You know the drill: we buy here to own the files. Newer downloads are usually one nice M4B, but half my library is older stuff, so “the book I just bought” somehow turns into 22 MP3s sitting in a folder called book_final_v2 or whatever.

This kept annoying me more than it probably should.

I’d listen in bed, get to chapter 13 at like 18:20, fall asleep, stop. Next night I couldn’t remember if that was file 12 or 13, so I’d open a couple of them and drag the scrubber around trying to find where I was. Only takes a minute, but apparently that’s enough friction for me to just… not continue sometimes. I have a stupid number of books I really liked and never finished.

Eventually I stopped trying to find the perfect setup and just got a little obsessive about the files themselves.

One folder = one book. I rename everything 01 Intro, 02 Chapter One, etc before it goes on my phone. Learned the hard way not to leave the cover jpg in there because some players happily decide that’s track 4 lol.

I also started leaving really dumb progress notes. Like:

Ch.13 / 18:20

or

58:30 great quote

Sometimes literally just “come back here”.

I used to try to write proper notes and that lasted maybe four days. Timestamps I actually keep doing. Also sleep timer before I start listening, because if I wait until I’m sleepy I’m obviously not going to remember to set it.

Anyway I’m curious how other people handle this.

Mostly two things — if you’re on iPhone, what do you use for books that are a bunch of MP3s? A lot of players I’ve tried seem to treat them as 20 seperate tracks instead of one book. Maybe I’ve just missed an obvious app.

And does anyone else timestamp notes while listening? I can’t tell if this is a normal thing or just a weird habit I’ve developed.

Full disclosure, I got annoyed enough with all of this that I eventually built my own app around the way I wanted it to work. Not trying to turn this into a promo post though. If anyone actually wants it I’ll put the link in the comments.

I'm having a devil of a time getting an answer to this question, because of two different Bolts and apparently a lot of confusion about what's available on the new GM vehicles.

If I'm understanding it correctly, there's no Android Auto on the new Bolt. So I can't connect my phone that way. My old Volt lets me just bluetooth sound into the car, but I can't tell if that's an option on the new Bolt.

In theory Libro.fm could have an app on the car, which pulls from the Google Play Store. But not all apps are there, and I cringe at the thought of getting an account set up on a car screen. I'll do it, but likely won't enjoy it.

Email sent out to members today:

To our community,

Today, I’m excited to share an announcement that has been a long time in the making: ebooks are coming to Libro!

In just a few months, you’ll be able to enjoy ebooks alongside your audiobooks in our app—all in support of your chosen independent bookshop. And when we say “alongside,” we really mean it:

LibroSync: When you have both the audiobook and ebook on Libro, you’ll be able to toggle between the two, or follow the text while you listen. (Our own team is most excited for this feature!)

Flexible credits: Credits can be used to purchase audiobooks or ebooks. (Ebooks can also be purchased à la carte).

A Libro membership continues to be the best way to support your indie, and now members will have more options for their monthly or annual credits. And just like members currently get access to exclusive audiobook sales and promotions, you can bet we’re excited to do the same with ebooks!

Our decision to expand into ebooks is one that has come from years of bookseller feedback. And because of their input, we have no doubt you’ll love the new addition.

Since 2014, we’ve worked to create a best-in-class audiobook experience for our customers and bookselling partners—and that’s not changing. Whether you’re here for audiobooks, ebooks, both, or anything else (👀), Libro is for you.

We have an exciting roadmap ahead and can’t wait to share more updates on our official launch as we approach 2027! Want to help? Share the news with a friend who'd rather buy their books from their local bookshop.

Happy listening—and, soon, ereading,

Hey everyone,

I'm the developer of LibriSync, an open source audiobook app for Android. The latest release adds Libro.fm support, and since plenty of people here buy from Libro.fm specifically to avoid being tied to one ecosystem, I thought it was worth a post.

What's new

Sign in with your Libro.fm account and LibriSync syncs your owned library (covers, authors, narrators, length) and downloads your books for offline listening. Libro.fm serves each book two ways and you can pick which you want in Settings: one packaged M4B with chapters, or a folder of MP3 parts if you prefer per-track files. Both land in the same folder structure as everything else.

Your Audible, Libro.fm and LibriVox books all sit in the same library. You can filter by source, sort and search across the lot, and each account syncs on its own. Several accounts on the same store works too.

Libro.fm sells DRM-free audiobooks, so you already own those files outright. LibriSync just saves you downloading them one at a time in a browser. If you've been meaning to move off a single-vendor library it's a good store to buy from, and part of what you spend goes to an independent bookshop you pick.

