Audiobooks

How to set a sleep timer for an audiobook in the Apple Books app

Sandy Writtenhouse ∙ January 15, 2020
Set Sleep Timer Books app iPad

It’s one thing to fall asleep listening to music or relaxing sounds. But nodding off while listening to an audiobook is as bad as falling asleep during a movie. What did you miss? Are you going to start it over? Do you remember where you left off before catching those Z’s?

To make sure you don’t miss a thing with your audiobook, you can set a sleep timer in the Books app. You have flexible options and this way you’ll know right where you left off. Plus, the book won’t keep on playing while you’re sawing logs.

Here’s how to set a sleep timer for an audiobook in the Books app on both iOS and Mac.

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How to change the skip seconds for Podcasts and Books on iPhone and iPad

Sandy Writtenhouse ∙ Updated March 31, 2023
Podcast on iPhone - Change Skip Seconds

If you use your iPhone or iPad to listen to podcasts in the Podcasts app or audiobooks in the Books app, then you probably know about the skip feature. You can skip back a few seconds to catch something you missed or skip forward to move past something you have already heard.

The thing about this skip feature is you may not want it as low as 10 seconds because it might not be enough, and you have to keep tapping. At the same time, you may not want it to be as high as 60 seconds because you might skip way too much.

Here’s how to change the skip seconds for Podcasts and Books on iOS.

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Our first look at the Apple Books app on iOS 12

Bryan M. Wolfe ∙ June 5, 2018
Apple Books app

Apple Books is the new name for the iBooks app for iOS. First announced at the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), the update includes many improvements that should make buying and reading books more fun and yes, more accessible too. Here's a first look at Apple Books on iOS 12.

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Speed up or slow down iTunes playback for podcasts, audiobooks, and music with Speed-Up

Steffen Reich ∙ March 24, 2017

Still enjoying iTunes despite the beautiful mess it has become on macOS? If the answer is yes, perhaps listen up for this one. Every once in a while, seemingly low-key and low-price apps pop up in the market, claiming to have identified an imperfection or gap in Apple’s software, and in the next breath promising the fix for it. Some of these apps are superfluous to the user for the simple reason that the touted feature is already in place in Apple’s mothership software (in some shape or form), other apps are gimmicky or overly flawed.

Speed-Up for Mac firmly sits in the opposite camp, the one where ostensibly small apps are extremely wholesome and deliver on the promised goods. So what does it promise you ask? Put simply, to speed up or slow down your iTunes playback, an option otherwise notably absent on macOS. If this sounds surprisingly succinct or sober to you, that’s because it is.

Speed-Up treasures simplicity over bells & whistles, and is probably worth a look if you have ever caught yourself wishing for a speed lever in the thick of an Audiobook or Podcast session on your MacBook.

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Amazon and Apple end Audible exclusivity deal to avoid antitrust probe by German government

Christian Zibreg ∙ January 19, 2017

Quietly announced two weeks ago following discussions with both the European Commission and the German Federal Cartel Office, Apple and Amazon have decided to end their deal which made Amazon-owned Audible an exclusive provider of audiobooks for iTunes.

According to a Reuters report Thursday, the move puts an end to antitrust complaints by the German government and is likely to boost competition.

The agreement had been in place for over a decade, since 2003.

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