Want to Listen to Audio Books

[bob_p]

I've been using my smartphone to listen to Audible since our first Model S was delivered in early 2013.

To listen to the audiobook, I'll bring up the Audible app before docking the phone to the charging connector in the console. And then select the media player source on the console (no longer possible to do that from the steering wheel).

And after that. all control of the audiobook (primarily play/pause) is done through the console or steering wheel button.

And because I'm using my smartphone, if I listen to the audiobook away from the car, the current position is always correct.

It would be better if Tesla would fix the media player to always remember the current file and position AND add an audiobook app (Audible?).

But until then, it really isn't that bad to use a smartphone over BT.

 

[gregincal]

Check out the Overdrive app. It lets you check out audiobooks from the library and download directly to your phone. And then play over bluetooth. I've listened to a couple dozen audiobooks that way over the last year.

 

[dgpcolorado]

There are lots of similar devices that use bluetooth instead of FM.

Amazon.com: Mpow Bluetooth 2-in-1 Receiver/Transmitter, Wireless Bluetooth Adapter with Stereo Transmission: Cell Phones & Accessories

...lots of other similar Aux-to-Bluetooh devices, too.

I looked into those but user reports said that they didn't connect to Tesla because they used a different variant of Bluetooth that Tesla couldn't handle. Since I know nothing about Bluetooth codecs, and really don't want to, I went with an FM transmitter because I knew it would work.

If someone has used a bluetooth transmitter device with a 3.5mm input jack that actually works in a Tesla I'd be interested in making the switch and learning how to use it.

 

[scottreds2k]

I second using Overdrive to borrow from the library and I use, on android, Smart Audiobook Player to play the books. It has some cool features like auto rewind when you pause, and sleep timer based on motion from the phone. I've done quite a bit of torrenting books and uploading them from the PC to the phone. It's just easier if the library has it available, and all of it happens to be free. Well, that is except for the car...

 

[tliving]

I've been using Audible for years. Lets me listen in the gym then continue in the car etc. No reason to do aything else and with their credit program it's the cheapest way to get new audiobooks.

 

[dgpcolorado]

I've been using Audible for years. Lets me listen in the gym then continue in the car etc. No reason to do aything else and with their credit program it's the cheapest way to get new audiobooks.

Overdrive from a public library is cheaper, since it is free, although the selection is rather limited (at least in my area).

I've purchased more than 300 audio books from Audible over the years, all without a credit membership. I have a "light" membership that costs $9.95 a year (no book credits) and allows me access to Audible sales and the deal of the day. I've also found that many books on Audible can be purchased for relatively little — often $1.99 to $3.99 — when buying the Kindle version first; whether that is a good deal depends on the price of the Kindle book. Downside of chasing sales and low prices is that some books and series just don't go on sale. But I've also found audio books I've enjoyed that I wouldn't have come across otherwise. FWIW.

 

[joebevatl]

The only solution that works is to use Bluetooth and run either an audiobook or music playing app that will resume from the last position.

While you may be able to put audiobooks on a USB memory stick, unfortunately the Tesla media player often forgets the current position and the currently playing file.

This is such an easy problem to fix. It used to work fine years ago. It is beyond my ability to comprehend why they can't keep track of where you are in a song or audiobook before the car powers down and reload that position on power up. This is not a senior software developer type of job... a junior programmer could do this.

 

[bob_p]

The media player software has never worked reliably for USB. The software has always lost the current song/position based on the state of the console processor.

Most of the time, the USB position is lost when the processor goes into sleep mode. It used to be you could disable that feature, but now Tesla forces all cars to go into sleep mode overnight, which increases the probability of losing USB position.

And, with the 8.0 release something changed in the software which seemed to increase the possibility of losing USB position.

I suspect that that media player was developed before the developers had implemented "sleep mode" in the cars. The focus of the releases in 2013 was on rolling out, and then fixing sleep mode to fix the large "vampire" drain that was losing 8-10 miles of range each day (a large problem for cars parked during trips).

It appears that when the processor goes into sleep mode, the media player is not properly saving the current state - losing the currently playing file and position. And when the processor wakes up, the media player isn't able to completely restore it's state - forcing you to re-select the USB file.

And to make matters worse, in 8.0, the media player now forgets the USB file/position every time a source is changed. So anytime you switch to AM/FM/XM or a streaming app - you have to re-select USB.

The shuffle/random bug should be relatively easy to fix, possibly a single line of code.

Fixing the USB file/position save/restore may be more complicated, because it's likely there are multiple places in the software that need to be updated to ensure the USB status is always maintained when changing sources or resuming from sleep.

 

[bhzmark]

Audible is great because it holds your place across devices. You can listen in your car through your phone. Then pickup on Alexa at home. And then read or listen on your Kindle in the gym.

 

[supratachophobia]

I'm using a dedicated phone running the paid version of MX Player. I *REALLY* like it. It's got some bells and whistles as close to the Empeg that I've found, and it's interface is the most car friendly I've seen so far.

 

[bob_p]

The only downside for using a smartphone app is the limited user interface support using the steering wheel and console display. Other than pause/play and changing the volume, everything else requires interacting with the smartphone display, which is becoming illegal in many places.

And even changing the volume requires interacting with the smartphone's controls - since (at least for Android) the volume control on the phone also controls the volume of the Bluetooth output, and unless you want to blow out your ears when changing to radio or USB, it's better to increase the volume on the phone than setting the volume on the media player to 10 or 11.

