5 ms·

This looks like a very cool service, but there are a few problems with DRM music I've been unable to solve, I would love to hear suggestions if anyone has this

This looks like a very cool service, but there are a few problems with DRM music I've been unable to solve, I would love to hear suggestions if anyone has this figured out. But for now I haven't used anything better than audible. 1. Syncing audio between devices. (i.e. switch from listening on my phone to computer, etc) 2. Automatically back up the files, so when I switch devices the books are still there 3. A good app that that at minimum has the ability to listen to the audiobooks at double speed, but it would be nice if it could load the album art for free, and book description. 4. Also, it's really nice to say "Alexa, ready my audiobook", and it continues from where it left off.

cheph 6y ago
The downpour app does all of this. Of course it only works for downpour books, but if you get another good app you can download the MP3s and use them in there also.
- input_sh 6y ago
  "Simple Audiobook Player" on Android is just wonderful. Requires one-time purchase for some features I believe, but I've been using it for years without a single thing to complain about. It also handles chapters, playback speed is very adjustable, and a feature I like the most is that it takes you back to the beginning of the sentence if you pause/resume.
  - nickik 6y ago
    The only thing I would want for it is to have a desktop version and syncing between devices.
mbirth 6y ago
Sounds like you want a podcast app. Pocket Casts can do all these things. (Cloud upload needs a Plus subscription, though. But you could also self-host your own RSS feed with your files.)
- mayneack 6y ago
  I love this app for podcasts, but their file upload has a 1gb file limit which is a bit limiting for some books.
  - mbirth 6y ago
    That you can solve by either splitting the file or converting it into a lower bitrate/mono/different codec.
- Wowfunhappy 6y ago
  > But you could also self-host your own RSS feed with your files. That is a brilliant idea and now I want to do this! I already have a little PHP script that makes an RSS feed out of any txt files it finds in the same folder, it should be easy to switch to a podcast feed...
francis-io 6y ago
I personally use syncthing to push audiobooks to my mobile device and "smart audio book player" on android to play them at double speed. I even sync back up the played location. Being able to resume playback on device, I'm not sure, I've not had need of that.
- bergstromm466 6y ago
  > I personally use syncthing > I even sync back up the played location. That sounds cool, how do you do it?
mayneack 6y ago
I've been using plex for this. You can configure a music library to store playback position and organize like books with tags and then use either Prologue (ios) or Chronicle (android). Prologue is a lot more polished, but I get by with Chronicle ok.
MengerSponge 6y ago
I have a $10/yr subscription to Marco Arment's https://overcast.fm/ https://overcast.fm/ for this purpose. "Smart speed" is a total game-changer.
- hybridtupel 6y ago
  I could be mistaken but isn’t overcast only for podcasts i.e. streaming sources. But the questions are about audiobooks. Or is there a way to import audio book files into overcast?
  - czottmann 6y ago
    In 2016, they introduced an upload feature. https://marco.org/2016/03/14/overcast25 https://marco.org/2016/03/14/overcast25 Haven't used Overcast myself in a while but I guess that's still available.
    - MengerSponge 6y ago
      Yes, exactly.
severine 6y ago
AudioAnchor is GPL. Some features include: Additional features include: - Set bookmarks - Adjust playback speed - Export and import listening progress as SQL database - Sleep timer - Lock screen media controls (for Android 5.0 Lollipop and higher) Available on F-Droid. I can't vouch for it but seems to tick some of the boxes. Link: https://github.com/flackbash/AudioAnchor https://github.com/flackbash/AudioAnchor
- JeremyNT 6y ago
  There's also Voice on f-droid, with similar features. I can highly recommend it. https://f-droid.org/en/packages/de.ph1b.audiobook/ https://f-droid.org/en/packages/de.ph1b.audiobook/

cheph 6y ago

The downpour app does all of this. Of course it only works for downpour books, but if you get another good app you can download the MP3s and use them in there also.

input_sh 6y ago
"Simple Audiobook Player" on Android is just wonderful. Requires one-time purchase for some features I believe, but I've been using it for years without a single thing to complain about. It also handles chapters, playback speed is very adjustable, and a feature I like the most is that it takes you back to the beginning of the sentence if you pause/resume.
- nickik 6y ago
  The only thing I would want for it is to have a desktop version and syncing between devices.

mbirth 6y ago

Sounds like you want a podcast app. Pocket Casts can do all these things. (Cloud upload needs a Plus subscription, though. But you could also self-host your own RSS feed with your files.)

mayneack 6y ago
I love this app for podcasts, but their file upload has a 1gb file limit which is a bit limiting for some books.
- mbirth 6y ago
  That you can solve by either splitting the file or converting it into a lower bitrate/mono/different codec.
Wowfunhappy 6y ago
> But you could also self-host your own RSS feed with your files. That is a brilliant idea and now I want to do this! I already have a little PHP script that makes an RSS feed out of any txt files it finds in the same folder, it should be easy to switch to a podcast feed...

francis-io 6y ago

I personally use syncthing to push audiobooks to my mobile device and "smart audio book player" on android to play them at double speed. I even sync back up the played location. Being able to resume playback on device, I'm not sure, I've not had need of that.

bergstromm466 6y ago
> I personally use syncthing > I even sync back up the played location. That sounds cool, how do you do it?

mayneack 6y ago

I've been using plex for this. You can configure a music library to store playback position and organize like books with tags and then use either Prologue (ios) or Chronicle (android). Prologue is a lot more polished, but I get by with Chronicle ok.

MengerSponge 6y ago

I have a $10/yr subscription to Marco Arment's https://overcast.fm/ https://overcast.fm/ for this purpose. "Smart speed" is a total game-changer.

hybridtupel 6y ago
I could be mistaken but isn’t overcast only for podcasts i.e. streaming sources. But the questions are about audiobooks. Or is there a way to import audio book files into overcast?
- czottmann 6y ago
  In 2016, they introduced an upload feature. https://marco.org/2016/03/14/overcast25 https://marco.org/2016/03/14/overcast25 Haven't used Overcast myself in a while but I guess that's still available.
  - MengerSponge 6y ago
    Yes, exactly.

severine 6y ago

AudioAnchor is GPL. Some features include: Additional features include: - Set bookmarks - Adjust playback speed - Export and import listening progress as SQL database - Sleep timer - Lock screen media controls (for Android 5.0 Lollipop and higher) Available on F-Droid. I can't vouch for it but seems to tick some of the boxes. Link: https://github.com/flackbash/AudioAnchor https://github.com/flackbash/AudioAnchor

JeremyNT 6y ago
There's also Voice on f-droid, with similar features. I can highly recommend it. https://f-droid.org/en/packages/de.ph1b.audiobook/ https://f-droid.org/en/packages/de.ph1b.audiobook/