New Library Format on Audible

[Leslie]

How does everyone like the new format of your Audible library? I hate it. I miss seeing my rating for each book, and I also miss seeing the date I purchased it (I use the date to enter in Goodreads when I rate and review the book) - now I can't find it anywhere. I feel like the old format was much more user-friendly and gave more information.

[Cat]

Oh no!!! I didn't know it changed. I used the info on that page frequently.

Why does it seem so hard to get info from Audible? Aargh.

[Leslie]

At least it has changed on the computer. I haven't noticed any difference on the Audible app that I use to listen to the books on my phone.

[Paris (kerbytejas)]

I guess I'm not so smart - what new library format? mine looks the same on my desktop and (android) tablet??

[Msjodi777]

Mine hasn't changed on my computer either using Win10 and everything is still the same as always. Have to admit that I'm kinda dreading when it does change, cause I've heard nothing but complaints about it. <><

[Ruth]

Looks same for me too

[Dawn]

Mine changed earlier this week; I'm on Win10 on a pc.

Here's a link detailing the changes:

http://audible.custhelp.com/app/answe...

[Jessica]

No changes to my library either. Looks the same as it has since I started on Audible.

[Jeanie]

I got an early Beta version--as anyone on these boards has heard ;)--and, oddly, had it revert to the old format last week. Now the new format is back again. I can't find a date purchased specified anywhere either, but it has to be there somewhere because pre-ordered items still show up on the date purchased rather than release date... pain in the backside!

Pros: Narrator name is now listed
entire Library is categorized by genre
total number of books is by title rather than parts... gives more accurate count

Cons: Hidden Download button!!! HATE this!
Takes many many more steps to download--hate this too
Requires hovering over book cover or other spot to get all the info... big big pain!
Did I mention Downloading is a HUGE pain? Bears repeating!

[Faith]

I don't have the updated version, but it looks like you still can't mark a book as read, and then filter so you see only the unread ones. Is this correct?

[Leslie]

Faith, I can't filter so I see only unread ones. :-(

Dawn, I'm on Win10, too, so maybe that operating system showed the updates first.

I'm really not a fan of the new format, even though it does have some benefits, I think the cons outweigh the pros.

[Leslie]

One more thing I liked on the old version was that it showed if you have the Kindle version and can utilize whispersync, or if a whispersync book was not available for a particular title.

Thanks, Dawn, for posting the link detailing the changes.

[Faith]

Leslie wrote: "Faith, I can't filter so I see only unread ones. :-(
..."

Thanks for confirming. That was the only change I really wanted.

[Tracey]

Oh dear. I don't have it yet - and I don't think I want it. And still no ability to export your library (unless I missed it? she asked hopefully).

[Paris (kerbytejas)]

so for those that don't want it - can't you just not update your audible? eventually you'll have to update maybe 3-4 months from now but by then maybe it will have all the things you loved back in it

[Robin P]

Paris (kerbytejas) wrote: "so for those that don't want it - can't you just not update your audible? eventually you'll have to update maybe 3-4 months from now but by then maybe it will have all the things you loved back in it"

That might work for the app, but the actual website is out of our control and that's mostly what I use.

[Jessica]

I don't have any choice as to when I update the app on my Android or Windows 10. When an update becomes available it updates automatically. My library on Audible.com still looks the same as it always did. Guess I will have to wait for the roll out to see what I think of it. The download button doesn't matter to me since I always download via the app. But for people who do use, I can see where it would be a pain in the neck to have the button suddenly disappear on you.

[Jeanie]

Jeffrey wrote: "I don't have any choice as to when I update the app on my Android or Windows 10. When an update becomes available it updates automatically. My library on Audible.com still looks the same as it alwa..."

Even if I were to listen via the app, I would still want to download at least once in order to save a copy on an external hard drive. While it hasn't happened often, at least three or four times I have had a book simply disappear from my Library... no particular reason for it, just poofed out of existence. Audible was good about giving me a credit to re-purchase the books, but some books become unavailable on Audible for various reasons so re-purchase may not always be possible. They are supposed to remain in the Library even if no longer available on Audible, but a book that has disappeared compleytely could be gone forever if you don't have a backup copy.

[Marcel]

Leslie wrote: "I miss seeing my rating for each book, and I also miss seeing the date I purchased it (I use the date to enter in Goodreads..."

