iOS 8.4 Audiobooks Issues

You welcome, Hackmodford, and thank you for eliminating my frustration dealing with incompetence.

what infuriates me is if you go to the IOS 8.4 page it says you can listen to audiobooks from inside ibooks - it never says ALL your audiobooks will be migrated from iTunes and you can no longer use iTunes for audiobooks. I had a demo of something else I liked so I'll probably go with that but I don't think I will invest in any additional IOS devices since Apple continual policy of musical chairs in which we all loose. It's not just iBooks; far from it. HomeSharing exclusively for iTunes purchases only was another IOS 8.4 hidden slap in the face. On top of that the last few iMacs I had shipped to my office came in boxes that when opened looked like they were packed by abused circus animals hopped up on expired cough medicine - I sent photos to Apple, and they were surprisingly quiet about the incidents with little more than the same boiler plate apology at each instance. They ain't what they used to be is alls I'm sayin'.

For what it's worth, in iOS9, chapter titles seem to have returned. So it's a step back towards the usability we had for, oh, ever. There still don't seem to be any playlists.

That's worth a lot. Thanks for the heads up!

Does iOS 9 fix all the problems that I encountered with audioboos in iBooks?

ios 8 audiobook issues that I experienced before converting all my audiobooks to music:

- 15s ff/rw doesn't work

- scrub bar doesn't work

- bookmarking seemingly disabled (I had to restart chapters every time I had to pause or stop a book)

- cannot order books so they play in a selected order

- different chapters of the same "book" seemed to bug out with if they had differing artwork

Sinzh wrote:

Does iOS 9 fix all the problems that I encountered with audioboos in iBooks?

ios 8 audiobook issues that I experienced before converting all my audiobooks to music:

- 15s ff/rw doesn't work

- scrub bar doesn't work

- bookmarking seemingly disabled (I had to restart chapters every time I had to pause or stop a book)

- cannot order books so they play in a selected order

- different chapters of the same "book" seemed to bug out with if they had differing artwork

On my iPhone with iOS 9.0:

- 15s ff/rw works from in App AND from Lock screen

- Scrub bar works

- Pausing the audio in the app and them coming back to the app keeps you in the right place

- Pausing the audio and killing the app and coming back keeps you in the right place

- Playing the audio, killing iBooks, going back into iBooks and pressing play it keeps you in the right place

- Chapters seem to work. It lists the chapters, I can select one, it seems to go to that chapter

- Playing audio, switching to a different book, returning to the original book the app keeps you in the right place

- I don't see bookmarking in the app at all

- I cannot speak to ordering books, mine seem to be ordered "most recently play first"

- I cannot speak to books with different artwork per chapters, mine all have a single artwork for the book.

SO, iOS 9 may not solve every last problem, but it seems much better from my perspective.

Thanks,

Kevin

Hi

For any users of Audiobook Browser app who have upgraded to iOS9 - sorry if it doesn't work at the moment! I have submitted a new version to the app store, so hopefully it will be out in a few days and will be better than ever.

For anyone who doesn't know it, it is an app I made just to browse audiobooks, including by playlist, and see the chapters arranged properly - check it out if like me you find Apple current system bizzare. There is a paid and free (ad supported) version: Audiobook Browser Free.

MagnusB

iOS 9 didn't consistently fix the lost place problem for me all the time.

The typical "pause/unpause" sequence works as long as it hasn't been for a long period of time/a lot of other activity in other apps: it's unclear exactly which sequence of events works and which doesn't.

Maybe I'll try force quitting every time though that seems counter-intuitive and maybe means it's something else ...

I'm running iOS9.1 as a beta tester. I now find iBook/Audiobooks stops when the iPhone goes to sleep mode. Also, Audiobooks no longer plays in the background, say... If I'm running my GPS in the car, Audiobooks stops. I've taken to using Bookmobile via Bluetooth. At least I can listen while I drive. So many of the functions taken for granted in iOS8 are either not working properly, or no longer included.

In short, I feel Apple has written off Audiobooks as a app worth development.

Too bad. But I guess as long as there are inexpensive apps to do the job, those of us who listen to audiobooks all the time will be ok.

Thank you SOOOOOO much for posting this! It fixed my problem, my audiobook is now back in Itunes and remembers my place, I can also fast forward, rewind etc.. It took me a minute to figure out, here is a step by step. Go to Itunes and control right click on the audiobook file. Go to Get Info and in "Details" and "Options" change from "Audiobook" to "Music". This will move the audiobook from the AWFUL Ibook back to Itunes. Thanks again burgalert!

Hi

Audiobook Browser 1.4 is out now, so hopefully all fully working again and iOS 9 compatible. If so, and it meets your needs, please do leave a positive review! If it is not working for you, please let me know here, or via the app support email link in the store, and I will try and sort things out ASAP.

Magnus

Ok, with iOS 9 nothing is working right.

I feel like I am back to square one. I had downloaded 3 books from my library. Did the "get info" trick (as I reported earlier). Using Undulib app, I had gone through one book and was on my second when iOS9 came along.

Since iOS9, I think it may be as bad or worse than when I started months ago with my books transferred as music to my iPhone 4s. Back then, if I turned off the iPhone, on restarting it would go to a different music track rather than continuing the book track. But if I just let the iphone sleep, it would usually go back to the book.

Right now, if I let the iPhone sleep for several hours, it will restart somewhere earlier in the chapter than where I left off. If it sleeps overnight, either it will jump to a music track or to a completely different chapter in the book.

Actually, I am overstating the predictability of what happens. I am never sure what may come next regardless of how long the phone sleeps.

Examples:

1. Just now I was in Book 2 at Part 09, 4 minutes in. I turned the phone off and back on. Restarted undulib. At least I got back to Part 09 of Book 2, but at the very beginning of the part.

2. Next I paused my book 2 and went back to the Undulib opening list of books. I chose Book 1 and let it start.Then I paused and switched to book 2. Instead of going back to where I left off, it just gave me a list of Parts. Since I remembered I had left off in Part 09, I clicked on it. It brought me to the start of Part 09, not where I had left off at the 4 minute mark.

This is making Books on CD look better and better.

I've been experimenting with saving the bookmark positions myself instead of letting the Apple framework do it. Nothing concrete yet, but If I can play Audible/iTunes purchased books without using the stock player I will be switching to this method and hopefully it will fix issues like this.

If you are working on bookmarks, please keep in mind that a lot of usage is in autos. It is not practical to add a bookmark manually when driving.

With a bluetooth connection, as soon as I turn off the motor my playback pauses. Likely I'd just let the phone sleep and put it in my pocket.