Table of Contents

OpenAudible Documentation

This Audiobook Manager lets you catalog and organize your audiobook collection. It is optimized for Audible users, but can import MP3/M4A/M4B audiobooks as well.

Please respect copyright owners by not distributing files created with OpenAudible.

OpenAudible loves, but is unaffiliated with audible.com.

Quick Start

Here is a quick-start guide to get you going.

  1. Download OpenAudible for Mac, Windows, or Linux from openaudible.org.
  2. Install and launch OpenAudible.
  3. Go to File: Preferences and select M4B or MP3 audio output format. M4B encoding is the recommended default setting, but MP3 can be set in the Preferences.
  4. To use a custom directory for your audiobook library, use File: Manage Libraries to move the library to a new location with large drive capacity.
  5. Select Controls: Connect to Audible and log into your Audible account.
  6. Your book list should be loaded, and the option to download and convert them should be displayed.
  7. Click yes, or click no to manually download or convert your books.
  8. To manually download or convert, select one or more books and use the Action menu to download or convert the selected audiobooks.
  9. Downloading and conversion can take a while. You'll need to be patient!
  10. At any time, click on an audiobook and look at the Audiobook Info: State field to see if it has been downloaded, converted, or is ready to play.
  11. Click on the "Downloading" or "Converting" Library Status lines to see which books are downloading or converting. Click on one to see detailed progress.
  12. To find the converted book files, select one and right-click "Show MP3" or "Show M4B".
  13. Periodically run Controls: Quick Audible Library Sync to update your latest purchases!
  14. Full help is available under the About menu (or by pressing F1), which shows this document.

Installation

Install the version for your platform. OpenAudible for Windows and Mac is a digitally signed application.
You may be prompted that the application may not be safe to run; however, you can safely run it if the certificate shows it is valid.

Choose one of the installers from the official download page. OpenAudible supports 64-bit x86_64/AMD64 and Apple Intel/Silicon architectures.

Note: Mac users may need to open the OpenAudible.dmg file by selecting it in Finder and Control-clicking the application, then selecting Open (right-click "Open"). You may also need to update your Gatekeeper settings to allow apps not from the App Store to run.

Connecting to Audible

Note > Before jumping in, it is a good idea to set up your main Preferences to set the audio output format and other settings.

Downloading your audiobooks from Audible is the next step. Books can be automatically downloaded and converted to a format that works with any audio player.

Initial Connect to Audible

OpenAudible can read and import your library automatically. OpenAudible uses the Amazon/Audible web browser to connect and never saves your username or password. However, a credential token is saved so that you can stay connected until you decide to Controls: Log Out of Audible.

  1. Select Controls: Connect to Audible.
  2. Choose your audible region that you normally log into. If you're using an old Audible username account that isn't an email address, check the box. Then click OK.
  3. Log in using the web browser, answering any CAPTCHAs, and verifying account with 2-factor email or text message to prove your humanity.

Once logged in to your audible account in the browser, your books will be loaded and shown in the OpenAudible window. The OpenAudible Library status should change to Connected: Yes.

After a library scan, you'll be asked if you want to download and convert your books. If you click No, you can manually select books to download or convert.

Syncing your Library

When you purchase new audiobooks, you can select Controls: Quick Audible Library Sync which will add any newly added books.

You can select Controls: Full Audible Library Sync to get all of your books and update any metadata that may have changed, such as ratings or book descriptions.

Downloading Audible Books

Books that were not automatically downloaded can be downloaded by selecting them and choosing Action: Download.

Downloading a book can take several minutes. To see the progress, click on the "Library Status: Downloads" panel item to see books currently downloading or waiting to be downloaded. Select a book and look at the "State" under the Book Info panel to see its download or conversion state.

Once a book is downloaded, it can be manually or automatically converted to the audio format of your choice.

Some books include a PDF companion file. If available, those will be downloaded when the audio is downloaded.

Converting Audible Files

Convert your Audible AAX files to M4B or MP3 easily by selecting a book and selecting Action: Convert to ... or convert them all by Controls: Convert All to ... .

We recommend using M4B for most use cases, as converting to mp3 will always add some loss and may increase the file size. But if you have an audio player that doesn't support M4B files, you can choose to convert your audiobook files to MP3.

