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Audiobook Description no longer displayed in iBook!?

I just updated to iTunes 12.2.0.145 on my iMac, and to iOS 8.4 on my iPhone and iPad.


In the previous update, they removed the ability to edit what is essentially the "Lyrics" panel in the desktop iTunes for audiobooks. I listen to a lot of audio dramas, and I prefer to have a brief synopsis, along with a cast list so I can display that on my iPhone while I am out hiking and listening to a drama in audiobook (M4B format).


This new update moves audiobooks from the "Music" app to the "iBooks" app. But in doing so they apparently removed the ability to display notes of any kind about the audiobook! I have tried adding content to the Lyrics panel (when switching option to Music and back to Audiobook—a technique which functioned well in the previous versions, though it was inconvenient), I have also tried adding in the Description window (which has a character limit and does not display in iBook) and to the Comments window.


I listen to between five and ten audiobooks each week. Some of these are, for example, old radio dramas from the 1950s, or contemporary dramas from the BBC. I have spent many dozens of hours adding and editing the artwork and descriptions to each file. The description is like a book blurb or a dramatic personae page in a dense book. It has become essential to my enjoyment of audiobooks and audio dramas.


I am shocked and dismayed that Apple has essentially denied access to a perfectly useful feature, which is already coded into the M4B database format. I do not expect this will be addressed by Apple, but I am disgusted, and I will be searching for a third-party piece of software which will allow me to listen to the audio formats I have, utilizing the original features of the file format for audiobooks.

iPhone 5c, iOS 8.4

Posted on Jul 3, 2015 5:34 PM

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Audiobook Description no longer displayed in iBook!?

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