How well does android work for audibooks?

[EmptyIdiotBaby]

With the droid phone coming to Verizon i am thinking about getting rid of my iPhone 3GS.
The one thing i love about the iPhone is always having my audibooks with me, and the fact that the book remembers where i left off. Does android offer any kind of audiobook support? I don't mind converting things to a needed format.

And how's the music player overall? Do i need to use a library, or can i just play the files directly? I loved that capability of my rockboxed iRiver.

 

[skyhigh]

Try the Ambling BookPlayer which is available on the Android Market. It allows you to combine many different audio files as a single audiobook, which for playback and bookmarking appear to be a single file. It also has an automatic bookmarking history feature that tracks all the locations where you start and stop listening. If you end up at the wrong place you can use the undo and redo buttons to go back to where you were before. They have a free version called Ambling BookPlayer Lite which supports automatically downloading free audiobooks from librivox.org. For a list of the features that are in each version see Ambling BookPlayer - Bringing books to life

 

[Holland]

Does this program pause the playback when you pull out the headphones from the jack? When i am listening at work i need a way to quickly pause without having to unlock the phone and go into the program and hit pause.

 

[skyhigh]

It doesn't do that as far as I know. It sounds like a good feature. You should send them an enhancement request.

 

[EmptyIdiotBaby]

While the program looks cool, i think i'll be skipping the Droid. As much as i bitch about the iPhone, i like the fact that it's a combined music player and a phone in one.

I do, however, love the fact that that Android doesn't have a sync application. I would actually prefer to simply drag and drop files.

 

[dmodert66]

While the program looks cool, i think i'll be skipping the Droid. As much as i bitch about the iPhone, i like the fact that it's a combined music player and a phone in one.

I do, however, love the fact that that Android doesn't have a sync application. I would actually prefer to simply drag and drop files.

I'm not quite sure I understand. The Droid, (and actually most Android devices I can think of) are both phones and music players. Perhaps you can explain further?

 

[EmptyIdiotBaby]

From the reviews i read, the music player isn't good, but maybe i am reading a wrong review.

Now, i should mention, i've been using an iRiver MP3 player with rockbox on it for years, and i was a big fan. Maybe reviewers don't like the fact that you can only play music by files, and not by a library? I would actually prefer a file based music player, rather than a library based.

 

[meandorene]

I usually download audiobooks from my local, and sometimes not so local, library to my (dare I say it... ) iPod. I use OverDrive Media to download it to my computer then transfer it my device. It's DRM (digitally restricted media) that will go *poof* when the book is "due"; usually about 2-3 weeks after I checked it out. It works on mp3, iPod, etc..

However, I am getting the message that Motorola does not support DRM media?!? Is there an app for that?

 

[OldSmoky]

Try the Ambling BookPlayer which is available on the Android Market. It allows you to combine many different audio files as a single audiobook, which for playback and bookmarking appear to be a single file. It also has an automatic bookmarking history feature that tracks all the locations where you start and stop listening. If you end up at the wrong place you can use the undo and redo buttons to go back to where you were before. They have a free version called Ambling BookPlayer Lite which supports automatically downloading free audiobooks from librivox.org. For a list of the features that are in each version see Ambling BookPlayer - Bringing books to life

The only one available in Market is the Lite version. How to I get the Pro version?

 

[skyhigh]

I can see the Ambling BookPlayer Lite and Personal editions in the Android Market. I don't think that the Pro edition is released yet.

Do you live in an area where the Android Market does not support paid applications? I know in some countries Android Market only shows the free applications. If so you could contact them to see if there is another way to get the player.

 

[OldSmoky]

I can see the Ambling BookPlayer Lite and Personal editions in the Android Market. I don't think that the Pro edition is released yet.

Do you live in an area where the Android Market does not support paid applications? I know in some countries Android Market only shows the free applications. If so you could contact them to see if there is another way to get the player.

Unless you consider Arizona one of those areas.

 

[OldSmoky]

I don't get why I can only see the Lite version. I would like to buy this. I even scanned the QR code. Do I have to establish a Market account somewhere first?

 

[skyhigh]

If you live in Arizona the Android Market should be showing you all the paid applications.

The other reason that I have heard that applications may not be visible is if the Android Market does not think the application is compatible with your phone. I understand that it will check both the version of the Android OS and also if the screen size is supported by the application. I know that this audiobook player works with Android v1.5 or higher and so don't think that would be the reason you can't see it. If you have a small screen like the HTC Tatoo maybe the screen size could be limiting it. But what doesn't make sense about that is that the Android Market is showing you the Lite version which would have the same requirements on the Android OS version and the supported screen sizes. This seems like a real mystery.

