Bookmobile and Book Mower — Importing Audio

Importing Audio

Bookmobile and Book Mower support many different methods for getting audio into your app, and they support many different audio formats. This guide is meant to help you understand the options for adding audio content, and explain the capabilities/limitations with each method.

▷ iTunes Syncing (Required for DRM-protected audio from Audible.com and iTunes Store)

There are two types of audio files that Bookmobile and Book Mower can play: DRM-protected (Digital Rights Management) and non-DRM. DRM-protected audiobooks are typically from the Apple iTunes Store or Audible.com, andmustbe stored in your iTunes Library on your iOS device to play. The app does not copy the files once they are on your device. They remain in your on-device iTunes library, and you manage them using iTunes exclusively. The app plays the audio directly from your iTunes library.

There are only two ways to add audio files to your iTunes Library: direct purchase from the iTunes Store on your device, or syncing iTunes with the computer that hosts your iTunes library. If you sync with your computer, you must specify in iTunes what audiobooks you want to transfer.

The iTunes app on your computer also supports storing and syncing many other types of non-DRM files. These can be mp3 files coming from CDs, downloads from the Internet, or podcasts subscribed to in iTunes. These non-DRM files are transferred to your iOS device in the same way the DRM files are.

Once the audio files are synced onto your device, you add them to the app by first tapping on the "+" button on the bottom of the screen, then tapping on one of the options: Add All Audiobooks, Add Audiobooks, Add Podcast* and Add Music Files.
▷ Using Your Computer's Web Browser to Import Audio

The easiest way to import non-DRM audio files into the app is using your computer's web browser. First, open the app and tap the '+' tab at the bottom. Then, tap 'Using Your Computer's Web Browser' on the add panel.

You'll be presented with a panel called 'Transfer Using Browser'. In the center of the screen will be a URL address of the form http://10.0.10.66:55444 or http://192.168.1.68:55782.

In your computer's browser, enter this URL (including all numbers and punctuation) into the address field of a web browseron the computer that has your audio files. (The address field is at the top -- not the Google search field). Note: your computer must be on the same local/WiFi network.
You should see a screen like the following:

In the pop-up file panel, select the audio files (and optionally a cover image file) for your audiobook. The files should transfer, showing a progress in both the browser and in the app. After the transfer completes, the audiobook should be in the Bookshelf in the app.
▷ Using iTunes File Sharing to Import Audio

The iTunes app on your computer provides a mechanism to get files into apps on your iOS device without syncing. With your iOS device connected to your computer, select the Apps area, and then scroll to the File Sharing area. Find Bookmobile or Book Mower and drop audio files, folders of audio files, or zip archives of audiofiles into the app's Documents section.

You import the audio files into the app by first tapping on the "+" button on the bottom of the screen. Then tap on the Add iTunes Shared Files option. You will be presented with a panel that lets you select file(s) to create a new audiobook, or add to an existing audiobook.
▷ Using Dropbox (or OneDrive, PogoPlug, Box, etc.) to Import Audio

If you have a Dropbox account (or one of the other cloud storage systems), you can use their app to transfer audio files into Bookmobile/Book Mower. First, open Bookmobile/Book Mower. Then, after you've uploaded files to the cloud, simply open the Dropbox app (or whatever cloud storage app you use), and tap on a file you want to import. After it has downloaded, tap the Share icon (square with arrow pointing up), then tap Open In... and select the Bookmobile/Book Mower icon. (Note: the first time you try this, the app might not show up. This is an iOS issue. Make sure you've opened the app, and try again -- it eventually shows up). You will be presented with the options: Create New Audiobook... or Add to Existing Audiobook.... If you have individual audio files, you can create a new audiobook with the first file, and then add to it with the rest. Zip files are also supported, so you can zip up a whole set of audio files, including a cover artwork file, and import that using Dropbox.
▷ Download MP3/ZIP/M4B Audiobooks directly from Web URLs

There are many more sources of audiobooks on the Internet. Bookmobile/Book Mower can download/import audiobooks in several different formats from most web sources. The "Download Audiobooks" section in the "+" tab provides options for downloading mp3, zip and m4b files.

You can build up an audiobook made up of individual mp3 files, by entering the URL to one. After the first mp3 is downloaded, the app will ask if you want to add more mp3 files to the same book. The app will inspect the mp3 files for ID tags containing the actual book title and author to use for display.

