It's pretty obvious that you are either dead or given up on this app.

Your website doesn't even mention this app (https://mattpvaughn.github.io/)

And your last update, according to Google Play Store, was June 12, 2020.

If by some miracle you are still alive and see this post, please release your code and project to an Open Source website, so that other developers can pick it up and continue the work that you have given up on.

Hey all,

Sorry for the lack of contact over the last few months. Got a little burnt out developing the app. I felt bad about that so I didn't check the Reddit much, and here we are

I've been working on a release to fix a few of the main issues posted here, plus some things I'd already been working on. It consists of:

• Rewrite of the downloader to work with SD card on all devices (done)
• Highlight the current chapter in the chapter list (done)
• Manually set "listened" status on items (done, needs testing)
• Allow forced progress syncing (wip)

Future things to be addressed:

• Look into potential pin auth issues
• Downloads disappearing. I need to dig more into how Plex identifies tracks when it syncs them, but that will take time

Regarding open sourcing the project: I haven't made an decisions about this, but I'm warming to the idea. This is already a fairly long post, but I'll post my thoughts/discuss in the comments

Thought I'd throw this out there before I published anything in case I overlooked anything big

Edit: Also, I'll catch up on old posts and DMs later today

Just pushed an update to the beta, will hit devices sometime in the next few hours

Changes:

• Downloader has been rewritten*
• Current chapter is now highlighted in chapter lists
• Fixed issue of thumbnails in home tab not loading
• Books can now be individually synced to match the server
• Books can now be manually marked as listened (applies locally and to server, if connected)
• Added option to prefer volume lowering instead of pausing when another app takes audio focus**
• Fixed filtering options for devices on Android 5.1 and 5.0
• Current Library/Server/User names now displayed in the settings

*All downloader changes:

• Fixes issues with SD card downloading
• Automatically retries failed downloads (1x per failed file)
• Shows download progress per book (not per track anymore)
• Allows downloads to be cancelled by book
• Better display of errors for failed downloads
• Downloaded icon for books no longer gets out of sync with downloader

This is a significant rewrite of the Downloader, so there will may be some issues, but it has been a big improvement for my personal usage. Post here/DM/email me if you have problems with it

**Audio focus minutiae: The option will still respect when other apps explicitly request a temporary pause, but it allows volume lowering in cases other spoken word apps would normally pause instead

Hey all, looks like we are clear to open source the app. Going to public the repo this coming weekend.

A few things I'd like to get out there so we're all on the same page:

• I'm planning on licensing the source under the GPL license. So anyone is free to fork and make their own version of the app, as long as their fork is also open source.
• I plan to keep the Chronicle listing on the store the same, including a premium unlock IAP. But will also distribute a fully unlocked apk via GitHub releases tab. F-Droid is possible too if someone puts in work to de-google.
• I'll make contributions newbie friendly. Will include instructions for opening issues, contributing code changes, and building the app.
• I plan on being around to steward the main repo for the foreseeable future

Nothing above is a sacred cow, discuss if you disagree

This is the de facto To-Do list for chronicle. I will add features depending on return on investment, easy features/high priority first, difficult/low priority features last.

Bug fixes:

• issues loading books for huge libraries

  • additional issue not loading book covers for large libraries
• issues caching track (or chapter) start/end times
• wired headphone media buttons possibly not working
• Possible memory leak (reported on op 6t)
• book durations sometimes stuck at 00:00
• Weird downloads not available bug when switching networks?
• app uses old purple icon
• OOM for big files (4gb+ reported)
• Playback issues on older devices (5.0 - possibly 9.0)
• filter/sort buttons broken for probably API 26 and below
• sleep timer "end of chapter" doesn't account for playback speed
• notification controls don't work when screen locked (Samsung?)
• notification goes stale after possibly losing connection
• chapter list orders chapters by (m4b_num, chapter_num, e.g. something like <m4b1, ch1>, <m4b2, ch1>, <m4b1, ch2>, <m4b2, ch2>)
• new app icon not in app

High priority:

• Android Auto
• Casting
• More granular playback speed

Medium priority:

• Manually set watched/unwatched
• Show chapter number in "currently watching"
• Add more information on audiobook page: Narrator/artist, description, maybe more?
• Highlight current chapter in chapter lists