Note, some older iPods can't read m4b files over 2GB or about 64 hours, so splitting or using mp3 is recommended.

Note: To convert your books to MP3 instead of the default M4B format, set the Audio Output Format to MP3 in the Preferences, which can be accessed by clicking on the cog icon that can be clicked to open preferences icon in the upper right or by selecting File: Preferences.

Audible files are kept in the AAX directory. Once converted, you may decide to delete the AAX files to save space.

Playing Audiobooks

Once an audiobook has an MP3 or M4B file associated with it, it is ready to play and will be marked with a green dot green dot indicating converted book or folder icon Green folder indicating audiobook directory, meaning it is ready to use on most audio players.

Select an audiobook and click the Play icon at the top of the main window to play the Audiobook.

Audiobook player controls with chapter selector, skip to start of chapter, play, pause, skip +/- 30 seconds, name of title

Select an audiobook from the main table and use the Action menu to act upon it. For instance, use Action: Play to open the audio file in a media player (such as VLC or on Mac, the Books application).

Action: Play to open the audio file on your computer.

OpenAudible includes a built-in audiobook player. To use an external player, you can edit the player in the Preferences under Applications and Browsers.

Action: Reveal ... shows the list of files available for the book. Select the one for MP3 or M4B to show it in your desktop (Windows Explorer or macOS Finder).
From there, it can be imported into your favorite audio player.

Copy to Player

All media players have a way to import an MP3 (or M4B) file from your computer. This could involve drag and drop or using their app to select and import one or more audio files.

OpenAudible supports drag-and-drop. You can drag an audiobook from the book table onto a directory or drag-and-drop ready application. For example, VLC is a popular audio/video player; you can drag a converted file from OpenAudible onto VLC and the file will start playing.

For iPhone and iPad, we like MP3 Audiobook Player Pro and BookPlayer.

For Android, try Smart AudioBook Player and Google Play Books.

For Garmin users, split your book into chapters as either M4B or MP3 and upload to your watch or fitness device using the Garmin Express software.

For Mac, Apple Books app supports m4b files perfectly.

PC users can use iTunes.

Smartwatches, swimming mp3 players, and Yoto Players often require audiobooks be split by chapter.

For Yoto Players, see Yoto Players and MYO Cards below.

Yoto Players and MYO Cards

A Yoto Player does not read files from your computer or from a memory card. You upload your audio to a Make Your Own (MYO) playlist at my.yotoplay.com, then link that playlist to a blank MYO card. Because the upload happens in Yoto's web app, the file requirements come from Yoto's uploader, not from which Yoto player you own.

Two things matter: convert to MP3, and get every file under Yoto's per-track limit. Yoto's uploader refuses .m4b files, and it caps a single track at 60 minutes, so for all but the shortest books you also need to split the book by chapter. This has nothing to do with which Yoto you own — Yoto Player, Yoto Player 3rd generation, and Yoto Mini all play whatever the upload service accepted.

Why MP3. Yoto's upload page decides what to accept from the media type your browser reports for the file — it never inspects the audio inside. Windows and macOS do not register a media type for .m4b at all, so an M4B chapter is refused the moment you select it, before any upload starts. MP3 is the only format OpenAudible produces that Yoto's uploader accepts as-is.

M4A and M4B are the same MPEG-4 container, and OpenAudible writes them with identical settings — the extension is a label that tells audiobook players "this is a book," not a different file format. Yoto accepts .m4a and rejects .m4b purely on that label, which is why renaming a chapter file from .m4b to .m4a makes the same bytes upload successfully. That is a real fix, and it avoids one lossy re-encode, but it means renaming every chapter file by hand. MP3 is the simpler path, and Yoto re-encodes uploads on its own servers regardless.

Yoto's published limits for one MYO card:

Almost no audiobook fits in one file under the 60-minute per-track limit, so splitting is the normal first step for Yoto. Each chapter becomes one Yoto track, and a long book may need to span more than one card.

Short books are the exception. A title that is already under 60 minutes and under 100 MB is one legal track on its own — upload the converted MP3 as-is and skip the split.