Those are indeed features that are sorely missing, it seems as if the developers forgot to take those things into account when they messed around with the layout.

btw, if you still need the purchase date, there is this page:
https://www.audible.com/purchase-history
but that's a bother, to navigate to yet another page for your basic information.

[Jeanie]

Faith wrote: "I don't have the updated version, but it looks like you still can't mark a book a read, and then filter so you see only the unread ones. Is this correct?"

It does indicate Finished versus Unfinished books. If you listen via their Cloud Player or by using a device--not sure which but ipads and iphones do count--then it tracks time left to finish and then once that counter reaches 0 it indicates and counts the book as Finished. I'm fairly certain you can sort based on this... rating the book doesn't affect the Finish count, btw. And if you listen on your computer using iTunes for example, it doesn't count these.

One small problem with their timer is that some books may include a sample of a future book or maybe an interview with an author for example. If you stop listening before the book is absolutely finished, you get those minutes left to be finished as a constant reminder... so listen all the way to the end, even the credits, if you want it to count.

And I'm not sure what happens if two family members are listening to the same book using different devices...

[Jeanie]

One more thing... I've written about this elsewhere--some may say griped bitterly!--but one feature that has plusses and minuses is that once you click on the expanded view to get more information, there is a summary about that book. This could be helpful for those books purchased long ago that you can't quite remember what it was supposed to be about.

The big minus side for me was that I purchased four books in a series at one time--offered in a sale--and went to download all of them to put them in iTunes and make backup copies. Right above the stupid hidden Download Options button--couldn't miss or skip it--on the fourth book in the series was the summary that totally spoiled the first three books! If they're going to hide some information or make you click two or three times to get to it, the summary needs to be one of those that you click on to ssee the information.

Another possibly helpful bit of info they now include is that right below the other information on a series they show the list of other books in the series. It doesn't indicate if you already own them, so it's not a huge help.

Oh, and I do find the option for sorting my Library by genre a cool one... although I've never actually felt the need to look at my Library by category. Still, it was kinda fun to click on the various categories and see what books I had under them--I didn't even realize I had any books classified under Business/Personal Development until I saw I had two of them.

[Leslie]

Marcel wrote: "Leslie wrote: "I miss seeing my rating for each book, and I also miss seeing the date I purchased it (I use the date to enter in Goodreads..."

Those are indeed features that are sorely missing, it..."

Thanks, Marcel! I thought I looked everywhere for the purchase date. Obviously not! That link is helpful, and if I bookmark it, that will make it a little easier.

[Steve]

Absolutely horrible! All the positives are outweighed by the fact that it now takes four clicks to download a book instead of one. When I buy multiple books during a sale. all the extra clicking is extremely annoying and a waste of time.

[Kristie]

I don't have the new library format yet. Maybe because I'm on Audible Light right now? Maybe not being a member actually has an advantage in this case. :)

[Leslie]

I'm not a member, either. But I had the new format, which I hated, but now it has finally reverted back to the original. So yay!

[MissSusie]

I am a member and still don't have the new format.

[Chrissie]

I had the new format for about a week but then it went back to the old format. I am in Europe and am a member.

[Jeanie]

I got the new format early and still have it. Downloading is the biggest pain. And I'll never pre-order again! It was a pain to try to find the new Julian Fellowes's Belgravia episodes each week when it was being released--I had pre-ordered all of them at a sale price so couldn't avoid the pre-order problem of them appearing on the list according to date purchased rather than release date. Blech.

[Audible Support]

We appreciate everyone's feedback on the new library format. We are passing along your feedback to our team for future consideration.

Thank you.

[Robin P]

Jeanie wrote: "I got the new format early and still have it. Downloading is the biggest pain. And I'll never pre-order again! It was a pain to try to find the new Julian Fellowes's Belgravia episodes each week wh..."

I don't think that's a new feature. I still have the old library but preorders always show up by date ordered and I had the same issue with Belgravia.

[Jeanie]

Robin wrote: "Jeanie wrote: "I got the new format early and still have it. Downloading is the biggest pain. And I'll never pre-order again! It was a pain to try to find the new Julian Fellowes's Belgravia episod..."

You're right, it has been a problem for a while. But the requirement to simply keep loading more content rather than being able to go to the next page makes it even more uncertain... at least it was for me.

[Specs]

The new look seems to be browser related? On my mac it's new for some time now, but (at least a week ago) at work on Windows 8 it was still the old look. Which was nice for sorting through my wish list.

[Faith]

I don't have a new format for my library. I use a tablet. However I have a new format for my wishlist. It's sortable by price.

