Audiobooks - how to?

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Level 1

74 points

Audiobooks - how to?

Hi,

just wanna ask for a help/explanation. I have some fary tails in mp3 for my girl I wanna play in car. How should I do that?

I imported them to iTunes, wanted them to change the media type to "Audiobook" or "spoken word" or something similar, however, it is not possible. The media type must be only "Music". However, it is sync via iCloud to my iPhone
I tried to import it to Books.app, so it acts like audiobook (great!), however, it is not synced to iPhone Books.app.

So, any idea of how should I do that the best way? How does it work with audiobooks? I don't want the fary tails being played together with music. I like everything organised 😁

iPhone 11

Posted on Sep 13, 2021 1:28 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Roote

Level 4

1,631 points

Sep 18, 2021 1:39 AM in response to jakudo

Beginning with macOS 10.15 Catalina iTunes was replaced with separate Music, Podcasts and Apple TV apps. iBooks was rebranded to Books. The Books app took on the duties of handling audiobooks. Syncing to devices previously handled by iTunes moved to Finder.

Apart from using a third-party solution, you basically have two choices, convert the MP3s to AAC and change the .m4a file extension to .m4b to use in Books or use the MP3s in Music. For the first option, migrate the M4B files to Books on your Mac, attach your iPhone via cable to your Mac and use Finder to sync the files to the Books app on your iPhone, where the files will be stored locally. The advantage of an audiobook is that Books will remember where you last left off. For the second option, open the MP3s in Music and create an Audiobooks playlist to organize them in. The advantage of this option is there is no need to convert them and they will sync via iCloud.

As you see below, syncing via Finder should have a familiar feel to that of syncing with iTunes:

A MP3 audio file converted to a M4B audiobook file and synced to Books on iPhone:

A MP3 audio file organized in an Audiobooks playlist in Music:

Mac mini 8,1(2018), macOS 11.6 Big Sur, iPhone 12 Pro Max, iOS 14.7.1, Music 1.1.6.37 and iTunes 12.9.5.5

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Answer 2

Roote

Level 4

1,631 points

Sep 13, 2021 1:44 PM in response to jakudo

Audiobooks have a .m4b file extension. Convert the MP3 to AAC. You can do this using QuickTime Player. Export as Audio Only. Once exported, change the file extension manually from .m4a to .m4b. Import into iTunes and sync to your iPhone.

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Answer 3

jakudo Author

Level 1

74 points

Sep 18, 2021 1:47 AM in response to Roote

Currently, I have it sync via Books.app.

One thing - you don't need to convert the mp3 to m4b. Books.app can handle the mp3 with no problem at all.

The only problem with it is that it is not sync via iCloud, but you need the cable...

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Answer 4

jakudo Author

Level 1

74 points

Sep 15, 2021 11:02 AM in response to Roote

Thanks for reply. I tried that, however, when I change the extension to .m4b, it cannot be imported to iTunes. It can be imported only to Books.app, which is not iCloud sync :-/

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