Zip download isn't working for Android

JayKitty76 · Post by **JayKitty76** » May 31st, 2019, 3:27 pm

I'm not sure if this should go in this forum or in Need Help? Got Advice? but here goes.

I tried to download Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (the newly-released DR) on my Android device. It took up a lot of my storage and by the time it finished downloading, I couldn't open it. I downloaded it as a .ZIP file, and once it was done downloading it went to my Downloads folder, but then when I clicked on it to play it I just got an error message. This happened last year, also, when I tried to download something else.
I'm not sure what's going on here. Is this a bug, or can Android devices just not take .ZIP files?

Rachel

Post by **annise** » May 31st, 2019, 3:31 pm

I suspect that is the answer, nothing I know will play zip files, you need to extract them first. So it's not an error, just a fact. You would need to unzip them first or investigate an app.

Anne

ej400 · Post by **ej400** » May 31st, 2019, 3:44 pm

JayKitty76 wrote: ↑May 31st, 2019, 3:27 pm I'm not sure if this should go in this forum or in Need Help? Got Advice? but here goes.

I tried to download Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (the newly-released DR) on my Android device. It took up a lot of my storage and by the time it finished downloading, I couldn't open it. I downloaded it as a .ZIP file, and once it was done downloading it went to my Downloads folder, but then when I clicked on it to play it I just got an error message. This happened last year, also, when I tried to download something else.
I'm not sure what's going on here. Is this a bug, or can Android devices just not take .ZIP files?

Rachel

It could be the size maybe? Have you tried downloading anything else from LV on your device?

JayKitty76 · Post by **JayKitty76** » May 31st, 2019, 3:45 pm

Well, the Christmas Carol Collection from last year...But that was pretty big too. I don't know. I'll figure it out. I just don't know how to extract files...

Post by **TriciaG** » May 31st, 2019, 4:11 pm

This might be a bit roundabout, but could you take the zip file, save it to Google Drive, unzip it, then download the individual files to your phone?

plaidsicle · Post by **plaidsicle** » June 1st, 2019, 6:12 am

do you have a podcast app? those can be very handy for downloading LV audiobooks without having to mess about with the catalog or .zip files. I use Antennapod on my android phone. just search in the app for "librivox [title]" and then subscribe to it once you find the book you want. the handy thing too is that most podcast apps automatically delete the files once you've listened, freeing up storage space again.

JayKitty76 · Post by **JayKitty76** » June 1st, 2019, 6:54 pm

TriciaG wrote: ↑May 31st, 2019, 4:11 pm This might be a bit roundabout, but could you take the zip file, save it to Google Drive, unzip it, then download the individual files to your phone?

Maybe...I'm not super tech savvy...but maybe I could figure it out. It's just a lot of hassle, that's all, but if it works--- that's all that matters.

plaidsicle wrote: ↑June 1st, 2019, 6:12 am do you have a podcast app? those can be very handy for downloading LV audiobooks without having to mess about with the catalog or .zip files. I use Antennapod on my android phone. just search in the app for "librivox [title]" and then subscribe to it once you find the book you want. the handy thing too is that most podcast apps automatically delete the files once you've listened, freeing up storage space again.

No I don't...I'll get that app! Thanks for telling me, that's super helpful!

JayKitty76 · Post by **JayKitty76** » June 1st, 2019, 7:12 pm

OK. I downloaded AntennaPodcast but I can't figure it out. How exactly do I add the specific book I want onto it? I'm on "Add Podcast" right now but I don't know where to go from there. To add a podcast (I assume that's what I'm supposed to do) do I search the iTunes catalog? I searched for my book there and I got the very first one available for download, but not the second one (the newest version) in the catalog. I'm assuming it's just too new (it was released into the catalog a few days ago) and the app hasn't updated yet? That's my best guess, I'm just so lost.

Post by **annise** » June 1st, 2019, 8:29 pm

I don't have a smartphone, but she does say to search in the app for "LibriVox [title] " and then subscribe so maybe you should try that until he is back online to guide you further ?

Anne

plaidsicle · Post by **plaidsicle** » June 2nd, 2019, 5:21 am

Anne, I'm a she! heh

JayKitty-- you sound like you've got the basics down. searching itunes is usually what works for me. I do think the newer releases take some time to get added. I'm also not sure how complete the collection is at itunes. I did a test search a bit ago and found only six of our eight Anne of Green Gables-- version 4 and version 8 aren't shown for aome reason.

I'm not sure whether there's something LV admins could do about that issue or not. but as I'm tinkering around a bit more I see the app has an "Add Podcast by URL" option. I assume that if you copy the RSS feed link from a book's LV catalog page into that slot and subscribe, it should be able to fetch it for you that way.

hopefully that helps!

Post by **TriciaG** » June 2nd, 2019, 5:32 am

Works are added to iTunes by regular people. It's not part of the LV cataloging process. I don't know how it's done.

But apparently iTunes won't be around much longer: https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/apple-is-finally-killing-itunes-842750/

I add audio from my laptop to the phone via a data cable rather than downloading straight to the phone.

plaidsicle · Post by **plaidsicle** » June 2nd, 2019, 7:04 am

TriciaG wrote: ↑June 2nd, 2019, 5:32 am Works are added to iTunes by regular people. It's not part of the LV cataloging process. I don't know how it's done.

ah, I wondered if that was the case. and if itunes is going extinct, it makes sense that fewer people are going out of their way to add LV RSS feeds to it.

JayKitty76 · Post by **JayKitty76** » June 3rd, 2019, 11:29 am

plaidsicle wrote: ↑June 2nd, 2019, 5:21 am Anne, I'm a she! heh

JayKitty-- you sound like you've got the basics down. searching itunes is usually what works for me. I do think the newer releases take some time to get added. I'm also not sure how complete the collection is at itunes. I did a test search a bit ago and found only six of our eight Anne of Green Gables-- version 4 and version 8 aren't shown for aome reason.

I'm not sure whether there's something LV admins could do about that issue or not. but as I'm tinkering around a bit more I see the app has an "Add Podcast by URL" option. I assume that if you copy the RSS feed link from a book's LV catalog page into that slot and subscribe, it should be able to fetch it for you that way.

hopefully that helps!

Oh, okay, makes sense! Thank you, I'll try that. It also makes sense that the book isn't on yet because it's new. Thought as much but I wasn't sure.

What?? iTunes is going away?? That's really sad... I've bought some good music on there, I need to burn/transfer it onto a CD before it vanishes. That's definitely a bummer.

JayKitty76 · Post by **JayKitty76** » June 3rd, 2019, 11:31 am

EDIT:
I copied the RSS feed link onto the Search by URL and it worked!! Thank you so much plaidsicle!!

plaidsicle · Post by **plaidsicle** » June 3rd, 2019, 2:39 pm

yay, I'm glad it worked! I have yet to try that method, but it is good to know that it is viable.