Audiobooks discussion
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Scribd
Does anyone know if you can download Scribd audiobooks on an iPod? That would make the disconnecting from WiFi more doable.
Janet wrote: "Does anyone know if you can download Scribd audiobooks on an iPod? That would make the disconnecting from WiFi more doable."I don't think there is any way for me to do it on my iPod nano which has no internet capacity ever and no apps. Maybe an iPod touch? You need the app in order to get the books in the first place. If you just used that device for audiobooks, you could turn off the wifi for the month as mentioned above. I think that is similar to ebooks/audiobooks from a public library. If you put them on a device that has no internet connection, they aren't removed at the end of the lending period.
so I got busy and didnt listen for a few days. I'm using cellular data and my subscription renews In the next few days. it seems that all of my saved titles are still available. i even clicked on a new release to see if it would be available to me and it is. I'm not sure how many I've actually listened to this month. At least 2 so I may not have reached the limit. it seems for most of us we are cut off after 3 audiobooks.
Okay, I have an interim update on my Scribd experiments. Disclaimer: I really, really hate the Scribd app. It's a stupid app!To recap: I downloaded a bazillion audiobook titles at the beginning of October, then turned off wifi and cellular data for the Scribd app. Then I started listening.
I listened to 13 audiobooks on Scribd during the month of October, most of them being 2019 releases. A couple of those were novellas, and I dnfed four of those titles.
To make browsing through all the downloaded books easier, I created a "list" containing all the 2019 books (at the top of the app's "saved" screen, you'll see options for "titles", "lists", "notebook", and "history").
At some point I accidentally connected with a wifi network for just a minute or two before I realized it and quickly turned wifi back off. At that time, Scribd started telling me that I didn't have any books downloaded -- but I actually still had access to all the 2019 books if I clicked over to "Lists". I no longer had access to any book that I had not previously placed on that list, however.
Yesterday I finally got sick and tired of dealing with the app, and I wasn't particularly in the mood to listen to any more of the 2019 books I still had access to, so I ended the first phase of my experiment and turned cell data back on for the app (I wasn't close to a wifi network, or I would have turned that on too).
At that point most of my downloaded audiobooks disappeared. However, I still have ebooks that I had downloaded but not read, I still have one audiobook that I had listened to but not deleted (I usually delete them as soon as I listen to them), **and** I still have the four audiobooks that I dnfed after listening to at least an hour or so of their content.
Two interesting addendums:
1. It appears that now I can only listen to those dnfed books through streaming, NOT offline, even though it looks like the files still exist on my phone. I've only tried this with one book so far, however.
2. Before I turned cell data back on, I went through several of the 2019 books and fast-forwarded through just the first few minutes of content to see if that would be enough to keep them on my phone. But once cell data was back on, they disappeared along with the others.
Interim conclusions:
1. It is possible to listen to more than 3 books *of your choice* per month by turning off wifi and cell to that app.
2. Putting titles into "lists" offers at least partial protection from an accidental wifi connection.
3. Listening to (and probably also fast-forwarding through) more than an hour or so of a title will keep it on your phone even when you have exceeded your unthrottled books limit and reconnect to the Scribd servers. However, at that point you may only be able to finish those books through streaming rather than offline.
Caveats:
1. The Scribd app is very inconsistent and touchy in many ways, so YMMV. Sometimes I feel like I have to say the right prayers and stick my tongue out just right in order to get it to do what I want. And when I'm downloading books, I often have to try more than once to get that book to download.
2. We won't know the final consequences of my experiment until my membership rolls over next week. Will my "transgressions" be ignored, or will it affect my access in the future? Will I have to download all those disappeared books again, or will they reappear by themselves when my membership rolls over? Who knows?
Stay Tuned for future updates!
Contrarius wrote: "Okay, I have an interim update on my Scribd experiments. Disclaimer: I really, really hate the Scribd app. It's a stupid app!To recap: I downloaded a bazillion audiobook titles at the beginning o..."
Very interesting. I don't have enough space to download all of the books but I'll keep it in mind for when I do get more space.
Scribd following in Audible's footsteps: I just came across a "Scribd Original" by Peter Heller, available in ebook and audiobook formats.The Orchard
https://www.scribd.com/audiobook/4295...
It's 215 pages / 5 hours listening, and it's available to me even after my selection was reduced :)
Keep it up Scribd! :)
Anne ✨ wrote: "Scribd following in Audible's footsteps: I just came across a "Scribd Original" by Peter Heller, available in ebook and audiobook formats.The Orchard
[bookcover:The Orchard|485412..."
Interesting. I wonder what incentives they are offering authors.
So I have downloaded one book on to my iPad and I’m in the process of seeing how many I can download onto my phone. If it will make a difference, only time will tell.
Update I can’t seem to figure out how to turn off data and WiFi for specific apps so I won’t get to try that but Ive downloaded two books on my iPad and two on my phone. That’s 1 more book than I’d usually able to read. Let’s see if they take them away.
