I built an app for listening to Librivox audio books. Be my first users!

invisibleCat · Post by **invisibleCat** » December 1st, 2020, 9:31 pm

Play store
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.gemaudiobook
App store
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/gem-audiobook/id1540881525
Or search for "Gem Audiobook"
---------------

Hello everyone!

I am a designer and I recently built an app, Gem, which allows you to discover and listen to LibriVox audio books. I am still actively working on it, but it is time to let people try it out! Free and no login required.

Gem is only available for iOS for the moment, I might make an android version later. Here are a few screenshots:

More about the app:

- Find new releases and Librivox collections on the Explore page
- Browse by genre, language or search for books and authors
- Like books to listen later, download books to listen offline
- Change playback speed
- Dark mode and light mode that follows your system that can also be manually turned on/off

More about me:

I'm pretty new here and have made 2 short recordings so far! I'm a product designer at a technology company in the Bay Area, California. Ever since I discovered Librivox I found that there is not a good app for listening to the audio books, so I decided to make one myself! The works produced by the great people here deserve more distribution. I hope Gem helps people enjoy the audio books better than the ones in the market.

Let me know if you have any questions!

TruistKnave · Post by **TruistKnave** » January 1st, 2021, 8:27 pm

That looks really cool. Makes me wish I had an i-phone. I love the way that everybody here is excited about contributing. What a great community!

CynCee · Post by **CynCee** » January 5th, 2021, 11:33 am

Hi! This sounds great! I will play with it this week! What a great idea!

CynCee · Post by **CynCee** » January 9th, 2021, 7:42 am

Love the app! I have a question. Is there a way you can put who the narrator is (either volunteers or name of solo narrator) right under the title in the results of the search? I know when I search I look to see if its a solo, or colab or just see if its a narrator we like.
I have the librivox app that has that and I like that I don't have to go into each title and see, especially when there are several versions of one book. Also when you go into the book and you see the list of chapters, the name of each narrator in a colab is written for you to see. Just trying to be helpful. Those things really help me in my searches.

So far I really like your app! I'll keep testing!

Thanks
Cynthia

invisibleCat · Post by **invisibleCat** » January 29th, 2021, 7:25 pm

TruistKnave wrote: ↑
January 1st, 2021, 8:27 pm
That looks really cool. Makes me wish I had an i-phone. I love the way that everybody here is excited about contributing. What a great community!

Thank you, I'm now more motivated to make an android version!

invisibleCat · Post by **invisibleCat** » January 29th, 2021, 7:30 pm

CynCee wrote: ↑
January 9th, 2021, 7:42 am
Love the app! I have a question. Is there a way you can put who the narrator is (either volunteers or name of solo narrator) right under the title in the results of the search? I know when I search I look to see if its a solo, or colab or just see if its a narrator we like.
I have the librivox app that has that and I like that I don't have to go into each title and see, especially when there are several versions of one book. Also when you go into the book and you see the list of chapters, the name of each narrator in a colab is written for you to see. Just trying to be helpful. Those things really help me in my searches.

So far I really like your app! I'll keep testing!

Thanks
Cynthia

Thank you for this feedback Cynthia! It makes sense.
If you are interested in this--- I use the API provided by archive.org and I haven't figured out a robust way to retrieve information such as narrator or language. Librivox.org 's api provides better metadata but is not great for building an app. I'll keep looking into this, and again, thank you for trying this out!!

The app is now available on the app store https://apps.apple.com/us/app/gem-audiobook/id1540881525

JordanN · Post by **JordanN** » January 31st, 2021, 7:40 pm

CynCee wrote: ↑
January 9th, 2021, 7:42 am
Love the app! I have a question. Is there a way you can put who the narrator is (either volunteers or name of solo narrator) right under the title in the results of the search? I know when I search I look to see if its a solo, or colab or just see if its a narrator we like.
I have the librivox app that has that and I like that I don't have to go into each title and see, especially when there are several versions of one book. Also when you go into the book and you see the list of chapters, the name of each narrator in a colab is written for you to see. Just trying to be helpful. Those things really help me in my searches.

So far I really like your app! I'll keep testing!

Thanks
Cynthia

I second this. Maybe it’s just my ego speaking, but it’d be kind of neat to favorite myself and see all of my Librivox recordings.

invisibleCat · Post by **invisibleCat** » February 1st, 2021, 6:40 pm

JordanN wrote: ↑
January 31st, 2021, 7:40 pm

CynCee wrote: ↑
January 9th, 2021, 7:42 am
Love the app! I have a question. Is there a way you can put who the narrator is (either volunteers or name of solo narrator) right under the title in the results of the search? I know when I search I look to see if its a solo, or colab or just see if its a narrator we like.
I have the librivox app that has that and I like that I don't have to go into each title and see, especially when there are several versions of one book. Also when you go into the book and you see the list of chapters, the name of each narrator in a colab is written for you to see. Just trying to be helpful. Those things really help me in my searches.

So far I really like your app! I'll keep testing!

Thanks
Cynthia
I second this. Maybe it’s just my ego speaking, but it’d be kind of neat to favorite myself and see all of my Librivox recordings.

Thank you for the feedback! This might not be a great solution, but if you haven't tried this, you can search your name and your recordings should come up in the results. Thanks again for trying the app!!

DeonEva · Post by **DeonEva** » February 4th, 2021, 3:10 am

Hey! this is good news, you are doing great!
but tell me, will there be an Android app soon? and how can you find out about it?
thanks!

Post by **annise** » February 4th, 2021, 3:13 am

There is an Android app in the Google store that can be used for LV - we don't run it but I've heard it works well.

Anne

DeonEva · Post by **DeonEva** » February 4th, 2021, 3:24 am

annise wrote: ↑
February 4th, 2021, 3:13 am
There is an Android app in the Google store that can be used for LV - we don't run it but I've heard it works well.

Anne

I looked in the play market, but unfortunately I did not find a good one

invisibleCat · Post by **invisibleCat** » February 4th, 2021, 7:54 pm

DeonEva wrote: ↑
February 4th, 2021, 3:10 am
Hey! this is good news, you are doing great!
but tell me, will there be an Android app soon? and how can you find out about it?
thanks!

I’m currently working on the android version, can’t provide a date since this is my side project, but I will update this thread when it’s available!

geoscoutCJ · Post by **geoscoutCJ** » February 8th, 2021, 10:49 am

This is awesome! I am also eagerly looking forward to the Android version of the app.

invisibleCat · Post by **invisibleCat** » March 1st, 2021, 8:46 pm

DeonEva wrote: ↑
February 4th, 2021, 3:10 am
Hey! this is good news, you are doing great!
but tell me, will there be an Android app soon? and how can you find out about it?
thanks!

Android is here! https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.gemaudiobook

invisibleCat · Post by **invisibleCat** » March 1st, 2021, 8:46 pm

geoscoutCJ wrote: ↑
February 8th, 2021, 10:49 am
This is awesome! I am also eagerly looking forward to the Android version of the app.

Android is here! https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.gemaudiobook