HELP! Podfic Listening on Samsung Android

[jesse_the_k]

I want to help sasha_feather enjoy podfics on her newish Samsung phone.

Barriers: - I know macOS and iOS but nothing about Android. - Since sasha_feather is still recovering from her concussion and my cognition is fuzzy thanks to life-saving psych meds, we need a foolproof workflow. I'm sure there are better, more open-source, less-privacy-depriving paths, but right now we're looking for something that works.

No need to reinvent the wheel -- if you can point me to a site that explains how to do this, SUPER!

Right now I have two questions -- feel free to tell me about others I should be considering.

Q1: What's a basic audio player for Android?

We don't need a music player -- no equalizers, no cross fades, no podcasts. It's just for voice. Automatically saving a bookmark when you pause and a sleep timer are the crucial features. No flashy graphics. Happy to pay once.

Q2: What's the most foolproof way to get these fics into the player?

Right now, the podfics are stored all over: various clouds (DropBox, Google Drive), on clouds linked at AO3, on her MacBook.

Does Android offer a file system?

Could I connect an Android phone via Bluetooth or WiFi and use that system to copy files from the MacBook on the network?

Could we just plug the Samsung phone into the macbook's USB port and read/write its data like an external drive? Do I need a particular cable for that?

My circles has so many technical whizzes -- I'm looking forward to your answers!

Comments

[melannen]

I don't use Mac or Samsung, but on the Android end:

1. I use Podcast Addict. It's meant for podcasts, but it works fine for podfic as well (you add things saved as files as "virtual podcasts".) It has a good sleep timer and it saves your place automatically, if that's what you mean by "bookmark". (I don't know if it lets you add several bookmarks to the same file at the same time, though, if that's what you need.) It's not flashy but it has a lot of capabilities, most of which I've never looked at. It's free-with-unobtrusive ads; at the time I paid there was a one-time-payment option to get rid of the ads but I'm not sure if there still is.

There are lots of other audio player options (including Google Music which is probably built-in?) but the only other one I've used is VLC player, which works pretty much like on PC.

2. Android does use a file system, and the built-in Files app is pretty good for navigating it, once you get used to it. You should be able to transfer files from computer to phone just by plugging in any data-enabled USB cord, which the one that came with your phone should be, and turning on "file transfer" in your Android settings, at which point your computer will treat it like an external drive - but I've never tried that on a Mac.

[jesse_the_k]

Thanks!

"Bookmark" == remembering one's location, so restart at the same place later.

[mirabile]

Another vote for Podcast Addict. Super easy to use and has both bookmarks and a sleep timer.

I sometimes have trouble using a USB cable from my Android to my Mac, but there are a few ways to get stuff into the phone, including Bluetooth. I've never even held a Samsung so I'm not sure how it would respond to a cable or Bluetooth (I have a Motorola). Since her phone is newish, she may have support either from Samsung or from her cell phone provider (T-Mobile for me and they've been very helpful, both by phone and in person).

Good luck! No one should be deprived of podfic.

[jesse_the_k]

Thanks!

Preventing podfic deprivation since 2009.

[soc_puppet]

Musicolet is another option. You can use it to access various folders on the device and play audio from there. It does have a bookmark feature as well; if you tap the three-horizontal-dots menu (meatball menu?) when a file is playing, it gives you the option to bookmark it. It has a sleep timer, but I don't know if it will automatically bookmark/save your place if you use it, since it's not a feature I tend to use.

I tend to download files directly onto my phone and play from the "Downloads" folder. I've also sorted some podcast episodes and podfics into their own folders, and can play from those as well. I have yet to try hooking up my phone to any Apple products, but if you have a cable that will hook both into the phone and the MacBook, that should work?

[jesse_the_k]

Goodness, Musicolet does everything -- thanks for the rec.

[bluewinged_songbird]

Hi, so I'm using a Samsung Flip 3 rn and had to help my mom transfer files from her iPhone to a Xiaomi a while back. I think I can help with some of these.

Q1. Audio player - I personally use VLC for android, it's easily found in the app store. I don't quite understand what you mean by bookmark, but it does prompt if you want to resume where you left off.

As for sleep timer function: VLC Android Sleep Timer

Q2. For Dropbox, you can download the app. The Google Drive app comes with the phone, so you just need to login.

As for transferring from Mac to Samsung, I'm assuming it has USB-A? In which case, the USB-A to USB-C cable that comes with the charger should suffice. I think you can transfer files like with a external drive, but you can download the Smart Switch app if that's not possible.