Split for Yoto

OpenAudible has a split mode that applies Yoto's per-track rules for you. It produces MP3 tracks, keeps every track under 60 minutes and 100 MB, and splits a chapter that would be too long into more than one track. You do not have to check those numbers yourself. The per-card totals below are still yours to watch: OpenAudible writes one folder of tracks and does not group them into cards.

For a step-by-step walkthrough with screenshots, including the upload and the card linking, see the tutorial Put an Audible Book on a Yoto Card.

To prepare an Audible book for a Yoto card:

  1. Open File: Library Settings, find Split Audio Settings, and choose Split for Yoto.
  2. Select the book and use Action: Split Selected Books for Yoto.

    The command in the Action menu is named after the split mode you picked, so it reads "for Yoto" once that mode is selected.

  3. Use Action: Reveal ... to open the folder of tracks, create a new playlist at my.yotoplay.com, and upload the MP3s. Uploading in small groups rather than one large batch is more reliable.
  4. In the Yoto app, open the new playlist, choose Link to a Card, and insert your MYO card.

A book has to be converted before it can be split. If the book has no audio file yet, convert it first with Action: Convert to MP3 or Convert to M4B — Split for Yoto encodes the MP3 tracks itself, so either one works as the source.

If the whole book comes to more than 500 MB or 100 tracks, it needs more than one card. Lower the MP3 quality setting in Preferences to fit more onto one card: spoken word holds up well at low bitrates, and at 64 kbps an hour of audio is roughly 29 MB, at 32 kbps roughly 14 MB. For a book with very long or missing chapter marks, Split by Time cuts it into fixed-length parts instead.

Yoto rejected a file that used to work? Versions 4.8.2.3 through 4.8.8 wrote a file header that Yoto's uploader does not recognize, and it reports this as an invalid format. Update OpenAudible and convert the book again — the new file uploads normally.

To keep Audible's original encoding instead, convert to M4B, split by chapter, and rename every chapter file from .m4b to .m4a before uploading. Yoto accepts the renamed files and the audio is never re-encoded on your side. This is worth the trouble only if you care about that extra generation of quality; otherwise use MP3.

Yoto is also a good example of when VBR is worth avoiding — leave it off for players and uploaders that are picky about seeking within a file.

Preferences

You can set the conversion output format, choose a language, font or color theme. Preferences are organized into four tabs:

preferences dialog advanced preferences

Use File: Preferences view and change the application preferences.

When the built-in web server is running, a green dot showing the web server is running indicator appears at the top of the window, to the left of the cog icon that can be clicked to open preferences icon. Click it to open your library in a browser. The indicator is hidden while the server is stopped. Turn the server on or off in the Web Server tab of the Preferences.

To set the Library Location, use the Manage Libraries feature.

Library Settings

The File: Library Settings menu opens the settings for the library you currently have open. Each library has its own settings, so enabling a feature here affects only that library. You can also reach these settings from Manage Libraries by selecting a library and clicking the Settings button, which is handy for changing a library you don't have open.

library settings dialog

The dialog has two tabs:

Library Features

The top section of the General tab controls what gets pulled in when your library is scanned.

Enable Advanced File Naming

By default, OpenAudible saves each converted book as books/{title}.{ext}. Check Enable Advanced File Naming if you'd rather organize your books into folders by author, series, or genre.

Note: These settings decide where files are placed. They do not change the metadata inside the files.

File Names

Macros you can use in a custom template:

If a book is missing the information a macro asks for (no series, for example), that part of the path is left out. If two books would end up with the same path, OpenAudible adds a _1, _2, and so on.

Preview and Reorganize

Preview... opens a report in a browser window showing exactly which files would move and where they would go, plus any book it could not place. Nothing is moved. Always look at the preview before reorganizing a large library.

Reorganize... moves the audiobook files you already have into the layout shown. It asks you to confirm first, and it reports what it did when it finishes. Re-running it with the same settings is safe: it simply puts back any file that has drifted out of place.

If you change the naming and click OK, OpenAudible offers to reorganize for you. Answering No leaves both your files and your settings exactly as they were.

Note: Reorganizing renames files, so any filename you customized yourself will be replaced. The move can't be stopped once it starts. A copy of your book list is saved as "books_before_reorganize.json" in your library directory, along with a "reorganize_log.txt" of everything that moved.

