iOS and Audiobook Syncing

[goneeuro02]

Cross posted this in the iPhone section as I wasn't sure which section would be best. If cross posting is not allowed, please close the one that you feel was incorrect. Thanks!

Good morning all.

I did this in the past but cannot for the life of me figure out how I did it. I have an mp3 audiobook that I want to listen to through Books on my iPhone and iPad. I tried changing the extension and get it onto the phone, but it does not sync my place across to my iPad. I have two other audiobooks that I added to Books a year or two ago that worked just fine. I would listen through my phone in the car, then listen on my iPad when I was going to bed. I have never purchased an audiobook through Apple before so I know that is not why this is working.

Does anyone have any idea how I might have gotten this working so I can add my new audiobook?

 

[Flytrap21]

Good morning all.

I did this in the past but cannot for the life of me figure out how I did it. I have an mp3 audiobook that I want to listen to through Books on my iPhone and iPad. I tried changing the extension and get it onto the phone, but it does not sync my place across to my iPad. I have two other audiobooks that I added to Books a year or two ago that worked just fine. I would listen through my phone in the car, then listen on my iPad when I was going to bed. I have never purchased an audiobook through Apple before so I know that is not why this is working.

Does anyone have any idea how I might have gotten this working so I can add my new audiobook?

Apple audiobooks have a .m4b file extension - however, simply changing the file extension from mp3 to m4a will not work. Audiobook files contain aac encoded audio tracks as well as chapter information, chapter breaks, support for bookmarking, and audiobook artwork. Apple m4b audiobooks should support handoff between your devices through Apple Books or Apple Music.

I used to use a free utility called Audiobook Binder to convert mp3 audiobooks (usually a bunch of mp3 chapter files) into a single Apple audiobook in the m4b file format. The app is still in the Mac App Store. However, it does not appear to be still in active development, so I recently switched to a commercial utility called Audiobook Builder - also downloadable from the Mac App Store.

I suspect that in the past you might have used iTunes to convert an mp3 audio file into an m4b audiobook (you could do this by just ctrl-clicking on an audio file and telling iTunes that it is an audiobook), or maybe you had an aac audio file and simply changed the file extension from m4a to m4b (I think that this will support handoff, but the audiobook will not have chapter information or bookmark support).

I hope this helps.

 

[goneeuro02]

Apple audiobooks have a .m4b file extension - however, simply changing the file extension from mp3 to m4a will not work. Audiobook files contain aac encoded audio tracks as well as chapter information, chapter breaks, support for bookmarking, and audiobook artwork. Apple m4b audiobooks should support handoff between your devices through Apple Books or Apple Music.

I used to use a free utility called Audiobook Binder to convert mp3 audiobooks (usually a bunch of mp3 chapter files) into a single Apple audiobook in the m4b file format. The app is still in the Mac App Store. However, it does not appear to be still in active development, so I recently switched to a commercial utility called Audiobook Builder - also downloadable from the Mac App Store.

I suspect that in the past you might have used iTunes to convert an mp3 audio file into an m4b audiobook (you could do this by just ctrl-clicking on an audio file and telling iTunes that it is an audiobook), or maybe you had an aac audio file and simply changed the file extension from m4a to m4b (I think that this will support handoff, but the audiobook will not have chapter information or bookmark support).

I hope this helps.

Thanks for this. Once you use book binder, do you just drag and drop the new file into the Books app on the Mac and it syncs or do you have to add it to the Books app on Mac, then manually sync it with a cable to to the iPhone?