User profile for user: JoyGrace
JoyGrace Author
User level: Level 1
4 points

Audiobook playing out of order

I have audiobooks purchased from the iTunes store and many that I have transferred from CDs borrowed from the library. Books I have transferred are suddenly not playing back in order (some of these books I have had for several years), the tracks seem to be playing in "shuffle". I have saved each book as a playlist then in Get Info/Options have selected audiobook, part of compilation,remember position, skip when shuffling and gapless album. This has worked really well until recently though I am not sure if it coincides with the iTunes update. I have 32GB iTouch (original). Please help!

MacBook, Mac OS X (10.5.8)

Posted on Sep 26, 2009 3:30 PM

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10 replies
User profile for user: banana007
banana007
User level: Level 1
10 points

Oct 18, 2009 12:46 AM in response to JoyGrace

i have the same problem. i think this happened after the 3.1 update. but heres a solution. it seems that ipod dosent recognized audiobook anymore. its supposed to disable shuffle mode automatically when you use go to an audio book but now it dosent. so you have to go back to your music, turn off shuffle mode then go to your audiobook. you dont have to do this before, but now you have to for you to be able to listen to your audiobooks in order. i hope they find a pemanent solution soon though. but for the meantime try this.
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User profile for user: SLCLance
SLCLance
User level: Level 1
14 points

Nov 25, 2009 8:02 AM in response to banana007

Sorry to sound stupid but I don't understand where you said to "go back to music and turn off shuffle." I have gone to "settings" and turned it off. And, in iTunes it is not blue, but whenever I look at the iPod for music it shows Shuffle at the top. How do I turn it off? I want to play an audiobook in chapter order but it keeps choosing the chapters at random.
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User profile for user: sgtlmj
sgtlmj
User level: Level 1
0 points

Dec 8, 2009 7:22 AM in response to SLCLance

I got it. Took me a few minutes to figure out too.

To "go back to music" means get out of the Audiobook section and play a regular song. Once the song is playing, look for the "shuffle" icon. It's probably selected (blue). Turn it off. You can then go back to your audiobooks and they will play in the correct order.

It seems that once the music is set to shuffle, it shuffles everything.
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User profile for user: Panapoly
Panapoly
User level: Level 1
0 points

Jan 27, 2010 3:37 PM in response to JoyGrace

Ok. I spoke with an apple representative today because I was having the same problem.
Apparently if you have used genius or smart playlist this can throw your audiobook order off. All you need to do is

#1 - Place your audiobook in a playlist
#2 - Make sure the tracks are in order in iTunes
#3 - Right click on the 'playlist' file. Press 'Copy to Play Order'.
#4 - Sync your i-Pod

If you still have problems you might need to create a new playlist and drag the audiobook
tracks into it and then repeat the above steps.

Hope this helps.
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User profile for user: JoyGrace
JoyGrace Author
User level: Level 1
4 points

Feb 9, 2010 5:47 PM in response to banana007

Thanks! Sorry that I have taken so long to acknowledge your response. Your solution worked really well though I can't imagine how you stumbled on it. I enjoy apps and podcasts but my iTouch is mostly an audio library and I was extremely frustrated by the shuffling. If Apple is listening I hope this issue is resolved in future updates.
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Audiobook playing out of order

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