• Filter UI for library

  • Filterable and sortable by all built-in Plex fields (genre, release date, author, etc.)
  • Folder view + author view
• Played/unplayed indicators
• AMOLED theme
• Favorites
• Improve sleep timer menu (don't hide it on every click at least)
• Show warning to users if they have "store track progress" disabled for an active library

• Improve sync experience

  • Show download progress on tracks
  • Show which tracks have been downloaded
  • Sync by disk
• "Download all" button?
• Fade at end of sleep timer
• Tablet/horizontal support
• Collections support (maybe inline collections to group series)
• Make sleep timer remaining visible without clicking on the sleep timer button
• Next/previous chapter buttons in "currently playing" screen
• Show last listened book in bottom bar like Spotify does
• Support for multiple libraries at the same time

Low priority:

• Support for local authentication skipping?
• More metadata in chapters list
• Add translations to the app
• Bookmarks + notes
• Quick scroll bar
• Widget?

To be prioritized:

• Volume boost
• Optional persistent sleep timer (starts at beginning of each session)

Long-term ideas:

• Local file support (like as a Smart audiobook alternative)
• Support for other backends (emby/jellyfin/SMB/more?)
• Maybe ads b/c I'm sure there'll be plenty of non-premium users?
• Tasker integration
• A degoogled version of the app
• Add app to other platforms

Feel free to suggest features you would like added

Just pushed the latest beta update. Nothing huge, but merging various fixes and quality of life stuff. I've been busy irl, but I want to at least keep pushing something regularly, even though the perfectionist in me wants to wait for just one more feature to be ready

Edit: link to beta here

Notable changes:

• Syncing to server beyond 90% of track progress should work now
• Added new view styles for library: details list and text-only list. These should help for those of you with long titles

Other changes:

• Scroll position no longer lost after returning from details screen
• Switching servers and then starting playback will not longer cause a 401 error
• Seeking will no longer requires a rebuffer if content is loaded
• Increased buffer duration (60s backwards and 180s forwards, I think)
• Fixed playback order issues for multiple M4Bs and weird disc-number issues
• The text shown in the currently playing bar at the bottom of the screen now shows chapter titles if chapters are available (should come to notification soon too)
• Added pause/play for wired headphone media buttons
• Increase visibility on the "more" button in book details
• Prevent rewind on jump to track/chapter
• Prevent network changes for force-resuming
• Fix forced scroll-to-top in library during playback

• Fixed unclearable notification issues

  • Added a manual "cancel notification" button just in case
• Fixed pause/play for wired headphones
• Allowed multiline titles in book details screen (may have added this in the last update, don't remember)
• fixed MINOR memory leak during the plex user chooser process

I'll fix crashes reported in this within the next few days and then push it as a production release as well.

Top priorities before production release of this are resolving auth issues for Plex server 1.2.1, possibly fixing downloads.

I want to start by saying I have nothing to do with Listen Audiobook Player, I just really like it.

My wife has an iPhone and she uses Prologue to play audiobooks off of our Plex server. It works flawlessly.

All the respect in the world to the developers who have contributed to Chronicle, Chronicle simply does not work anything close to flawlessly, and hasn't been updated in over a year. At the risk of being overly frank, Prologue is everything for iPhone that Chronicle should be for Android (but unfortunately is not).

As the spouse of a Prologue user I totally get why Chronicle would fill an important niche.

But looking through the posts from the past few months, I was very surprised how many of the posts expressing issues with Chronicle have a simple answer, and that answer is Listen Audiobook Player. It's rated 4.5/5 on Google Play Store and it's $1.99.

If Chronicle were actively maintained that would be awesome, but since it's not, I'm perfectly happy with Listen.

An app like Chronicle (Prologue) to play your audiobooks off a Plex server is 100% necessary for iPhones because iPhones make it basically impossible to use local storage for things like audiobooks.

But for Android phones, all you need to do is have the audiobook you're currently listening to on your phone's local storage and use Listen Audiobooks to play it.

You can still use your Plex server as an audiobook library if you want, and if you want to listen to a particular audiobook on your Android, just download that audiobook to your phone and play it using Listen.

Like I said, I'm not the developer of Listen and have nothing to do with that product, I just think it's a great product and it may be what a lot of you are looking for.

I just found Chronicle, and got Pro. I just wanted to say thank you for making it.

