How To Listen On Your Apple Device

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Revision as of 10:12, 23 October 2012 by RuthieG (talk | contribs) (added fix for iPods playing audiobooks in wrong order)
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These instructions work for iPhones, iPods and iPads.

The Podcast Method

  • Use the Subscribe in iTunes method to download the files.
  • Now that you have the whole book in iTunes, connect your apple device to your computer.
  • When it shows up in the left bar in iTunes, click on its name.
  • Select Podcasts from the bar at the top of the page.
  • If the checkbox next to "Sync Podcasts" is unchecked, click it. You may get a warning message. If you do, click OK.
  • The default sync behaviour for podcasts is to load all unplayed files of all the podcasts you have subscribed to.
    • I prefer to change it to all unplayed files of selected podcasts.
    • This will add checkboxes to the list of podcasts below. You can then select only the ones you want to load to your device.
  • Click Apply at the bottom to begin syncing.

The Book Method

  • Use the Zip file method to download the files.
  • Open iTunes. Go to File -> Add folder to library. Browse to the audiobook's unzipped folder. Click Select Folder.
  • This will add the files to your main music library.
  • Click on Music in the left bar, and find the files you just added.
  • Select all the files (click on the first one, scroll down to the last one and shift-click), right-click and select Get Info.
  • Go to the Options tab. Set Media Kind to Audiobook, and Remember position to Yes.
    • If you'd like to change any other tags at this time, you can do so in the Info tab.
  • Click OK when you have finished.
  • When you click OK, the files will disappear from your media library and be moved to the Books section.
  • Now that you have the book in your Books section, connect your apple device to your computer.
  • When it shows up in the left bar in iTunes, click on its name.
  • Select Books from the bar at the top of the page.
  • If the checkbox next to "Sync Books" is unchecked, click it. You may get a warning message. If you do, click OK.
  • The default sync behaviour for books is to load all the books you have in your Books section.
    • I prefer to change it to selected books.
    • Now you can click the checkboxes of the books you like to load onto your device.
  • Click Apply at the bottom to begin syncing.

Audiobooks play in the wrong order on iPod

This relates to our earlier recordings in the catalogue. Later recordings have been fixed with RSS feeds that generate a different "publication time" for each section so that they play in the correct order.

Here are two solutions, if you encounter this problem:

Generate a playlist

  • Sort them into title order and drag them into a newly-created playlist
  • Change the media type to audiobook for all files using "Get Info" > "Options"

Another neat fix (may not apply to all generations of iPods)

If chapters are in random or reverse order on your iPod:

  • Press 'Now playing' on top right of screen.
  • On top right of new screen you will see 3 short lines with 3 dots to their left. Press this icon and a new screen will appear with chapters in the correct order.
  • Press top right again to see screen showing the progress of your recording and the volume tool.