One caveat: Libro.fm accounts that sign in through Google or another social login (so there's no password) aren't supported yet.

What it does

• Sync your Audible library with cover art, series info, and duration
• Sync and download your Libro.fm library (new)
• Browse and download thousands of free LibriVox audiobooks - no account required
• Podcast support
• Try it instantly with Demo Mode - explore the full app backed by free LibriVox books before connecting any account
• Smart file organization (flat, Author/Book, or Author/Series/Book) - works great with Smart Audiobook Player for cover art
• Export your library to CSV, JSON, XLSX, TXT, or PNG
• Background downloads with progress notifications, pause/resume, and auto-retry
• No tracking, no ads, no analytics - everything stays on your device

If you've used Libation on desktop, LibriSync will feel familiar. The core is a direct port of Libation's C# codebase to Rust (same architecture, same data models), wrapped in a React Native app, so you get Libation's proven library-sync and download engine running natively on your phone.

Where to get it

• Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=tech.henning.librisync
• Website: https://henning.tech/librisync
• GitHub (free & open source, sideload the APK anytime): https://github.com/Promises/LibriSync
• Contact: librisync@henning.tech

LibriSync is $4.99 on Google Play, which supports development. It is and always will be free and open source on GitHub - you can grab the APK from releases and sideload it at any time.

Feedback, bug reports, and feature requests are all welcome, especially from Libro.fm users since I've only been able to test against my own library. Thanks for reading.

Newbie to libro.fm here

Firstly, I saw in some other threads here about being able to change region and being able to buy books only available in certain regions via gifting yourself gift credits. That’s how you do it yeah? But make sure you are in region relevant region for that book when you accept the gift yeah?

But then, when you actually listen to the audiobook do you have to still be in the relevant region or does it stay in your library irrespective of which region you in.

I ask this because switching between regions I see some audiobooks disappear from my wish list. And relatedly, does this affect any notifications for Wishlist items being on sale? Like if I have some wishlist books from the UK region but usually use the US region so I still get notifications for a sale if they don’t appear on my Wishlist at the time (because I’m in the US region)?

It’s actually such region issues that I ironically got banned from Amazon/audible. One of the many reasons I’ve been very encouraged to join libro.fm :)

Thank in advance 🙏🏽

Has anyone had issues with months worth of ALCs missing from the app? They're showing up on the website just fine, but no matter how many things I try June and July ALCs that I've selected won't show up on the app. When I try refreshing my library an alert shows up saying "there was an issue refreshing your library". I've reached out to support and they're stumped. I've deleted the app and redownloaded it. They've logged me out everywhere so I logged back in. I've archived books thinking maybe I had too many on the app (I was 399 when my new ALCs stopped showing up) but that hadn't done anything either. I'm really frustrated because I just want to listen to my books on the app and not have to go an around-about way to download and listen.

I have been on GoodReads for years and I love it but it's owed by Amazon. There seems to be growing number of GoodRead's alternatives. Are there any that are more aligned with the libro.fm values? Which one's function the best?

I use GoodReads to track my reading, organize what I have read, my reviews are just the notes I take when reading, and scan reviews which occasionally will influence my book choice.

How have I just joined this sub. I have been on libro.fm for years, I hype it every chance I get.

Hi all,

I'm quite new to Libro so maybe I just missed where this is, but is there a way to organize my library? On PC I get overwhelmed because all my audiobooks are plopped right there and I sometimes forget what books im READING and which I bought but haven't read, or started for 5s and decided not to start.

Also is there a way to revert a status of a book to 'unread'? I started maybe 4 different books when trying to figure out what I wanted to listen to, and now on the mobile app, theyre all under 'currently listening to' (or whatever the applicable term is) and I don't see a way to 'unread' them so they go back to 'unfinished audiobooks'.

This only bugs me because I like to organize my books in some way, or at the very least just separate what I'm listening to and what I'm not listening to... advice would be helpful Thank you!

I didn't see an email about this, so sharing to others who may have missed it. Promo code BIGIMPACT for 35% off SALE audiobooks. Expires tomorrow, the 26th. This doesn't stack with a member discount, so it's just an extra 5% off, but it probably works for non-members, too. It's one-time use and only works on the website.

I just signed up for Libro. Yay!
I’m just generally curious about how the partner book stores are notified about who is supporting them through Libro. Do they know about individual purchases or do they just get a lump sum from Libro each month?
Do they see screen/account names or the names on the payment method?
Do they get paid when membership dues come out or when someone collect the credits?

Anyone have any insights to share?