Whitney wrote: "Update I can’t seem to figure out how to turn off data and WiFi for specific apps so I won’t get to try that but Ive downloaded two books on my iPad and two on my phone. That’s 1 more book than I’d..."You may not be able to, depending on your brand of phone. I’m on an iphone. And note that I’m turning off cell data for the specific app, but I’m turning off wifi globally — with unlimited data plans these days, I don’t need it for most things.
Whitney wrote: "Update I can’t seem to figure out how to turn off data and WiFi for specific apps so I won’t get to try that but Ive downloaded two books on my iPad and two on my phone. That’s 1 more book than I’d..."The key is how far you have listened to them....I find that after about 20% they let you keep them. That must be the point where they have to pay the publishers.
Janet wrote: "The key is how far you have listened to them....I find that after about 20% they let you keep them. That must be the point where they have to pay the publishers."One problem with this is -- at least in my case -- while you still have online access to the books that you've partially listened to, you **only** have online access -- once Scribd "reclaims" your account (I'm using that to mean once you reconnect with the Scribd servers and their computers figure out that you're over your book limit), you can no longer download those partially-listened-to books. Since I am very often in areas with poor or no wifi and spotty cell access, that's a serious issue.
Further update on my ongoing experiment: This month I have 81 audiobooks downloaded to my phone, just to see if I could. I did have to re-download the books I had on my phone last month -- once I reconnected with Scribd, they all disappeared. Oddly, I'm finding that some books refuse to download again -- even if I had them on my phone previously, I can no longer download them at all. Dunno what that's about, and it doesn't seem to be consistent.
I do still have access to a few books that I dnfed last month, but as I mentioned the access is only through streaming -- I couldn't re-download any of them.
This time I'm going to try hard to not reconnect for at least a month or two, and then see what happens when I do. I certainly have enough books downloaded to keep me busy for a while!
Contrarius wrote: "Janet wrote: "The key is how far you have listened to them....I find that after about 20% they let you keep them. That must be the point where they have to pay the publishers."One problem with th..."
I'll have to try that (redownload) and see what happens.
Whitney wrote: "81? wow you have so much space."Yes, I love iphones with lots of storage. :-)
The Scribd app alone is currently taking up 57 gb on my phone. Makes me feel so powerful! ;-D
None of this would be a problem if Scribd would honestly state how their service works. Many people are probably fine with their price for 2 books a month downloaded plus others they can stream.
Robin wrote: "None of this would be a problem if Scribd would honestly state how their service works."Their website is terrible, their search engine is terrible, the lack of clarity in their policies is terrible, AND their app is terrible. If it weren't for the cheapness, I wouldn't bother with them at all.
Incidentally, I **finally** joined my local library online, got it working with Overdrive, then got that working with Libby. Libby seems to be a really nice app for listening -- clean and simple, but all the features I like to see. Thumbs up so far. Now if only my library system had a larger audio collection!
so, that didnt take long. I've been throttled. I've only listened to one of my downloaded books and I've just started my second one which I'm only 10 percent into.
checked downloads from my ipad. one has been taken away and the other is there so it seems I cant listen to over 3 books even if I haven't started but one and have them downloaded. :) there's no logic to this at all. I also barely used it last month because I had a lot of libby audiobooks to listen to.
Contrarius wrote: "Robin wrote: "None of this would be a problem if Scribd would honestly state how their service works."Their website is terrible, their search engine is terrible, the lack of clarity in their poli..."
You mentioned getting set up with your library and Overdrive/Libby but they have a limited selection of books. There is another thread of this group you can check about libraries around the country that allow you to get a card with them for a reasonable fee, and then you have access to their ebooks and audiobooks.
I am sticking to my preference to use a small iPod, so no service works for me as well as Audible. I do keep getting ads for Scribd, even though I tried them last year and canceled.
Robin wrote: "You mentioned getting set up with your library and Overdrive/Libby but they have a limited selection of books. There is another thread of this group you can check about libraries around the country that allow you to get a card with them for a reasonable fee, and then you have access to their ebooks and audiobooks. "Yes! In fact, that thread finally got me going, and I just got an out-of-county library card for the Nashville library system, which is the next county over from me. I don' t think they accept out-of-state memberships, sorry guys! It is better than what's available in my county, but there are still lots of books (audiobooks) on my TBR that they either don't have or that have long wait periods -- up to 6 months! But certainly much better than nothing. And I really like the Libby app -- a very good app!
I'm going to look into some of the other libraries that accept long-distance memberships as well. Free or next-to-free books do save on the wallet, even though I prefer to own the files myself. For now I'm gonna juggle Libby (library memberships), Scribd, and Audible, and see who comes out on top in the end!
good luck with that audible u have to wait for a whole month to get your credits or pay 33.00 to get 3 of them scribd is much better
Tammie wrote: "good luck with that audible u have to wait for a whole month to get your credits or pay 33.00 to get 3 of them scribd is much better"Scribd is *cheaper*, but that doesn't automatically make it better.
