Apple Might Be Developing an Audiobooks Service

[himanshumodi]

How do they ever hope to compete with audible and its library? And audible is not just big on quantity, but the quality is absolutely top notch too. And it's not even all that expensive at $15. Plus they have sales on buying credits and stuff. Extreme value for money. That's when I used to have audible US membership because they didn't have audible in India

Then they launched it in India and it's priced at like $2.5 per month or something. It blew my mind!

 

[applicious84]

Amazon kind of pulled an Apple on this, but if you want whispersync then you need to use their proprietary format. How could a reader and listener with a kindle (e-ink) switch to Apple?

 

[Think|Different]

Have you looked at the definition of a rumor?

Sure but in that case Apple might do anything — just like you might buy a Chihuahua next year. Or you might try archery.

 

[darkpaw]

That’s not what was said. Are you now saying when you add tags they are permanent?

What are you talking about? You know how, in apps like Music, TV and the old iTunes, you could Get Info on an item in the Library and edit the tags? You can't do that in the Books app so you have to put the file for that chapter into the Music app, edit the tags there and put it back into the Books app. But, because you cannot delete a single chapter in the Books app you have to delete the entire audiobook and re-add the entire thing with the edited chapter(s).

 

[cardfan]

Amazon kind of pulled an Apple on this, but if you want whispersync then you need to use their proprietary format. How could a reader and listener with a kindle (e-ink) switch to Apple?

You don’t. And why would anyone want to?

 

[4jasontv]

What are you talking about? You know how, in apps like Music, TV and the old iTunes, you could Get Info on an item in the Library and edit the tags? You can't do that in the Books app so you have to put the file for that chapter into the Music app, edit the tags there and put it back into the Books app. But, because you cannot delete a single chapter in the Books app you have to delete the entire audiobook and re-add the entire thing with the edited chapter(s).

I don’t understand what you want to do. Why can’t you add a collection with the tag and add the book to it.

 

[TracesOfArsenic]

Why not start up another service to do a half a** job of? Spread thinner, Timmy. Go for gold!

 

[Anthony Sullivan]

I kinda like Audible, not sure how you improve audio books. Maybe make them thinner, brighter and more energy efficient? Of course not compatible with anything as well.

Sound quality isn’t great on Audible, even with “high” quality selected.

 

[mdriftmeyer]

Good new for me working on narrating my novels.

 

[Wanted797]

Sure but in that case Apple might do anything — just like you might buy a Chihuahua next year. Or you might try archery.

What if we name the title “Sketchy rumor suggests Apple to release audiobook subscription service”

 

[2016]

I kinda like Audible, not sure how you improve audio books. Maybe make them thinner, brighter and more energy efficient? Of course not compatible with anything as well.

Lossless audiobooks only compatible with AirPods?

 

[KeithBN]

Total *********. I looked at several kindle books this weekend, and the same books on Apple were at least $5 more.

The prices, once again, are NOT set by Apple, they are set by the publisher.
This is true of all platforms.

The only exception is any platform is free to lower the prices if they choose and take less profit, but the actual prices are set by the publisher.
Every time.

(I know, having published several books).

 

[CarAnalogy]

Please no. We don’t need another half ass audio app from Apple. Podcasts is the worst way to listen to podcasts. They aren’t serious about this stuff, it’s all just chasing that services revenue that is distract Apple.

 

[svish]

Very possible. Apple is expanding services. Possible that is is bundled with Apple One.

 

[ApplesAreSweet&Sour]

Total *********. I looked at several kindle books this weekend, and the same books on Apple were at least $5 more.

It’s not that simple: Amazon makes different deals for different publishers and specific books. Some books are at times sold at a markup because the title is so popular that it gets bought even at a high price. Other titles are sold at a loss that Amazon/audible (not the author or publisher) pays because they know certain popular titles get consumers to sign up in the first place. The total number of users who stay subscribed outweighs the losses from those that don’t so it’s a net profit.

Apple has a much smaller chunk of the ebook and audiobook market and doesn’t do various promotions and bundles like Amazon Prime.

 

[Runequester]

Definite no-brainer and a lack in the service currently.

 

[Grohowiak]

The prices, once again, are NOT set by Apple, they are set by the publisher.
This is true of all platforms.

The only exception is any platform is free to lower the prices if they choose and take less profit, but the actual prices are set by the publisher.
Every time.

(I know, having published several books).

whaaaaa?
So if the prices are set by publishers but the same book is lower on amazon that means that apple doesn't want to lower the price (past msrp I guess) and indeed is charging more than the competition so the point you are trying to counter is still valid??

 

[darkpaw]

I don’t understand what you want to do. Why can’t you add a collection with the tag and add the book to it.

You are fundamentally misunderstanding the problem.

The tags I'm talking about are what is stored INSIDE the file itself, i.e. the author, the chapter name etc. This information CANNOT be edited in the Books app; you have to drop the file into the Music app and edit the tags there.

 

[Steve121178]

Waste of time if Apple tries to compete with Audible. Audible is about as perfect as a service can be for such a modest monthly fee.

 

[4jasontv]

You are fundamentally misunderstanding the problem.