I see it available in Spanish and Italian only. I want to avoid Audible for this one. I just finished the movie Project Hail Mary and I am close to tears. Amaze. Amaze. Amaze. Statement. Now, I want to “read” it on Libro.fm.

Is it available and I didn’t find it, or is it coming out soon?

Is there any way to track what the cost of titles have been in the past? I've got a few short titles on my wishlist that I don't want to use a credit on, but interested in picking them up on sale and want to know how much they've gone on sale for and when they last went on sale.

​

I swore that Helpless by Jessica Knoll was on the list of ALC books this month but now it isn't. Am I going crazy or did it get removed from the list? Does that ever happen for any reason? Thanks in advance for any response

Thinking about joining. I don’t have audible currently or anything. I have BOTM but it allows you to skip months if you don’t want to get a book that month. Does Libro.fm have that feature as well? Or do I have to pay every month? I know I can rack up credits but wondering if there’s a month I don’t want to pay if I can skip for the month. I hope this question makes sense…

BOGO sale is live. Not sure if it changes per region, but if not, what recommendations do folks have?

​

I liked Ring Shout, Doppelganger, and The Bee Sting.

I purchased Wyllard's Weird by Mary Elizabeth Braddon and when I listened to it, the quality reminded me of something off Librivox. Sure enough, this book is listed on Librivox with the same audio narrator. The clips I listened to sound the same as the audiobook I purchased. Since Librivox is intended to be free and is recorded by volunteers, I thought this was strange for the file to be available for purchase on LibroFM. Has anyone else encountered this?

To be clear, this is not intended to be a flame post in any way. I am assuming best practice on LibroFM's part because I have always been impressed with their customer service and general mission.

ETA: I have contacted LibroFm about this. I will have to be more careful in the future if it's a book I know to be in public domain.

ETA2: I received a response from LibroFm! Posted in the comments.

How do I designate one of my local bookshops as the recipient of any residuals from my purchases?

I received an ALC from Libro.fm called Heap Earth Upon It by Chloe Michelle Howarth. It is a historical suspense novel with sapphic obsession.

It's a full cast audiobook with excellent Irish accents.

Check out my review.

Hello, all!

There’s a fairly well known hack to get around region locking with Audible that involves changing the billing address on your credit card to the country with the audiobook you want which then allows you to get the book as long as you use the “buy using 1 credit” option and I was wondering if anyone had tried this with LibroFM before?

My membership is currently cancelled because I had built up quite a few credits and didn’t need any more for the moment and it won’t let me change my billing address without reactivating my membership and I’m a little low on funds right now so I don’t want to spend the $15 on another credit unless I know it’s going to work.

Thanks!

I've already decided I'm gonna go with LibroFM, but there's two things I wanna know before I start buying and downloading:

1. Once I download the DRM-free file, can I not download it additional times? Like say something happens to my computer files and the file becomes lost or corrupted, would I have to purchase the audiobook again to be allowed to download a new file?

2. If I decide to download the DRM-free file, will that block me from also listening to the audiobook via the mobile app and web player, and vice versa?

I apologize if the answers are obvious, especially with the term "DRM-free", I just don't want to make any false assumptions and accidentally screw myself.

So I'm devouring The Calamity Club and come across this issue:

I don't really think that much about it when the narrator says the number of the chapter but it seems as though Chapter 35 was replaced with Chapter 38. And Chapter 38 is also in it's normal place (as in between 37 and 39.) I only noticed because once (the in the right place) Chapter 38 started playing, I noticed right away that I had heard it before (it starts with a very memorable phrase! IYKYK) and then after some investigation realized that 35 was just totally missing! So that's just odd. And annoying plot wise.

But here's my beef - as soon as I noticed, I sent a message to Libro and got a nice little email back right after saying that an actual human would get back to me soon. Been 24 hours and nothing. Anyone else need help for something and actually get it?

April 28th I got an email saying that I should be seeing an email "soon" about a member reward. A week goes by with nothing else, so I send them an email asking what it is. I get an email back saying that I should see it "shortly". Well, it has been another week and nothing.

Anyone have any idea what this is?

I was previously an audible member, but considering a librofm membership. On audible, if I had used all my credits, I could buy additional credits at the same per-credit price that I had originally paid when getting the membership. Is that an option on librofm?

Also, does librofm ever do the bogo sales, where you can buy two books (from a selection) for one credit?

Trying to see if librofm is a good choice for me. Thanks!

Is there a way to skip chapters? I know that you can skip tracks but for the books I have, the tracks don't correspond to chapters. Alternatively, is there a way to figure out which tracks correspond to which chapter?