I've had a platinum subscription to Audible for years. 24 credits in one lump, and you can buy extra credits for $9.50 each. It's by far the most convenient of the services I've tried so far -- but, yes, you pay for it!
Scribd, on the other hand, is a hassle in every aspect. It's annoying to use, annoying to search, annoying in every way. But it's cheap!
not annoying u just want to spend way to much money i hope the prices don't go up
Tammie wrote: "not annoying u just want to spend way to much money"Ummm. How could you possibly know what I do or do not find annoying, or how much money I do or do not want to spend?
So an interesting turn of events, I have been semi throttled. As I mentioned earlier, they took away one of my downloaded books, but the "newer release is currently still on my iPad as a downloaded audiobook. Today I went ahead and canceled my audible " subscription" I use quotations because it was the one where you pay about 10 dollars a year to keep your credits and be able to return books if you don't like them even though you aren't getting any new credits. It was kind of pointless because my audiobooks weren't able to be returned ( I guess they had passed the return date). I originally thought it would allow me to see the deals that they usually have as well, but I never really did. Long story short, I canceled it, but when I got back on to listen to an audiobook that I already owned, I got a new offer. Two credits and two audible originals with a 30-day trial. Just in time for the holidays! Wooo! I recently returned to the states, and I've been having some trouble getting up on my feet, so this was a nice surprise! :)
Anyone else charged twice in December?
Whitney wrote: "Anyone else charged twice in December?"I just looked - only charged once in December
Paris (kerbytejas) wrote: "Whitney wrote: "Anyone else charged twice in December?"I just looked - only charged once in December"
okay, thanks. I will check and see what happened. I thought it might have been because the month had an extra day, but I was charged once at the beginning of the month and once at the end it seems.
Whitney wrote: "Paris (kerbytejas) wrote: "Whitney wrote: "Anyone else charged twice in December?"I just looked - only charged once in December"
okay, thanks. I will check and see what happened. I thought it mi..."
mine posted 12/26/19
Paris (kerbytejas) wrote: "Whitney wrote: "Paris (kerbytejas) wrote: "Whitney wrote: "Anyone else charged twice in December?"I just looked - only charged once in December"
okay, thanks. I will check and see what happened...."
I took another look. The November charge was posted to my account late. Which my bank's fault. So it looks like I got charged twice in December, but, really, it just got taken out of my account late.
Whitney wrote: "Paris (kerbytejas) wrote: "Whitney wrote: "Paris (kerbytejas) wrote: "Whitney wrote: "Anyone else charged twice in December?"I just looked - only charged once in December"
okay, thanks. I will c..."
Glad it worked out for you
I’ve been charged $9.89 for december and january, it should be $8.89. Anyone has the same problem?
Riris wrote: "I’ve been charged $9.89 for december and january, it should be $8.89. Anyone has the same problem?"They've started charging sales tax.
Oh I didn’t know that. They should inform us before charging. Thank you for the info
Here is something to be aware of if you try to cancel Scribdhttps://the-digital-reader.com/2020/0...
Yikes! Not a Scribd subscriber, and now I doubt I ever will be!
Hmmm. I have canceled Scribd several times (I'd join for a month or two, then cancel for a month or two, then repeat), and I've never had any problems with them overcharging.
I didn't have a problem canceling either, but this seems like something that could lead to a class-action suit like the issue of Audible credit expiration. I'm pretty sure I cancelled by calling because I wanted to discuss the whole "unlimited" thing.
I had canceled once a few months ago. I didn’t have a problem either. I also cut Scribd payment from my paypal account so I assume it will be more safe as Scribd won’t have authorization charging the bill. Is the problem mentioned happened by using Credit Card?
A further note -- Scribd sent me a message that some of the books (five of them, out of a couple hundred) in my "saved" lists were going to be unavailable as of the middle of next month (like movies leaving Netflix or Amazon Prime every now and then), so they're giving me a **free** month of membership.I hate the Scribd app, but this seems like a pretty upstanding thing for them to do.
Faith wrote: "Penguin Random House books are no longer on Scribdhttps://the-digital-reader.com/2020/0..."
Wow, that is huge! Don't know if I can continue my subscription with that much limitation.
Janet wrote: "Wow, that is huge! Don't know if I can continue my subscription with that much limitation."I suppose it depends on what sort of books you tend to listen to. I currently have 266 books (mostly audio) saved on my Scribd account, and less than ten of those were affected. But I mostly listen to sff, so YMMV.
my list seems to be intact as well.
Audiobooks
Books mentioned in this topic
Such a Fun Age (other topics)Dear Edward (other topics)
Long Bright River (other topics)
The Orchard (other topics)
The Orchard (other topics)
Right. That’s why I downloaded a whole bunch at once.
For..."
Let me know it goes