The tags I'm talking about are what is stored INSIDE the file itself, i.e. the author, the chapter name etc. This information CANNOT be edited in the Books app; you have to drop the file into the Music app and edit the tags there.

I am misunderstanding the problem you are trying to solve. Books need tags, not chapters. That's what collections are for, is it not? To group similar books together in any way you wish? You can organize them with any labels you want, even if they overlap. So a story about a winy teen from the 1940's who falls in love with a girl who is murdered could be in the following collections: Mysteries, WWII, YA, Books where the lead is unlikable, Romance...

For me, I just use four collections: Unread, Reading, Read, Ignore

 

[darkpaw]

I am misunderstanding the problem you are trying to solve. Books need tags, not chapters. That's what collections are for, is it not? To group similar books together in any way you wish? You can organize them with any labels you want, even if they overlap. So a story about a winy teen from the 1940's who falls in love with a girl who is murdered could be in the following collections: Mysteries, WWII, YA, Books where the lead is unlikable, Romance...

For me, I just use four collections: Unread, Reading, Read, Ignore

Yeah, you are fundamentally misunderstanding the problem again. How does the Books app know which book is which? It uses the tags inside the files.

Let's say you've been given the CDs of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy audiobook, and you want to listen to them on your iPhone. You rip the first CD, and it has 24 tracks.

Once you've ripped the tracks you need to add tags to them to say that the first file is track 1 of 24, the first chapter, and it's called "This is the story"; the second is 2 of 24, and called "You've got to build bypasses" etc.

You can add this info into the file using the Music app. You Get Info on the first file, go to the Options tab and set the media kind to "Audiobook", then you add the correct tags, the chapter title, author etc.

Then you drop that file into the Books app and add it to a new "HG2TG" collection. You now have a collection with one chapter in it. Back in the Music app you add the tags to the second file, and add it to the collection, and so on.

If you don't add the tags to the files, you won't know which chapter is which when you add it to the Books app.

And, as I have stated previously, you cannot remove an individual chapter from an audiobook because the Books app stores them all under the same title, i.e. when I've added all 24 chapters to my collection, I look in the collection and there is only one item that can be selected.

Let's say I misspelled "bypasses" in the second chapter, I cannot see the individual chapters until I play the audiobook, and I definitely cannot edit the chapter name to correct the spelling mistake. I cannot remove that individual chapter from the library or the collection either. What I have to do is to remove the entire audiobook from my Books library, edit the tags of the chapter 2 file back in the Music app, then add the entire audiobook back into the Books app.

Understand now? The Books app is a UX nightmare. When we had everything in iTunes we had the ability to edit the tags for every file in our library. Now everything has been split out, Apple have removed the most basic of abilities. The Books app is crap.

 

[Shanghaichica]

I hope they throw it in on Apple one premium.

Why not. They could increase the charge by £2-£3 and I’d be in. I already subscribe to Audible. I’d just cancel and switch to Apple’s offering.

 

[4jasontv]

Yeah, you are fundamentally misunderstanding the problem again. How does the Books app know which book is which? It uses the tags inside the files.

Let's say you've been given the CDs of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy audiobook, and you want to listen to them on your iPhone. You rip the first CD, and it has 24 tracks.

Once you've ripped the tracks you need to add tags to them to say that the first file is track 1 of 24, the first chapter, and it's called "This is the story"; the second is 2 of 24, and called "You've got to build bypasses" etc.

You can add this info into the file using the Music app. You Get Info on the first file, go to the Options tab and set the media kind to "Audiobook", then you add the correct tags, the chapter title, author etc.

Then you drop that file into the Books app and add it to a new "HG2TG" collection. You now have a collection with one chapter in it. Back in the Music app you add the tags to the second file, and add it to the collection, and so on.

If you don't add the tags to the files, you won't know which chapter is which when you add it to the Books app.

And, as I have stated previously, you cannot remove an individual chapter from an audiobook because the Books app stores them all under the same title, i.e. when I've added all 24 chapters to my collection, I look in the collection and there is only one item that can be selected.

Let's say I misspelled "bypasses" in the second chapter, I cannot see the individual chapters until I play the audiobook, and I definitely cannot edit the chapter name to correct the spelling mistake. I cannot remove that individual chapter from the library or the collection either. What I have to do is to remove the entire audiobook from my Books library, edit the tags of the chapter 2 file back in the Music app, then add the entire audiobook back into the Books app.

Understand now? The Books app is a UX nightmare. When we had everything in iTunes we had the ability to edit the tags for every file in our library. Now everything has been split out, Apple have removed the most basic of abilities. The Books app is crap.

How will you not know what chapter is which? Audiobooks, unlike songs, should be one file. I don’t think Apple intended users to rip audiobooks from cd, but even if it’s multiple cds you can can make it one single .m4b file. Once the file is in the books app assign it to different collections.

 

[darkpaw]

I truly give up.

 

[bowens]

It would be awesome, as some suggested, if apple included 1 credit per month in Apple One Premiere. I think more likely would be including a service like Audible Library which includes a lot of books available to borrow for no additional cost when you have an active subscription. Then offer more popular books at a discounted price. That would be great for me. I use audible a few months per year, but get most of my books from my local library. Problem is, the library changed from overdrive to a different system and doesn't have near the books they used to.