Playing audio books on the iPad using just Siri (for a blind person)

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Level 4

1,388 points

Playing audio books on the iPad using just Siri (for a blind person)

I'm trying to help an 87 year old friend whose eyesight is rapidly degrading enjoy audio books easily. Lately what we've been doing is downloading books from audible.com. They will get put in this iTunes "books" section. From there he has been able to locate the book icon and tap it to play.

But this is quickly becoming impossible because he can't even see the icon to tap it. And he just can't get the hang of assistive touch features.

He can play music on his iPad by just using the Siri "Play...." voice command. I'm thinking if I can get audio books into his Music library somehow he can do the same thing.

I tried with the Audible app though, and they just end up in the Audible player, which is no use, because the Audible player has no Siri interface because Apple doesn't allow 3rd party apps to use Siri.

If I can sync books from iTunes on his iMac to his iPad, where do they end up? I don't have any audio books myself. Are they in a section in the Music app on his iPad if present?

I'm looking on my own iPad right now and see "Radio, Playlists, Artists, Songs, Albums, Genres, Compilations and Composers."

But I don't see a section for "Audiobooks" like in iTunes on my MacBook Pro.

Are audio books on the iPad played with a different app, which can be used by Siri?

Lets say this is possible, what are the other voice commands he can use in addition to "Play ...". Is there a pause or stop command as well?

I'd like to make this as easy for him as possible.

Thanks for any advice you can give.

doug

MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Late 2013), i5, 512 GB SSD, 16 GB RAM

Posted on Apr 12, 2014 1:00 AM

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Answer 1

TomRV

Level 1

5 points

Sep 12, 2015 10:07 AM in response to Doug Lerner2

Have you had any luck finding a solution? I am just starting to look into this for my mom.

I found this link which sounds like it may have some promise:

http://www.windowscentral.com/audible-gets-updated-windows-phone-8-voice-command s

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Answer 2

TomRV

Level 1

5 points

Sep 13, 2015 11:03 AM in response to Doug Lerner2

Thanks for your reply Doug. I'm very sorry about your loss.

As to my mom, I'm going with a dual approach. Since the current state of technology has multiple pitfalls, I'm also going to get her a CD player and CD-based audio books. That way I'll have her covered if I can't get her iPad to work or it hiccups. Mom's not completely blind yet, but she has to use peripheral vision, as her direct line of sight is out and we don't know how fast it will get worse.

I wish you the best.

Tom

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Answer 3

Jun 5, 2016 8:52 AM in response to Doug Lerner2

I used the voice-over feature to read me a news story on my phone yesterday. It takes some patience, but I wouldn't call it difficult. Unfortunately, I can't convince my mother to do this.

My mother uses the Audible app on her iPad, and she can make out the icons and book names, especially the familiar ones, with a magnifying glass. I search for new books and buy them, and they appear in her library ready for downloading. It's a fairly simple interface—tap on a book and it opens and starts to play. The play and pause button is large. Click on the open book icon to return to the library.

She sometimes taps to zoom on her iPad, but she forgets about this feature.

She also has an Amazon Echo, which now integrates with Audible. She prefers to use her iPad, partly because it's portable, but it's possible to get audio books on Echo entirely using voice commands. She has several Pandora stations set up for use with the Echo, and she can ask for the weather, etc. I set up a Google calendar for her so she can add items and hear reminders. This is what I thought Apple would roll out when it added Siri to Apple TV. I don't know why Siri has been so slow to evolve.

As for iBooks on an iPad, I think it's a matter of navigating to a book, tapping the home button three times to turn on voice-over features, and swiping down (or is it up?) with three fingers to start Siri reading. I explained this to my mother, and she protests that she is too old to learn. I remind her she successfully uses an iPad, an Echo, and a fax machine (plus a Kindle when she could see better). ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Mark

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