iBooks for Audiobooks is now less than basic compared with iTunes and the Book app wants to transfer all my audiobooks (195GB) from my external HD to my laptops 128GBSSD. What are the options to modify where audiobooks are located?
It's the same idea as this:
https://www.imore.com/how-move-your-itunes-library-external-hard-drive
With the audiobooks, you'll find the Books for Mac library by typing this address into the Go to Folder... bar:
~/Library/Containers/com.apple.BKAgentService/Data/Documents/iBooks
If you want to compile your audiobooks into playlists, you'll have to convert them to MP3s, first (I use OpenAudible, as of last night), and then, drag and drop them into the Music for Mac app. Don't bother trying to use the Books app for audiobook playback, because it's not an app designed to be a media player, and the controls are worthless.
Library locations:
https://www.macobserver.com/news/catalina-media-file-locations/
Mp3 whilst a potential solution obviously destroys the audiobook chapter structure. I've also been experimenting with changing the extensions from m4b to m4a - in some instances this works a treat, others (usually DRM audiobooks) won't play. Frankly, we should not have to be messing around to do this. Apple seems to have successfully undermined its' audiobook product experience. I've been moving increasingly to Audible, I think this now seals that decision. Similarly, I used have Apple music until it destroyed my library and playlists - since moved to Amazon Music for streaming.
So - the way I got around this was by converting my audiobooks into MP3s (using OpenAudible) and then, transferring (through dragging and dropping) them into the Music Mac app.
OpenAudible takes a second to figure out, and honestly, it's easier to drag and drop your audiobook files straight into it, rather than attempting to connect your Audible account. When you do this, however, it creates a duplicate of your original audiobook formatted file in the OpenAudible folder, which temporarily takes up space. You can then set OpenAudible to automatically convert your files to MP3s...which creates a THIRD file (this time, in MP3 format), which you then drag and drop into the Music app (creating a FOURTH file).
After doing this, you can, then, delete the original audiobook file (in the iBooks library), the second file in the OpenAudible library, and the third file (the MP3 conversion) in the OpenAudible MP3 folder, because Music will automatically create a copy in its library.
Is this a needlessly cumbersome process?
Yes.
Yes, it is.
But, this is, sadly, probably the most convenient way to place AUDIO files into an app (and library) that is meant to play AUDIO files.
Books was never designed to serve as a media player and, as such, lacks a lot of the functionality that was present in iTunes. By converting your audiobooks into MP3s, you've got a lot more versatility - you can organize them into playlists (which was what I have done), modify their information under the 'Get Info' right-click option (which allows you to change the volume output and EQ settings), and edit author/artist names to better organize your collection.
When I first upgraded to Catalina, of all the various changes, the shunting of my meticulously curated audiobook playlists into the virtually worthless Books app sent me into a fiery rage (from which my cats are still shaken).
I hope this helps.
OpenAudible reviewed this yesterday - no support for m4b (iTunes audiobook format) which forms the bulk of my audiobook library, but, I get the solution (e.g. converting to MP3), thank you. I'll check out apps that can convert m4b to mp3. For now I'm holding off upgrading to 10.15 on my main machine.
Audiobook Management - Catalina.
