Apps Audible issues on Watch OS 6

[mk313]

I think I remember seeing that there were issues syncing audible content to the watch on the Watch OS 6 beta versions. I've never used a beta version but I did get a new Apple Watch 5 with OS 6, and now I can't add any books to my watch. Is this a known issue with the official version of Watch OS 6, or am I doing something wrong?

Thanks,

 

[artfossil]

ETA #3: Audible escalated the issue and tech support requested the Watch logs to help find the cause.

ETA #2: Got an email from Audible: We are aware of the issue you’re having with your new apple watch. Within two business days we’ll get back to you with more information. We apologize for any inconvenience.

I just came here to see if there might be a post about this. I never used the beta either, but no Audible books will sync to my new Series 5 Watch with OS 6. I've done all the voodoo like turning settings off and on and restarting the phone and the Watch and I've also deleted and reinstalled the Audible app (on the advice of Apple). Now, I'm re-pairing my Watch (also on the advice of Apple). (Re-pairing is NOT a five minute job.) Meanwhile, Audible told me in chat that their technical team would investigate and email me. Sigh. Having Audible books on my Watch is hands down my favorite Watch use, next to Workouts.

ETA #1: Unpairing and re-pairing was a waste of time, as it did not resolve the issue.

 

[mk313]

Completely agree. Audiobooks on the watch are fantastic. Not sure what's going on, but I hope they fix it quickly.

 

[0118517]

I had the same problem but managed to sync my books like this:

1. Put both my phone and the watch on the charger before bedtime.

2. Opened Audible app on my iPhone.

3. Pressed the three dots and then “sync to Apple Watch”.

4. Let the app prepare the book until it reached 100% and then shut off the screen while still on the Audible app.

5. When I woke up the book was synced.

 

[artfossil]

I had the same problem but managed two sync my books like this:

1. Put both my phone and the watch on the charger before bedtime.

2. Opened Audible app on my iPhone.

3. Pressed the three dots and then “sync to Apple Watch”.

4. Let the app prepare the book until it reached 100% and then shut off the screen while still on the Audible app.

5. When I woke up the book was synced.

Oh, I could sync audiobooks to my Watch just fine on my Series 3 BEFORE the WatchOS 6 and iOS 13, but I had to update to both for my new Series 5.

This is a known issue by Audible for WatchOS 6/iOS 13 and they emailed me that they have sent my Watch logs to the iOS developer team for trouble-shooting.

 

[0118517]

But I did this on WatchOS 6.

 

[artfossil]

But I did this on WatchOS 6.

You are lucky! But, no sync for me.

 

[0118517]

All my attempts failed until I tried the above. Worth a try 😄

 

[mk313]

I had the same problem but managed to sync my books like this:

1. Put both my phone and the watch on the charger before bedtime.

2. Opened Audible app on my iPhone.

3. Pressed the three dots and then “sync to Apple Watch”.

4. Let the app prepare the book until it reached 100% and then shut off the screen while still on the Audible app.

5. When I woke up the book was synced.

Thanks for the tips. Alas, they didn't work for me either. I can finally select items to sync, but they get stuck at the 'Preparing Your Content' Stage, and it never moves beyond that. Nothing ever gets transferred over to the watch.

Fortunately, I was able to get apple audiobooks to sync, so at least I have something on my watch until this gets sorted out.

 

[artfossil]

All my attempts failed until I tried the above. Worth a try 😄

I tried your "turn off the screen after Preparing Content" voodoo. It worked! Then I tried it with a second book. It worked! Then I tried a third book--no joy. Didn't sync if I turned off the screen after "preparing content"/during "preparing content" (it hung on preparing content") or right after starting the sync.

But my immediate crisis (today's walk) is avoided because I have two books on my Watch and for that I thank you!

Still curious, I'm trying one more time now after turning off the Always On screen feature on my Watch. (More voodoo.)

I'm going to follow up with an email to the Audible tech.

 

[schticy]

Works here too - thank you. Definitely some voodoo!

I'd nearly given up on the app having tried and retried repeatedly, re-paired etc but nothing was working. Thought it was completely broken.

So I've now uploaded enough books to keep me going (hopefully) until an updated app.

 

[0118517]

There really is no sense to it. Just a result of me trying things randomly. Glad it helped. Being without audiobooks is close to hell.
Now Apple just has to open it’s audiobook app up to audiobooks stored locally and not bought off Apple.

