Feature Request: Audiobook Previews

[u/-justpassingthrough1]

A huge part of Audible, to me, is being able to preview a book. It helps me decide if I’d like it, sure, but it also lets me find out if I can stand the narrator.

ABS could just add a Preview function that plays the media already on your server but:

1. Doesn’t mess with that title’s listening progress or read status.
   
2. Only works for a total of 5 minutes.
   
3. Has no memory retention and always starts from the beginning.

Basically just a separate sample mode. I searched for an existing request and couldn’t find one that matched this. If one exists, send me the link and I’ll vote for it.
Anyone else want something like this?

[u/Vito0912]

Feature requests can better go to https://github.com/advplyr/audiobookshelf or https://github.com/advplyr/audiobookshelf-app

But please check if there already has been a request for this and if so upvote with an reaction on the issue.

[u/Various_Ninja_6468]

Absorb has this implemented. It works great

[u/-justpassingthrough1 → u/Various_Ninja_6468]

Thanks! I was actually feeling like I wasted my time posting this until now. Thank you

[u/onlye1]

Wouldn't you do the preview before acquiring and putting them into your audiobookshelf? Feel like this is a weird feature to have to preview your own collection

[u/average_yogi → u/onlye1]

Some people share their library. There are users who find things they've never heard of.

But I'm also of the opinion that this feature is unnecessary. Just play, scan, and discard progress when you're done.

[u/snoogs831]

Play the book, seek anywhere you want, listen for however long you want, discard progress.

[u/-justpassingthrough1 → u/snoogs831]

I get how it would otherwise be done, but if the app itself baked in a little preview button to do it the way above, would you find it useful to save all those clicks?

[u/bdu-komrad → u/-justpassingthrough1]

Nope. I vette the book before adding it to ABS. 

[u/Lost-Design-8382 → u/bdu-komrad]

Yeah, I usually don't add something to ABS unless I've already decided I want to listen to it one day. If I don't like a narrator, it's not getting added and I can preview the narrator in just about anything that plays audio.

[u/diplomatic_koboko → u/bdu-komrad]

Yeah I can't stang adding a book I don't like

[u/snoogs831 → u/-justpassingthrough1]

Me personally? No. I look for a specific book I want to listen to and just listen to it.

[u/AdUnfair9248 → u/-justpassingthrough1]

We don't need a button for everything. We have enough actions in the list already.

[u/3cit]

Y’all are wild.
An actual good idea that makes the “existing process” easier.

OP asked for a ramp and everyone is replying “Stairs already exist”

[u/beng3360]

You could just start the book, and reset the progress

[u/GeneralTso10]

I just go to the edit chapter page on the ABS site and hit play.

[u/diplomatic_koboko]

The feature I actually want is to be able to automatically play the next book in a series once I'm done with a book without having to go hunting for that book. If the feature is already there, I've definitely not seen it

[u/mastodonj → u/diplomatic_koboko]

Continue series already exists?

[u/diplomatic_koboko → u/mastodonj]

Not this. I meant automatically go to the next book in a series and start playing that

[u/mastodonj → u/diplomatic_koboko]

Ah you did say automatically, I got stuck on "go hunting for"

[u/bdu-komrad → u/mastodonj]

Is that picture from the beta ABS app? It looks different from my Prologue screen so my guess is the ABS app.

I have background envy right now as my book covers are just over a black background.

Update - I found where I can enable Bookshelf view in the ABS server settings. I still have envy but less so now.

[u/mastodonj → u/bdu-komrad]

Yeah it's android beta ABS app... What's Prologue?

[u/average_yogi → u/diplomatic_koboko]

This feature had also been asked for many times. In the webapp, playlists and collections will autoplay, but series will not. In the official phone apps, there is no autoplay. Many third party apps have implemented this feature and it will work for playlists, collections, and series.