Example: http://www.archive.org/download/asyoulikeit_1211_librivox/asyoulikeit_1_shakespeare_64kb.mp3

If you have a ZIP file archive of many mp3s, you can import that directly into the app also. Just enter the URL to the zip.

Note: ZIP files of entire books may be too large to download onto the iPhone.

M4B is an audiobook format that includes additional information, such as chapter locations, and book cover artwork in the audio content. To import an M4B audiobook, select the "Download M4B Audiobook" option, and enter the web URL to the file. The app will download and construct a part for each chapter.
▷ Audiobooks from Librivox.org

Librivox.org provides thousands of audiobooks for free, and their library is continually growing — visit www.librivox.org to find out more.

Bookmobile and Book Mower makes it easy to find and listen to audio content from Librivox. Just tap on the "Popular/Search/Browse" button under "Free Audiobooks" in the Library tab.

The most popular downloaded titles from Librivox.org are retreived and displayed by default.
▷ Librivox Search/Browse

If you have a specific book or author in mind, you can use the Search panel. Just enter all or part of an audio title or author into the search field, and tap Search. For example, "Peter Pan" or "Twain". The app will display a list of all content available at Librivox matching that search criteria. Tap on an item in the list to see more information about it.

You can add the item into your app's Bookshelf by pressing the Add button. This transfers information about the audiobook, such as the list of files/chapters, the summary, and the cover artwork, but does not immediately download the audio file(s). You can download all or part of the book later, from your Bookshelf, when you want to start listening to it.

Tip: If you would like to find audio read by a specific Librivox reader, and you know their reader number, you can search for his/her audio by entering a search like this: reader: 1343 (or, just r:1343).

If you want to see what's available on Librivox, use the Browse panel to see a list of audio genres. Tapping a genre will fetch the latest audio content at Librivox in that genre.
▷ Podcast Search/Browse*

The Find New Podcasts option automatically displays a list of the most popular podcasts. There is also an option for entering seach criteria to get a list of matching podcasts. You can usually add one of these by tapping on it, then tapping the "Add" button. Some podcasts found this way do not include their RSS URL, which is what enables Bookmobile to import the episodes. In these situations, the "Add" button is replaced by a "+ RSS" button. You can often find the RSS URL to add on the website of the podcast you are interested in. The RSS URL is also available in the iTunes app on your computer for podcasts that you have subscribed to -- just ctrl/right-click on the podcast and use the "Copy Podcast URL" menu item to get the RSS URL. Paste this into the app after tapping the "+ RSS" button.
▷ Podcast OPML Import*

You can import all of your podcasts from another Podcast app if that app supports the generation of an OPML file. Just email yourself that file, and in the Mail App, tap and hold the file attachment, then tap "Open in Bookmobile" in the dialog panel.

Importing Audio FAQ

"How do I load books, podcasts, etc.?"
Go to the Add/Import tab (the + icon, at the bottom of the screen).

"Can I use audiobooks imported from a CD? What about downloaded from Audible.com? or LibriVox.org?"
Yes, and from just about any other source that will play on the iPhone/iPod. Note: iOS audio players do not support .wma (Windows Media) or .ogg (Ogg Vorbis) audio files directly, but the iTunes App on your computer will convert them.

"I've synced my iTunes Library and my audiobooks are showing up in multiple parts. Is there a way to group them together into one audiobook?"
Yes, all parts need to be part of the same Album (same Album name) AND you need to check the checkbox "Part of a compilation" for each part. These settings can be found in the iTunes application on your computer. Select each part, and select the menu item File->Get Info (or Cmd-I). Set the Album name and the checkbox at the bottom of the panel.

"I ripped a set of audiobook CDs, and now I have all these files. Do I have to load each of these individually?"
No. There are a few options to handle a lot of audio files:

Option 1: If you use iTunes to sync your audiobooks, you can leave them individually, but make sure you perform the TWO steps required in iTunes described in the previous question (Is there a way to group them together in one audiobook?). When you add the book in the app, pick one track from the audiobook, and all the other tracks will be added automatically.

Option 2 (recommended): You can use an application on your computer to group the files into an m4b audiobook format, that includes chapters, cover art, etc..

Option 3: The app also supports importing zip archives of mp3 audiofiles, so you can just zip ("Compress" on Mac OS X) the files into one or more zip files.