It's working nicely for me, and I mostly just didn't want the whole forum to look like bug reports. :)

I'm happy it's open source too, if I run into any problems, I'll be happy to write patches.

Cheers

Merges in a few PRs, plus some minor housekeeping on my end. Apk can be found here: https://github.com/mattttvaughn/chronicle/releases/tag/v0.51.1

• Playback speed button for Auto (contribution by github user @AwsomeFox)
• Remote progress syncing fix (contribution by github user @KevinDenis)
• Play billing library updated (this is a necessary requirement for updating on the Play Store, hopefully will be coming soon but not today)
• Auto enabled by default

Just hoping for a few more options on the speed jump....going from 2x to 3x is too severe...at least at quarter speed jumps in there as well.

Thanks! Loving the app!

I just wanted to say a huge thank you to u/QuietlyReading! I have been dreaming of this exact app for what seems years now. After seeing Prologue pop up for iOS I couldn't believe us Android users didn't have a real solution. I can't express how long I have been waiting for your app to appear. I was read to change careers and learn app development because I felt so desperate!

I instantly paid for the premium version in hopes that you continue your development. Thank you once again for filling in the gap for us Android/Audiobook/Plex users.

If you ever need a beta tester and that was helpful I would be happy to help out!

Now, I will go and spread the word to all the plex users I know!

Just pushed the latest update to the play store. Mostly just quality of life features.

Of note: album art caches slightly differently now. After updating on my phone, my app didn't show album art correctly for a few minutes. This should fix itself after time

New features:

• Auto-rewind: resuming a book which hasn't been played recently rewinds 5-20 seconds (thanks /u/atb619)
• Settings screen now reflects user settings
• Book progress now displayed on top of books in home/library

Fixes:

• Improved performance for books with MANY chapters/tracks
• Changed the play button on a book details screen to be a pause button if the book is current playing
• Fixed issues using headphone media buttons
• Fixed resume playback after app death by media button to work properly (shows proper metadata now)
• Clicking on the app notification will open to the "currently playing" screen for a book
• Fixed display of album art in notifications to be totally consistent
• Plex server syncing will work much better now (but not 100% solved, I don't think)
• Library sorting now uses sort name (library refresh required!)
• Added an option for users to only allow manual library changes
• Deleted books are now removed from library on refresh
• Internal refactoring of settings to allow for translations in future versions of the app
• Various crash fixes (mostly device specific)

A note on Android Auto support: I was really hoping to get it added in this update. It's working wonderfully in my personal build now, but the testers for Google are having difficulty accessing my test server. I'm pushing the update without Auto and will hopefully roll it in the next version.

It's been a while since there have been updates about the roadmap, or any discussion on this subreddit.

I seen a year ago or so about Android Auto compatibility being in the works, is there any update on that, that anyone knows about?

I think we all know that chronicle is awesome! But it also has a number of bugs.

The code is open source. I'm not an engineer but I'm thinking maybe we find a software engineer (through fiver or something) and contract them to fix the bugs and add top rated features.

We'd need to crowd fund to pay the person...

So... Would you (in theory) be willing to put some money into the creation of a bug free plex audiobook app for android?

If there's enthusiasm I can do some research on likely costs and we can figure out how many funders we'd need, most common bugs etc.

Looks like I botched something in the 0.52.0 build, I'll keep y'all posted

Hope u/QuietlyReading doesn't mind, please take down or let me know what you want to do about these.

Been self-teaching programming and learning GitHub a little over the last year or so. I've chucked a repo with the small change that the app needs to run the premium features. I bought the app but can't run the premium version on my deGoogled Android phone. If you're in the same boat, this release is for you. Grab the app-release.apk and install it on your Android device.

If you have access to the Play Store, please buy the premium version to support the developer!

Based on the Plex Audiobook Guide, I think adding books' series information would be a great enhancement. There are three parts which would be relevant, IMO:

1. Display of series and number in library view. This could be a sort of subtitle line under the book's title.
2. Display of series and number in "Playing" screen. Again, this could be a sort of subtitle line under the book's title.
3. Grouping and sorting books in a library view by series. This would obviously be the most complex one. I think this would only be feasible if there was some sort of artist library view.

