LibriVox mobile apps discussion

[udvaritibor]

Hello everybody,

I was looking over the iPhone apps that are currently available for LibriVox so I can listen to books while I'm on my way to work.

I could not help noticing that most of them are not very high quality.

Are you satisfied with what's out there?
Which ones do you use?

Full disclosure: I make iPhone apps myself and I was wondering what the community thinks about what's out there right now.

I think it would be awesome to make a community driven app where the design really focuses on how
the community already uses LibriVox ...

What do you think?

[tovarisch]

Disclaimer: I don't speak for the community.

I use my PC to download zip files, then extract the MP3 files, fix their track numbers (the phone seems to need those), then copy the folder to my phone and play it like a disc.

I did once install the app, but it did not seem a better alternative.

That's on the listening side. As far as reading forums, writing, the web interface works fine for me. And so does it, too, when I upload my recordings and manage the MW.

[kayray]

I like Bookmobile because I can also use it for podcasts and not have to bother with iTunes.

The developer is VERY responsive to bug reports.

http://freshmowed.com

[udvaritibor]

I was particularly thinking of this app when I wrote the initial post: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/librivox-audio-books/id596159212?mt=8 as it seems to be the most popular.

I also looked at Book Mower which seems to work fine, but the graphical interface on it leaves me wanting a little bit more. From what I am seeing there is no clear winner/app that most everybody is happy with ....

I was thinking of writing an iPhone app with the help of you guys, who use it regularly to best meet your needs.
I wanted to gauge how many people would be interested in a new alternative to what exists out there.

The worst feeling in software development is writing software that just a handful of people use.

Do you think you would be interested in such an endeavour?
Giving a little feedback not just on bugs but how you would be able to use it as a whole?

[annise]

My feeling is you are in the wrong place - I may be wrong but I think most people here seem to use the catalogue to get things to listen to. Certainly most of the people who contact the help line with app problems are not members and often don't even know the difference between our books and those they buy with the apps.
We have always considered that we have enough to do recording all the PD books, we aren't about to take up distribution. especially with the proliferation of new ways of listening, So you may get some response , but the majority of people using the apps are not forum members.

Anne

[udvaritibor]

Thank you for you thoughts Anne.

I thought this would be the best place to find people that would be interested or are already using an app.

Personally I use the catalog as well right now, but I find that an app would be a major time saver and convenience for my "busy 21st century lifestyle".

I think I'll put together a survey about how people use Librivox with apps or not to see the situation.

Do you guys have any data about the community?

Also, do you know where I could find the people who are "listeners", without explicitly trying to find people using other apps?

Personally what I find unfair now is that people making apps with the API are not contributing back to Librivox, I can't see a mention anywhere of donating part of the profits back to Librivox. Especially because these apps are Librivox content.

[RuthieG]

I don't know of any particular place where ordinary listeners gather (i.e. excluding proof-listeners, who are very valued members of our community). You might try Goodreads.

Do you guys have any data about the community?

What sort of data do you mean? I have a few rather out-of-date graphs of geographical distribution of readers, number of sections read etc.

All our recordings are in the public domain, so there is no legal or indeed moral compulsion to donate, but some app developers do so on occasions.

Ruth

[tovarisch]

..I thought this would be the best place to find people that would be interested or are already using an app.

An understandable mistake.

..Personally I use the catalog as well right now, but I find that an app would be a major time saver and convenience for my "busy 21st century lifestyle".

There are probably others who'd agree.

..I think I'll put together a survey about how people use Librivox with apps or not to see the situation.

Do you guys have any data about the community?

If you mean the community of people downloading from archive.org to listen, then my guess would be that we don't, unless they take up volunteering or are vocal enough to join and start a discussion of some kind here. Both kinds are exceptions, methinks.

..Also, do you know where I could find the people who are "listeners", without explicitly trying to find people using other apps?

I'd probably go to the web to search for discussion forums on apps. Doesn't Apple have any pointers to where that might be? Or C|Net or some such place?