Split Audiobooks

We do not recommend automatic splitting. If you need a book split, it is better to split it on demand with Action: Split by Chapter, so you keep the original single-file version of everything else.

If you do turn Split Audiobooks on, every book is split into a folder of files as soon as it finishes converting. There are three modes:

Whichever mode you pick also names the command in the Action menu, so it reads Split Selected Books by Chapter, by Time, or for Yoto to match.

Manage Accounts

To link OpenAudible with your Audible accounts, use the File: Manage Accounts menu.

The Manage Accounts dialog allows you to add and remove linked accounts. Details about each account are included, including a status that can be "OK," "Error," or "Duplicate." Error and Duplicate accounts can be safely deleted.

Use the red "Trash Can" button to log out and delete the credentials for an account.

Use the "Add Audible Account" button to link a new account.

If you've used Libation, another Audible importer, you can click the Import Libation Accounts button to import your Libation accounts.

Note: Only accounts marked as "enabled" will be scanned during a library sync.

Manage Libraries

The File: Manage Libraries menu brings up a dialog where you can set or change your Library Directory, where your audiobook files (MP3, M4B, AAX, JPG) will be saved.

If you have a larger disk drive than your OS drive, you may want to change the library location, as audiobooks can take up significant file space. You can also use a network share if you don't mind slightly reduced performance.

manage libraries dialog

The top of the dialog has a Library: dropdown that lists your known OpenAudible libraries. The buttons below are active if they can be used to move, copy, activate, or delete a library.

Select a library, and the information will fill in with the Path, Info, and Size.

The per-library options - podcasts, metadata updates, annotations, file naming, and the web page - are in Library Settings.

Before using any of these functions, read the confirmation dialogs carefully before continuing. Make sure none of the audiobook files are in use by another application.

Library Options

All of these options include a dialog message showing what will be done with an option whether to proceed. Use care, and always back up your library manually before attempting a big change.

Main Window

From left to right, top to bottom, the OpenAudible main window has a search bar, version/news indicator, Library Status Panel, Audiobook Info, Summary Panel, and Audiobook table that lists your books.

When the built-in Web Server is running, an indicator appears at the top of the window. Click it to open your library in a browser.

main window

Searching

search entry - type text or use dropdown to select preset items to find

The search bar at the top right of the app allows you to filter books by text or pre-defined filters. Type CTRL-F (Command-F) to activate the search. Start typing and all books that match will be shown. Use Escape to clear the search results and display all books.

Pro tips:

To the right, a line of text displays the current version, and if there are any upgrades or news available.

Predefined Search Filters

The Search Combo also has a list of predefined search filters that can be helpful finding groups of books matching a characteristic.

predefined searches
  • AAX Files: Show all books that have an associated AAX file.
  • MP3 Files: Show all books that have an associated MP3 file.
  • M4B Files: Show all books that have an associated M4B file.
  • PDFs: Show all books that have a PDF file or link to one.
  • AYCE: Show books that are "all you can eat" included with your membership.
  • Ignored: Books that have been marked (by you!) to be ignored. They can be unignored with the Action menu.
  • Missing Links: These books have no converted audio files and no link to download. These may need to be deleted.
  • To Convert: Books that have an AAX file that can be converted into MP3 or M4B.
  • To Download: Books that don't have a converted audio format that could be downloaded.
  • Downloading: Books that are in the download queue or are actively downloading.
  • Converting: Books that are in the convert queue or are actively converting.
  • Possible Duplicates: Show books that have the same ASIN, Product ID, or Title. These could be unwanted duplicates.
  • Has Transcripts: Books you have transcribed.

The same filters are on the View: Filter By menu, which is easier to reach from the keyboard. Show All Books clears whichever filter is active.

