iTunes/iPod tip from a listener

Posted on February 22, 2006 by | Posted in News | Comments: 4 Comments on iTunes/iPod tip from a listener

This tip from listener, Ramsey C.:

Being an audiobook site you may already be aware of this, but newer versions of iTunes (above 5 I believe) will modify MP3 files to “Remember playback position” for playback on iPods. The iPod will pick up where you left off, even if you’ve switched over to another book or music. This feature can be enabled by right-clicking a track and choosing:

Get Info > Options > Remember playback position

This is a feature found in purchased audiobooks, but users listening to MP3 books from free sites like yours could benefit from this tip and make listening even more of a joy!

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4 comments

  1. Ann Myers` says:

    Great tip!
    I use a shuffle and this is really a good tip….
    it gets frustrating esp on planes to be interrupted and not be able to find your way back..
    I hope I can remember how to do this when I download.
    thanks

  2. Joey says:

    I assume you mean right click in iTunes.
    Anyway to do this on the iPod?

  3. Link says:

    I don’t think so. You’ll probably have to re-sync your iPod after you’ve enabled it in iTunes.

  4. The Critic says:

    Okay, I’m a huge audiobook listener, and I’ve just recently become an iPod owner, so I’ve been looking into this. I’m not sure how to “bookmark” an audiobook I’ve uploaded to my iPod, but I can fill you in on a few things.

    Ripping an audiobook into MP3 or downloading it from any source other than audible.com or apple will give you plain mp3 files. to get your ipod to recognize the books as audiobooks, you have to rip the files as AAC files. You select this by going to >Edit>Preferences>Importing Tab, then selecting AAC from the drop down menu of types of files. Then import or convert your files (do the latter by highlighting all the mp3 audibook files you want changed in your library, then right click and choose “convert to aac”).

    The next step is the pain in the butt. Go into your file library on your computer (not in iPod) and click on each file and change the file name type (the letters after the dot) from .m4a to .m4b. You wil get a standard disclaimer message saying that such a change will render the files unstable, but don’t worry, it won’t in this case. I’m told there’s software that will do this grunt work for you, and that’s a bonus (especially if you rip an audiobook from one of those pig-ignorant companies like brilliant audio which track each cd with 99 tracks, most of them about 40 seconds long), but I haven’t gotten around to looking into that yet.

    After that, iTunes won’t know where the hell those files are. Just delete them from your library registry (making sure to click on the “NO” you don’t want to move those files to the recycling bin), then go to >File>Add Folder to Library, and from there you add the files back to your library and upload to your iPod.

    If any of this was at all helpful, show a little love, and drop on by my site and check out my audiobook reviews. You might find something you like.

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