Audiobooks

Another method I've tried, and it seems to work well, uses the extension LIBBY AUDIOBOOK EXPORTER in Chrome. I suppose it would also work in other chromium based browsers, like Edge, Brave etc It also works in the chromium based MOBILE browsers KIWI and YANDEX, which can both install Chrome desktop extensions from the Chrome WebStore.

It works much like the Firefox extension in that you don't have to play or scan the book. just open the Libby audioboooks on the Libby website. You might need to refresh the Libby page at least once, maybe a couple of times to engage the extension. It then displays at the top of the webpage and after it scans the book in the background you just hit the EXPORT button and it begins downloading all the files. There's a green progress bar that shows the downloading.

Unlike the Libby Download extension in Firefox, this extension downloads multiple files. As each one gets downloaded the "Save" box opens and you pick where to save each file. The default is the computer's default Download folder. You can choose another, like your books folder, but sadly this extension won't remember that choice on the next file, so you'd have to change it each time. A bit of a pain. So I just let everything go to the Download folder. When everything was finished, I moved all the files to a folder I had created for the book.

One of the files that gets created and downloaded is called "openbook.json" This is similar to the .CUE file that you get with the Firefox extension. It contains metadata, chapter break location info, etc. The trouble is all the current Android 3rd party players can't read this JSON file. The book will play ok, but you'll just see "parts", not chapters.

HOWEVER, if you use LISTEN audiobook player, you will soon find that it will be able to decipher the info in the JSON file and will be able to display chapters. The current version 5.0.15 cannot read the JSON file info. But I emailed the developer yesterday (July 30 2023) and explained the issue. In less than an hour he had reworked some of the code he wrote to deal with similar metadata files so that it could also read and use the JSON file info. He added it to the LISTEN app and sent me a copy of the updated app (now version 5.0.16). I don't know when the new version will appear in the Play Store. The last update was only a week ago, but I presume this new, or an even newer, update should come along in the next week or so. Look for any version greate than 5.0.15.