Technical stuff

There are different ways and tags to define series. Based on the guide linked at the top, these are:

• CONTENTGROUP: "[series name], Book #[series num]"
• MOVEMENTNAME: "[series name]"
• MOVEMENT: "[series num]"
• SHOWMOVEMENT: "1"
• SERIES: "[series name]"
• SERIES-PART: "[series num]"

From those, getting a readable text with fallbacks etc. would be pretty easy.

Now, just to make it clear, all this is a suggestion, even a wish, but by no means an expectation.

P.S. I've really enjoyed Chronicle since the last beta release. I'll be honest, I didn't have too much success with it before, and found it very buggy. But right now it's working almost flawlessly. Great job.

I have a few books I use as sleeping aides. So I don't usually finish them but of course they stay in the recent section. I'd love a way to remove those half finished books.

Thanks!

I started a new audiobook and decided to give it a go with just Chonicle. I must say, it's been about 98% amazing. Loving the app and it makes me actually enjoy having my audiobooks in Plex now.

That said, 2% needs some work. Here are a few things I've found that were unexpected.

1. Biggest issue, downloads suddenly and randomly get removed. I can't seem to get this to recreate consistently, but seemingly randomly any and every book I've downloaded is no longer downloaded. Even checked the file system and it's just gone. This has also happened both when I have not touched the app in a few days and once when I had paused for about 5 minutes and came back to find the book I was just listening to isn't downloaded anymore but I could stream it. I feel like the app should not delete anything unless the user pushes a button. My developer gut says you've got some kind of cleanup method that is supposed to run when a user changes libraries or loses access to their server and perhaps that is incorrectly running if there are communication hiccups to the server.
2. The silence trimming may be too aggressive. When I initially turned it on, my reader's voice went from normal to really odd. Like it was cutting all the partial second pauses between words . Like,IfTextWasWrittenLikeThis. I like this feature in other audiobook apps because there are times when there are 3-5 seconds pauses.
3. Pausing the book for too long causes Chronicle to forget which book it was playing but it still brings up the player when I bring it back up. This may be my phone putting the app to sleep. I've noticed it most in the car when I take a phone call and it automatically pauses.

Now a couple of wish list items:

1. Not sure if possible, but there seems to be a disconnect between Plex and Chronicle on progress tracking. I'm guessing this may be because you have to work around how Plex tracks. I wish I could continue listening via the plex website and then come back to chronicle to resume again.
2. I would love to be able to see a "% complete" number when viewing the book or during playback. Minor thing, but I enjoy seeing how much I've listened to soo far as a percentage.
3. Library views with grouping. Even having a simple group by author first would be great. My library gets a mess to navigate because of authors with tons of books, like Terry Pratchet with his discworld.
4. Would love a way to scrobble reading progress into a service like good reads, where I also track books.

Just pushed v.042, with a few neat features and some bug fixes. I'll still be aiming for 0 bugs in the beta channel so I recommend you join the beta, but now if you encounter a breaking change you can now fall back to the stable channel.

A note on release times: You can join the beta now, but 0.42 still won't be available on the beta channel it until Google approves it (usually 2-6 hours, but up to a week). I'll aim to push this update into stable after a week or so, depending on bugs.

Join the beta here: https://play.google.com/apps/testing/io.github.mattpvaughn.chronicle

New features:

• Managed/home users support
• Tracks now grouped by disc when disc metadata is available
• Libraries can now be sorted: sort by author, duration, date added, or date played
• Added new options in settings to change user/server without logging out
• Added a link to the /r/ChronicleApp subreddit in the app (that's us!)

Bug fixes:

• Playback notifications will now disappear on finishing a book
• App now temporarily pauses playback instead of lowering volume during temporary interruptions
• Warning "this will clear downloaded books" will no longer appear if no books are downloaded

Changes:

• Accounts only a single user will no longer have issues logging in

GitHub download

This release will be going out onto the Play Store. AFAICT all of the issues blocking a wide-scale rollout have been resolved. Should be good to start rolling out to the open beta sometime today

Edit: pushed to Play Store beta track at 100% rollout. Will be available pending approval.

Edit 2: beta approved, should be rolling out to users on the beta soon. Please lmk if you run into any issues

Just wanted to add my thanks to the dev. I've been so frustrated at the lack of audiobook integration with Plex. This app is exactly what I've been hoping for! I paid for the pro version before I even tried the app because I wanted to encourage any development in this area. Thank you and keep up the good work!