The Android Market screen has a section labeled "Downloads" where you can see the list of the applications you have installed on your phone. The Lite version should show up in that list if you have it installed and when you select it, it should take you to the screen with the information about the Lite version. On this screen there is a section labeled "About the Developer" and there is a link in that section to "View more applications" which should show you all the applications available from that developer. When you go to this list, do you see any other applications available from the same developer? When I look at this list it shows me two applications are available from the developer which are the Lite and the Personal versions of the book player.

 

[OldSmoky]

If you live in Arizona the Android Market should be showing you all the paid applications.

The other reason that I have heard that applications may not be visible is if the Android Market does not think the application is compatible with your phone. I understand that it will check both the version of the Android OS and also if the screen size is supported by the application. I know that this audiobook player works with Android v1.5 or higher and so don't think that would be the reason you can't see it. If you have a small screen like the HTC Tatoo maybe the screen size could be limiting it. But what doesn't make sense about that is that the Android Market is showing you the Lite version which would have the same requirements on the Android OS version and the supported screen sizes. This seems like a real mystery.

The Android Market screen has a section labeled "Downloads" where you can see the list of the applications you have installed on your phone. The Lite version should show up in that list if you have it installed and when you select it, it should take you to the screen with the information about the Lite version. On this screen there is a section labeled "About the Developer" and there is a link in that section to "View more applications" which should show you all the applications available from that developer. When you go to this list, do you see any other applications available from the same developer? When I look at this list it shows me two applications are available from the developer which are the Lite and the Personal versions of the book player.

I appreciate your time in trying to get this resolved. I am using an Eris. When I "view more applications" as you instructed, the only thing listed is the version (lite) I have installed. I wrote the developer, but so far I haven't heard anything.

 

[skyhigh]

Your welcome. Hope you get this resolved. Just to double check, the application names I see in the Android Market are:

Ambling BookPlayer Lite
Ambling BookPlayer Personal

Good luck in figuring it out!

 

[thecrazing]

There definitely are programs that don't show up based on the phone model, or possibly the OS.

In response to the OP, I've had mixed experiences with using my Droid as a media player, coming off of an iPod.

The Ambling audiobook player will not allow you to play files off of you Droid's local sd card without using the paid version, which is nine dollars. At the moment, that's out for me.

Most media player apps I've tried, and every dedicated music app, does let you browse library style, so actually I'm a bit confused as to what the reviewers are saying. Still. If you like a file based system, you can definitely browse your phone's memory with a file browser app, and from inside of one, you can launch your preferred media player by choosing a file. That is one of the nice things about Android, it's a bit of a mental shift in things like that direction.

I've had to get a separate app for a sleep timer function, as an example of why I've yet to find a totally satisfying media player, but there are adequate/mediocre ones.

For the moment, I actually use the default one more often than not. Bookmarking doesn't really happen, but it will remember your position, provided you don't play a different track with that media player app. It, and every other player app I've tried, will pause when you pull the headphones out.

 

[MotoDroidPhan]

Regarding the PRO version of the app, it isn't out yet:

Both the Ambling BookPlayer Lite edition and the Ambling BookPlayer Personal edition are now available for download from the Android Market.
We are working hard to complete the Ambling BookPlayer Pro edition, and it will be available soon. Currently we are expecting to release the Pro edition in November 2009.

 

[Andrew Terekhine]

Does this program pause the playback when you pull out the headphones from the jack?

Try our Astro Player which is available on the market. It pauses playback when you pull out the headset and behaves correctly during incoming calls. Besides that, it has advanced bookmarking, convenient file browser and much more. It's designed to play audiobooks and podcasts. More info at Astro Player

 

[skyhigh]

The new version of the Ambling BookPlayer that was recently released added support for pausing when the head phones are unplugged, resuming play when the head phones are plugged in, and for controlling the playback from Bluetooth headphone media buttons.

 

[ari-free]

From the reviews i read, the music player isn't good, but maybe i am reading a wrong review.

if you don't like the music player, you can find a better one. No need to judge the entire phone because of its default software.
Same is true with all kinds of things on Android: you can get a better virtual keyboard, another web browser (firefox and opera coming soon), a better home screen, etc.