Alternatively, upload all the files to Google Drive/Dropbox/Onedrive/Cloud service app of choice and access it from your Android through that. That's how I get the entirety of my Calibre library onto my Samsung.

Best of luck, you're so incredibly kind! I hope this helps.

[jesse_the_k]

Ahhhhhh -- thanks so much for these details. I believe there's a way forward.

[cathexys]

A friend recommended a small app called Bound, which afaik works on both Android and Apple. I have all my audiobooks and podfics on there (I store them on Dropbox and the app accesses them from there directly and has made my life much easier. It also allows me to move files together, so that like all parts of Vorkosigan or dresden files are jut one entry, which I like).

I've used VLC as well and it connects to my server, but since I got Bound, I've mostly just used that (I even dload my Audible files, convert them and upload them into Bound :)

FWIW, I'm a control freak, so I like having files in my own order. All my books and audiobooks and podfics are all on my Dropbox, and I just fetch whatever I want to read/listen to at a given time... (And that avoids needing cables, though I still do that for my Kindle, because I avoid going through Amazon whenever I can :)

Thanks for this info ....

[jesse_the_k]

...and could there be a more podfic-appropriate app title than "Bound"?

but I can't find it in the U.S. Google Play store.

For iOS I depend on BookPlayer -- It reads MP3s, M4As, M4Bs, and zipped folders of MP3s https://github.com/TortugaPower/BookPlayer uses all the standard iOS file picking tools.

Nothing freakish about determining your audiofile order! In an earlier era you would have spent that time rebinding your books.

[jesse_the_k]

And what do you use to convert your Audible files?

[cathexys]

First of, it’s probably too late, but here is the link I saw for android: https://baixarapk.gratis/en/app/1041727137/bound-audiobook-player


I have a converter, but I just found an online one that makes life much easier to convert: audible.converter.ml

Also, if you want some audiobooks, I’ve been collecting for a while now, and am happy to share. Email me or hit me up on Discord and I’ll share my Dropbox!

[cathexys]

It may not be a US tool though. Now that I think about it the two friends who recommended it weren’t in the US…

That's a fundamental difference

[jesse_the_k]

between iOS and Android.

Installing a non–App-store program on my iPhone requires serious hacking (more than I could do even when I still could think clearly).

While on Android, there are more than 50 alternatives for .apk downloads.

Thanks for the audiobook offer! In addition to the fabulous fans who create podfic for free, I'm fortunate that I

• can read lots of new books thanks to Libby at my city library
• qualify for Bookshare, which offers DRM-free ebooks for people with reading impairments, just $80/year. I read those aloud with text-to-speech.
• can afford to pay for all the other audio I want to read

Audiobooks are everywhere. Perhaps the Gutenberg revolution will be remembered as a brief interval in human history.

Re: That's a fundamental difference

[cathexys]

Yeah, I love my library offers and have a German and a US Audible subscription. And I love my TTS program.

Agree so much about the Gutenberg parenthesis :)

[vass]

Audio players: I haven't extensively tried this one myself, but it offers all the things you mentioned, and I installed it and had a quick look, and I didn't see any flashing graphics, and the interface seemed self-explanatory. (It is also open-source and privacy-friendly and in active development. Available on Google Play and also on F-Droid if she prefers that.)

Also, I hate that I know why you asked if you need a special cable: I once tried, over the phone, to coach my mother through how to get music from her Mac desktop to her iPhone without subscribing to Apple Music, having never done this myself. I couldn't believe the bullshit required.

For this... I haven't tried it with a Mac, but when I'm transferring files between my Android phone and my Linux computer, all I need is a USB cable with one end that fits my phone's USB port and another end that fits the computer's USB ports.

Apple has been tangling me in cable issues

[jesse_the_k]

....since 1985. Honestly, they must hold stock in all the "3rd party" cable vendors because every 7 months Apple changes their ports, their standards, and their naming conventions.

Thanks for the Voice pointer.

When it comes to Mac - iPhone communication, iMazing is the answer. Lets you extract and copy exactly what you want, full 7-day trial, one-time purchase.

[killing_rose]

I fully admit to still being a bit broken brained, so I just play things from my downloads, hope for the best, and often have that either a) backfire, or b) I promptly lose the item and download it four times ("do you really want to download it again?" My Samsung asks and I growl at it. "Well if I could remember how it saved the first time I could search it! ...oh. you saved it with exactly this name, didn't you?")

If sasha_feather still needs options, I can tag d--he does a lot of troubleshooting since, you know, pretty literally both his business and hobby.

Sorry to hear re broken brain

[jesse_the_k]

Thanks for the offer! I think we know how to do it and if I'm wrong I'll circle back to you.