..Personally what I find unfair now is that people making apps with the API are not contributing back to Librivox, I can't see a mention anywhere of donating part of the profits back to Librivox. Especially because these apps are Librivox content.

I don't find it unfair. Our work is for public consumption in whatever form the public finds it useful. We are interested in letting people know about us, and when LibriVox is mentioned in the media or blogs, it's good. I don't think that we (as the community of volunteers) have the time to develop or maintain any kind of strategy on this beyond what is already underway, which is to read books and maintain the site and the catalogue.

[udvaritibor]

Do you guys have any data about the community?

What sort of data do you mean? I have a few rather out-of-date graphs of geographical distribution of readers, number of sections read etc.

Any data, demographics, per user listening statistics would be useful.

Estimating users average age could go into making decisions about buttons sizes, font sizes for older ages etc.

But really any relevant data would be interesting, especially about how people use Librivox right now, for example if most people listen to audiobooks based mainly on the author, or if they do so based mainly on the genre would have great influences in facilitating these use cases for general use.

Some companies, with regards to these sort of analytics go as far as to see that people from Ireland don't usually click blue buttons in from July to September to quote an extreme ( but real ) case and adapt their user experience accordingly.

Of course this would be a little over kill for my means, but knowing who would use the app would give some great insights about design decisions.

[TriciaG]

I don't see why you couldn't make a survey using something like surveymonkey.com, then advertising it here and on social media. There are a couple Facebook groups for listeners; they'd be a good group to target.

This will skew your data towards the social media and Internet users, but I'd think that they would be more your target audience, anyway, than those who get their audio files burned onto a CD for them because they're unable to use the Internet themselves.

EDIT: I don't use mobile apps for LV. I use my laptop for recording, forum-ing, and downloading audio to listen for enjoyment. I'll put the MP3's on an archaic MP3 player or on my phone, but I use a non-audiobook app to listen (ES File Explorer).

[udvaritibor]

..Also, do you know where I could find the people who are "listeners", without explicitly trying to find people using other apps?

I'd probably go to the web to search for discussion forums on apps. Doesn't Apple have any pointers to where that might be? Or C|Net or some such place?

Not really. Apple does not facilitate conversations with users. The only point of entry would be to see the app reviews, which are usually good for people pointing out what is right or wrong with the apps in question ( Most reviews are either 1 or 5 stars)

I don't think that we (as the community of volunteers) have the time to develop or maintain any kind of strategy on this beyond what is already underway, which is to read books and maintain the site and the catalogue.

That is a fair point. That is why I would like to develop an app myself and maintain it with feedback from the community. Of course right now I'm trying to see and find the people who are already using these kinds of apps or would be interested to use one if provided with a quality one.

Thank you for all your feedback, it is all very useful.

[udvaritibor]

I don't see why you couldn't make a survey using something like surveymonkey.com, then advertising it here and on social media. There are a couple Facebook groups for listeners; they'd be a good group to target.

This will skew your data towards the social media and Internet users, but I'd think that they would be more your target audience, anyway, than those who get their audio files burned onto a CD for them because they're unable to use the Internet themselves.

That's actually a great idea, I stumbled upon a facebook group over here https://www.facebook.com/groups/46088852996/ but not much else.

Still a great starting point though. Let me know if you know of any other places that I could find interested people.

Actually I already put together a survey that I will let people take, but I much rather start a conversation and see how people feel in general about the idea before surveying them.

[TriciaG]

That's the Facebook group I mostly had in mind. There are probably others, but that's the largest.

[udvaritibor]

I took a look at the Free Internet Archive forums as well but seems that people are not very engaged over there, with most posts not getting any replies.

[udvaritibor]

I put together a survey as suggested.

Posted it on the forums over here:
viewtopic.php?f=24&t=54597

I'm going to try to get ahold more of the listeners community as you suggested.

Thank you everybody for your feedback.

I sincerely hope I can find enough interested people!