[Side comment - another nice feature for Tesla to add - source-specific volume, so that instead of having one volume setting for all sources, including phone, the volume would be set for each individual source.]

 

[ozweepay]

I just got a new Model S last week and this USB bug is not only there, but it seems to actually be WORSE now.

I'm trying to listen to audiobooks now, and the ones I have on USB are unusable in the car... even a 5 min stop will lose my place and I'm tired of writing down where I was on paper (which I've done for years now).

So today I joined Audible and got their app, then tried to play it on my new car using bluetooth.. NOPE! The player in the car shows the time advancing, but no sound comes out. Same with any audio app over bluetooth... youtube doesn't work either.

So my $100,000 car is still outperformed by a $15 MP3 player. And this has been going on for years now...

 

[HankLloydRight]

So today I joined Audible and got their app, then tried to play it on my new car using bluetooth.. NOPE! The player in the car shows the time advancing, but no sound comes out. Same with any audio app over bluetooth... youtube doesn't work either.

I've used Audible extensively in my Model S for dozens of books, over bluetooth. So you must not have something set up right. Make sure the media player is on "Phone".

Also try rebooting the MCU.

 

[bob_p]

Periodically the smartphone Audible app (over BT) and the onboard media player appear to have a synchronization problem - either not providing a way for the audiobook to start playing or to hear the audio.

One frustrating feature of the BT audio support is that the volume is controlled by both the smartphone and media player. In order to hear the book you should turn up the volume to very high on your smartphone - and then adjust the volume in the media player, as needed.

If hitting play in the media player doesn't appear to work, try hitting it from the smartphone - which usually works.

And if that still doesn't get the book playing, then as a last resort, reboot both the smartphone and media player.

Tesla could clearly do more to make this work better - though getting all of these features working 100% has been a low priority for Tesla since the Model S was introduced in 2012...

 

[Xenius]

The audio books are on CD so need to copy them to a flash drive or some other method. If using the flash drive method, I thought the CDs could be download onto my PC, converted to MP3 format and copied to a flash drive. But I have not been able to find a procedure that does that. Maybe someone knows of another successful plan, possibly using Bluetooth, or the iPhone, or ???

Listening to a book on a long drive is very relaxing, and I plan to make several long drives.

A CD? Is the book super old? Not available as an audiobook yet? Like others have said, unless you're cash strapped (which I have a sneaking suspicion you're not) I'd just buy the darn thing on audible.

 

[HankLloydRight]

Added point for low volume Audible users. I downgraded to the 'pay as you go' plan, which is like $9/year or something like that.. then I just pay full price for any book I want to download. It ends up being a lot cheaper than the 1-credit per month for $15 plan, as I don't listen to that many audiobooks.

 

[ozweepay]

In my situation:

The phone is showing that the book is playing (the timer is advancing) and the Model S display is showing the book title and current chapter. If I press the PAUSE symbol on the phone, the car display reacts and switches to a PLAY symbol. Similarly, if I press PLAY or PAUSE on the car display, the phone symbol changes as well. So they are in sync.

I have the volume at full (at 11) on the car. I have tried: (1) switching audio source on the car, (2) rebooting MCU, (3) restarting the Audible app, (4) playing music from YouTube on my phone instead. In no case does sound come through my car speakers over bluetooth.

I attempted to call my local Tesla service center yesterday but gave up after 20 mins on hold.

 

[HankLloydRight]

Try deleting your phone BT profile from the car and re-pairing as a new phone.

 

[Need]

In my situation:

The phone is showing that the book is playing (the timer is advancing) and the Model S display is showing the book title and current chapter. If I press the PAUSE symbol on the phone, the car display reacts and switches to a PLAY symbol. Similarly, if I press PLAY or PAUSE on the car display, the phone symbol changes as well. So they are in sync.

I have the volume at full (at 11) on the car. I have tried: (1) switching audio source on the car, (2) rebooting MCU, (3) restarting the Audible app, (4) playing music from YouTube on my phone instead. In no case does sound come through my car speakers over bluetooth.

I attempted to call my local Tesla service center yesterday but gave up after 20 mins on hold.

You didn't say if you tried adjusting the Bluetooth Media out volume on your phone. I replied this to you on the other thread that you want to check the phone's Bluetooth volume. @bob_p also mentioned above that you will need to max out your Bluetooth media volume on your phone. Because if your phone BT out is at 0, you won't hear anything on the car speakers even if you set it to max. In most phone you could only set your phone's bluetooth out when you are actually playing something thru BT not just when it is connected. So you need to first hit the play on your phone app while it is connected to the car's BT, when it started playing, hit the volume up on your phone.

 

[ucmndd]

In my situation:

The phone is showing that the book is playing (the timer is advancing) and the Model S display is showing the book title and current chapter. If I press the PAUSE symbol on the phone, the car display reacts and switches to a PLAY symbol. Similarly, if I press PLAY or PAUSE on the car display, the phone symbol changes as well. So they are in sync.

I have the volume at full (at 11) on the car. I have tried: (1) switching audio source on the car, (2) rebooting MCU, (3) restarting the Audible app, (4) playing music from YouTube on my phone instead. In no case does sound come through my car speakers over bluetooth.

I attempted to call my local Tesla service center yesterday but gave up after 20 mins on hold.

Good. You've done everything except the one thing people told you to, which is to turn up the volume ON YOUR PHONE to max.

Try that.