 

[artfossil]

TL;DR: It isn't the sync that's broken, it's the sync progress updates in the app.

Here's my update from Audible:

Thanks so much for your reply. We have actually found more about the issue. Since you took the time to send us that information, let me give you a bit more insight of what we have found.

What seems to be broken is the progress updates. The book, even if it shows at 0%, will sync. The error "Apple Watch is not responding" is actually an expected behavior of this situation. After 40 seconds of receiving no progress update, that error will pop up. There is only one moment where the progress will be synced, and that is when the book is completely synced. In simple terms, the books will sync even if the screen shows they are not syncing. Once the sync process finished, you will see the only update of the sync, letting you know the issue is fixed. We are still working on making the sync progress update more frequently, and will keep you update for when we have a resolution.

So, the voodoo @Frederiksberg discovered wasn't the "turn off screen" part, it was the "left on charger overnight" part! I.e. just leave the Watch to sync and it will sync even if there is a "watch not pairing" error message. I kept cancelling the sync when I saw the error message. Once I stoped cancelling, the syncs proceeded just fine.

So now I have lots of books synced. But how frustrating! Makes me glad I make art and don't do software development/debugging.

I do give credit to Audible for great customer service on this one though.

 

[mk313]

TL;DR: It isn't the sync that's broken, it's the sync progress updates in the app.

Here's my update from Audible:

Thanks so much for your reply. We have actually found more about the issue. Since you took the time to send us that information, let me give you a bit more insight of what we have found.

What seems to be broken is the progress updates. The book, even if it shows at 0%, will sync. The error "Apple Watch is not responding" is actually an expected behavior of this situation. After 40 seconds of receiving no progress update, that error will pop up. There is only one moment where the progress will be synced, and that is when the book is completely synced. In simple terms, the books will sync even if the screen shows they are not syncing. Once the sync process finished, you will see the only update of the sync, letting you know the issue is fixed. We are still working on making the sync progress update more frequently, and will keep you update for when we have a resolution.

So, the voodoo @Frederiksberg discovered wasn't the "turn off screen" part, it was the "left on charger overnight" part! I.e. just leave the Watch to sync and it will sync even if there is a "watch not pairing" error message. I kept cancelling the sync when I saw the error message. Once I stoped cancelling, the syncs proceeded just fine.

So now I have lots of books synced. But how frustrating! Makes me glad I make art and don't do software development/debugging.

I do give credit to Audible for great customer service on this one though.

Thanks for the heads up. It’s good to know that they have identified the issue. I’m not sure that it’s going to fix what’s going on with my syncing right now as I left it in the charger overnight and it still showed as 0% synced but the symptoms I am seeing are exactly the same as they laid out so it’s good to know that a Fox is in the works. I did contact them and my issue got escalated but I haven’t heard back yet.

In the interim I’ve been using Apple Books audiobooks and I like the implementation if it much better. If only they had a subscription service like audible does, I’d switch over.

 

[0118517]

Right! Interesting, thanks for the update!

 

[musicpenguy]

Does Apple Books support chapter markers like Audible - hate that they only sync 5 hours at a time

 

[aloper]

I ran into the same issue...preparing content would go fine, then it would start syncing...then I would see the Apple Watch is not responding error...after finding this post, I just left it for awhile...And the book was synced!

The issue I’m facing now is I can’t sync a second book. Go through the same process and the audible app says the second book is synced on the watch. But it doesn’t appear in my watch app library. The first book is there but not this last one. Ive tried a few times but can’t get another book to sync, even though the audible says it’s on the watch...

 

[artfossil]

I ran into the same issue...preparing content would go fine, then it would start syncing...then I would see the Apple Watch is not responding error...after finding this post, I just left it for awhile...And the book was synced!

The issue I’m facing now is I can’t sync a second book. Go through the same process and the audible app says the second book is synced on the watch. But it doesn’t appear in my watch app library. The first book is there but not this last one. Ive tried a few times but can’t get another book to sync, even though the audible says it’s on the watch...

I have had the "app says the book is synced to the Watch but it's not on the Watch" issue a couple of times. Like so many app-related things, who knows what is going on? What I do is first go to the app and remove the book. Then sync again and check. If you're still having the not-on-the-Watch problem, try removing the book again, syncing another book, and then resyncing the troublesome book. All I can say is that I've always eventually synced the book.