Scribd Android app audiobook issues.

[ApK]

Here's part of an email I just sent to Scribd support.
Any one else seeing similar issues or have any soutions?

----

The addition of audiobooks to the Scribd service is a welcome and
compelling new feature, and the initial selection of books is very
good.

However, using the Scribd Android app makes the audiobooks almost unusable.

In addition to occasional crashing, the app never seems to remember
where I left off in a book, usually taking me back several chapters or
all the way to the beginning.

Also, very often the pause controls, especially on the lock screen,
are totally unresponsive, and even when it does pause, the app tends
to then start playing again spontaneously on its own.

Please tell me a serious update to the app is soon coming?

ETA: I just got a quick, polite reply suggesting I uninstall and re-install the app. We'll see how it goes from there.

[booklover6]

Uninstalling and reinstalling didn't work for me.

I still get a stop at the end of every chapter. Or maybe a long pause. The other day, a chapter ended, and I was picking up the kids from school. I didn't touch the phone and left the earbuds in. 15 or 20 minutes later, the next chapter started! I kid you not. It was bizarre.

And if I leave the app, it doesn't remember where I was and starts back at the beginning.

[pidgeon92]

I didn't have problems with the Android app, but I'm having lots of them with the iPhone app.

[ApK]

Originally Posted by booklover6

Uninstalling and reinstalling didn't work for me.

I still get a stop at the end of every chapter. Or maybe a long pause. The other day, a chapter ended, and I was picking up the kids from school. I didn't touch the phone and left the earbuds in. 15 or 20 minutes later, the next chapter started! I kid you not. It was bizarre.

And if I leave the app, it doesn't remember where I was and starts back at the beginning.

Didn't help me either.
I'll continue with support.

[ApK]

New update of the Scribd Android app arrived last night.
Haven't tested it out yet, but all fixes are welcome!

Happy Thanksgiving!

[booklover6]

Thanks, I didn't realize. I had to uninstall a bunch of things, but finally got Scribd updated. When I went to return to my audio book, it picked up where I had stopped! So that's an improvement. Now to see if the chapter end pause is fixed.

I've got a new phone ordered with more space.

[booklover6]

The update completely fixed the issues I was having with Scribd audio books! It's wonderful, now!

Though I do still have issues with sometimes not wanting to download a book. Stopping the app and restarting it will usually fix that.

I am listening to the multi author Immortals series. On book 4, now. It's great!

[ApK]

That update fixed the most egregious problem of not remembering where I left off.

The controls still give me issues. The various pause controls seem to work only intermittently, and I've had my book spontaneously start playing in the background several times.

But it has, for me at least, gone from 'unusable' to merely 'glitchy.'
Hopefully it will continue to improve before my subscription expires.

My wife also noticed that the Scribd copy of the audiobook "Cat Deck the Halls" is only the first three hours of what should be a ten hour audiobook.

Support is looking into that for us, but I wonder if anyone else has seen an issue with a title not being complete?

ApK

[booklover6]

Yes I had an audio book that was missing 3/4 of a chapter.

[seanma]

how can you listen to scribd audiobooks? it's something short of a scam... NINE dollars a month, you CAN'T download 'em and they're ALL encoded at 32kbps, the crappiest bit rate ever... if you like listening to a phone-induced voice, enjoy. Otherwise, find cheaper alternatives: living in europe and not having a credit card to buy items with, i opted for www.audiobooksnow.com: their pricing plans are honest and affordable, and the selection is wide (blackstone, tantor, RB, penguin and many others... of course the titles directly produced by audible studios are not included, but hey, you can't have everything, can you?

[booklover6]

I was a member of Scribd for quite some time. Yes I did download the audio books and listen to them off line in the Scribd Android app.

[seanma]

i meant downloading em in the hard memory. i don't care being 'tied' by an app... i want files i'm able to move as i see fit between devices.

i still don't understand however how can you stand the 32k bitrate. have you ever listen to an audiobook encoded at 96 kbps or even 80? now i hope for you you'll never, cos you would be forced to "toss in the trash", in disgust, every scribd title you have (it seems you have arleady discontinued subscription)

[ApK]

I found no problem with the audio quality of scribds books. It doesn't sound anything like what you describe. And being tied to the app is not unreasonable with time-limited borrowed content, though I wish it wasn't so.
However, the new credit model makes it far less attractive, so we're cancelling our subscription next month.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by seanma

i meant downloading em in the hard memory. i don't care being 'tied' by an app... i want files i'm able to move as i see fit between devices.

You can't legally do it. Scribd and/or the publishers won't allow it.

[booklover6]

Originally Posted by seanma

i still don't understand however how can you stand the 32k bitrate. have you ever listen to an audiobook encoded at 96 kbps or even 80? now i hope for you you'll never, cos you would be forced to "toss in the trash", in disgust, every scribd title you have (it seems you have arleady discontinued subscription)

I have no idea what you mean. I listened to my Scribd books on an LG Volt phone and they all sounded fine to me. I probably listened to 100 of them.

Yes I am done with Scribd. Between the library and the discounted whispersync-for-voice titles at Amazon, I have plenty to listen to.