How do I listen to my audiobook on a computer?

You can play the audiobook right in the reader on any computer, or download a file and use your own app. Open the book from Your Library, press the headphones button, and press play. The reader remembers where you stopped.

For your own app, press Download in the Audiobook panel:

  • Whole book (M4B) for audiobook apps, with chapters and bookmarks.
  • Whole book (MP3) for anything that plays MP3, chapters included.
  • Chapters (ZIP) for one MP3 per chapter, numbered to stay in order.

Podcast apps on a Mac or PC work too: the panel's Podcast app button has the private podcast link.

Mac: Apple Books

  1. Download Whole book (M4B).
  2. Open Apple Books and choose File, then Import.
  3. Pick the downloaded file. It appears under Audiobooks with its chapters and cover.

To put it on your iPhone or iPad, connect the device with a cable, select it in the Finder sidebar, open the Audiobooks tab, turn on syncing for audiobooks, and press Apply. This is the only way an audiobook file gets into Apple Books on an iPhone, since the phone app can't import one on its own.

Windows

VLC is a free player that handles both files. Open it, choose Media, then Open File, and pick the M4B or MP3. Chapters are under the Playback menu. VLC doesn't remember your place between sessions, so note the chapter you stopped at or use the reader, which does.

To put the audiobook on an iPhone from Windows, install iTunes. Apple still routes audiobook transfers through it. Add the M4B to iTunes, connect the phone, and sync audiobooks.

Spotify

Spotify plays your own files through its Local audio files setting, but it treats them as songs. There are no chapters or bookmarks, and it doesn't remember your place. If you still want it there, extract the ZIP and point Spotify at that folder. Spotify doesn't accept private podcast links, so the podcast option in the panel won't work with it.

USB stick for the car

  1. Download Chapters (ZIP) and extract it.
  2. Copy the folder to the USB stick, keeping all the files in one folder.
  3. Turn shuffle off in the car. The numbered file names keep the chapters in order.

Most cars don't remember your place in a file, so note the chapter number when you stop. A phone in the car with CarPlay or Android Auto remembers it for you. See iPhone or Android.

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