originally Posted by Josieb1

I have hundreds of my own audio books on my iPhone. They are all flagged as audiobooks in iTunes, each one is a single file and named correctly. They all now appear in books which I must admit I really like as I don't use ibooks for anything else so it's like I have a dedicated app for them now

My audio books are mb4 files ( I think,iTunes isn't open for me to check) they are not mp3.

Thanks Josie--Most of my files are mp3, but I do think I have some m4b files as well. What I think I'll do is wait for my husband to update his iphone to ios 8.4. He doesn't listen to audiobooks, but I'll be able to load some of my audiobook files on his phone to see how they are being treated.

I'm with you--I never use iBooks for reading files, so it would be nice to have them in their own app.

Just thought of something else to consider before updating--I like to listen to my audiobooks in my car during my commute. I'm not sure how the interface in my car will work with audiobooks under ios8.4...

[kyteflyer]

Originally Posted by HarryT

If you're ripping your own CDs to MP3, won't they be treated like any other MP3 album would? The iPhone won't know it's an audiobook.

I ripped to mp3 and then converted to audiobook format with a Mac app called Audiobook builder. It creates an audiobook that iTunes recognises, rather than having mp3 files scattered through your music.

[kyteflyer]

Originally Posted by dordale

I'm with you--I never use iBooks for reading files, so it would be nice to have them in their own app.

Me too. I was really annoyed that they dumped them in iBooks. I used to have a separate audiobook player, cant remember its name but would recognise it if I saw it on the app store.... I cant see it there anymore. Its a heck of a pest because it cost me $5 or $6 at the time, and in the end I decided itunes was good enough so I deleted it. I may still have it buried in an old backed up mobile apps folder. Hope so.

[edit] Found it buried in a folder. Its called AudioButler, and I don't see it on the app store anymore. It may be incompatible with current iOS or else Apple kicked it out. No idea, I'm installing on my 5S to see if it will still work. I'll edit again if theres any joy (and no. It installs, and you can add books via file sharing in itunes, but it freezes if you try to access them. Oh well, nice idea)

[sabredog]

iBooks is terrible and I was quite happy to have all my audiobooks lumped into the iMusic app.

Hopefully iOS 9 might fix up this issue.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by sabredog

iBooks is terrible and I was quite happy to have all my audiobooks lumped into the iMusic app.

iBooks isn't my personal choice of reading app, but there's nothing about it that I'd describe as "terrible". It has a decent UI and its shelves work well enough as an organisational mechanism. What is it specifically that you find so dreadful?

[sabredog]

The audiobook interface is unintuitive and far less user friendly than the pre-8.4 iMusic access method.

I do not use iBooks for the odd times I READ ebooks, so I cannot comment on that aspect.