[Robin P]

Hmm, I think the Wishlist has always been sortable by price, at least the last few years. I use that regularly.

I logged on from a different computer that had Chrome and it showed my Wishlist in the new format with an explanation. It has bigger pictures of the books and you can listen to a sample. But I always listen to a sample before I put something on my Wishlist so I didn't see any value in that.. I changed it back to List format which is more like the old way. But when I go on from my home computer through Safari, I still get the old format.

[Faith]

I never noticed the price sort before, the list can also be sorted by genre. I can't do either of those sorts on my kindle fire.

[Jessica]

I log in using Chrome all the time, and the format on my library and wish list has never changed. It is now the same as it has always been.

[Faith]

The new wishlist is in beta so I guess not everyone has it (I have it on the desktop version but not on the app. This is what is says about genres:

Filtering your Wish List
On the Audible desktop site, you can filter the audiobooks on your Wish List by the classification of content and length. If something on your Wish List is categorized as something other than an audiobook (for example, a performance, periodical, speech, etc.), you can choose to filter out any content that doesn't fit in that group by clicking the filter options on the left side of the page on the Audible desktop site.

[Specs]

On my mac I have the new format, at work (windows 8) I still can see the old one.

It's good you can sort, but it can only sort one way (A-Z etc.). I would like to be able to sort Z-A, or oldest (now only most recent) etc.

[Janice]

My wishlist is still broken (since March). Just over a week ago, I emailed Audible yet again. I got an automatic reply saying that they'd contact me within 2 business days. Never heard back from them.

I just deleted my wishlist and will attempt to rebuild it. Very disappointed in Audible. I used to sing their praises. Not any more.

[Chrissie]

Janice wrote: "My wishlist is still broken (since March). Just over a week ago, I emailed Audible yet again. I got an automatic reply saying that they'd contact me within 2 business days. Never heard back from th..."

Janice, that is terrible that this has STILL not been corrected. I remember when you mentioned this months ago!

[Riva]

My main issue with the new Wish List format is that I can no longer just hover the mouse over the book icon and get it's Whysp'd status. With the new format, you have to click on each book to see whether it is Whysp'd. It doesn't even show up on the "Expand" description of the book. Since I think I have been booted out of the beta tester, I don't know if the price adjusts automatically anymore. My Wish List was the new one this morning and now it is back to the old format.

[Janice]

I deleted my wishlist and rebuilt it. Nothing shows on my pc or laptop. The wishlist does show on the useless mobile site. Do I sound bitter?

Yes, Chrissie, it's pretty sad business practices.

[Specs]

Just checked under Windows 8, the old wish list: I can select price, it sorts from low-high, I can click again an it sorts backwards.

This functionality is gone with the new wish list, you can only sort by one of the given options, which are few.

And you can't go fast to the last page of your wish list. It's a pain, despite the added features.

Janice, I feel for you, that's very disappointing.

[Chrissie]

specs, when we get the sale promotion offering very reduced prices , it is essential to arrange the wishlist by price. only in this way can you see which ones will cost less than the cost for a credit!

I and many others definitely need to be able to arrange the audiobooks by price! Audible, please take note.

[Tracey]

Chrissie wrote: "I and many others definitely need to be able to arrange the audiobooks by price! Audible, please take note. ..."

Seconded!

[Faith]

Tracey wrote: "Chrissie wrote: "I and many others definitely need to be able to arrange the audiobooks by price! Audible, please take note. ..."

Seconded!"

The beta format of the wishlist does let you sort by price.

[Chrissie]

Faith wrote: "The beta format of the wishlist does let you sort by price. ."


Phew. Good. I always go in using the Browser Firefox. I never pick what kind of wishlist I get. I am not talented with computer stuff. for a while I had the new wishlist and library and then they changed it back to the old one.

[Specs]

Yes you can sort by price but only one way (low-high).
Just like you can sort only one way date added (new-old). Or author A-Z.
I also want to sort the other way round, Z-A., old-new, highest-lowest etc.

[Robin P]

Specs wrote: "Yes you can sort by price but only one way (low-high).
Just like you can sort only one way date added (new-old). Or author A-Z.
I also want to sort the other way round, Z-A., old-new, highest-lowe..."

There should be a little arrow you can click on to reverse direction for any of those ways to sort. I'm positive I've done that

[Faith]

There's no arrow to reverse sorting direction on the beta wishlist.