Library Status

This shows your library statistics. These numbers are kept up-to-date and show important statistics about your library and tasks.

library status
  • Connected: Shows true or false if "connected" to your Audible account
  • Region: The Audible region you are using (US, AU, UK, FR, DE, IN, etc.)
  • Books: Number of audiobooks (not including podcasts)
  • Podcasts: Number of podcast episodes
  • Hours: Total duration of all books, in hours
  • MP3 Files: Number of MP3 files
  • M4A Files: Number of M4A files
  • M4B Files: Number of M4B files
  • PDF: Number of audiobooks with PDF files
  • Ignored: Books ignored by the user. See the section on Ignoring books
  • Missing Links: Books that can't be downloaded because a download link from Audible isn't available
  • To Download: Number of books that can be downloaded and that aren't already queued for download
  • To Convert: Number of books that can be converted and that aren't already queued for conversion
  • Downloading: Number of downloads in progress and how many remain in queue
  • Converting: Number of MP3 conversions in progress and how many remain in queue

Hint: Click on any blue label to see books that match that filter. For instance, click "Downloading" to see all books that are being downloaded or queued for downloading.

Audiobook Info

Information about a selected book is displayed here. This information is collected from web pages or metadata tags. Some metadata can be edited using the Get Info and tag editor.

The blue labels on the left side can be clicked on to filter books by title, author, narrator, genre, or publisher.

Clicking the blue text on the right side will open the browser to display the Audible page for the title, author, narrator, genre, or publisher.

The information for each data element is self-explanatory.

The ID contains the Product_ID/ASIN.

The State field shows any errors or tasks that can be performed.

Audiobook Info State

State can be one of the following:

  • Download progress while the book is being downloaded
  • Conversion progress while conversion is in progress
  • Ready To Download
  • Ready To Convert
  • In Convert Queue (waiting to be converted)
  • In Download Queue (waiting to be downloaded)
  • OK: [mp3/m4b] Book has been converted
  • No Audio File: No audio file or download link for this book
  • Error: Description of the problem

The state will also correspond to an icon in the Audiobook Table.

Audiobook Table

The list of your books. Click on a book and the book's information will populate into the "Audiobook Info" panel.

An icon on the left side shows the book's status. The following status icons are available:

Status Green Audiobook is available as an MP3 or M4B audiobook file
Status White Audiobook is ready to download
Status Red Audiobook is missing and has no download link. May need to be deleted. This can happen if you import a book and delete the audio file.
Status AAX Audiobook is ready to be converted from AAX to MP3 or M4B
Status Converting Audiobook is being converted to MP3 or M4B. Click on the book to see the progress in the Audiobook Info Panel.
Status Convert Queue Audiobook is in the conversion queue and is scheduled to be converted.
Status downloading Audiobook is being downloaded. Click on the book to see the progress in the Audiobook Info Panel.
Status downloading_queue Audiobook is in the download queue and is scheduled to be downloaded.
Status audiobook_dir Audiobook is a directory containing one or more audiobook files.
Status audiobook_dir_err Audiobook is a directory that is no longer found on disk.

To sort by a column, click the column header once. To sort in the reverse direction, click it again. Click it a 3rd time to go back to default sorting.

Sorting is stable: when you sort by a new column, the previous sort order is kept within groups of equal values. To group books by one column and keep a second order inside each group, sort by the secondary column first, then the primary. For example, to see your books grouped by read status with the newest purchases first in each group, sort by Purchase Date (click twice for newest first), then sort by Read Status. Up to three sort levels are kept and saved between sessions. To clear all sort levels, click the sorted column a 3rd time, or select 'Reset Sort' from the View menu.

Table columns can be rearranged by clicking the header and dragging to a new location.

Menus

Built-in Player

The built-in audiobook player lets you preview and listen to your audiobooks.

Web Server

OpenAudible has a built-in web server. Turn it on and your library becomes a web page you can open in any browser, with a player that streams your converted books and remembers where you stopped. It replaces the old Export Web Page feature, and unlike that feature it does not copy your books anywhere — it serves the files you already have.

A password is required. Your audiobooks are copyrighted works licensed to you personally. Running this server without an account and a password, or opening it to the public internet so that other people can listen, is distribution, and it is not permitted. Every account you create must have a password. Keep the server to yourself and the people in your household.

web server preferences

Turning on the Web Server

  1. Open File: Preferences and go to the Web Server tab.
  2. Check Enable web server. The first time, OpenAudible asks you to create an account, because the server will not start without one.
  3. Leave Port at 8000 unless something else on your computer is already using it. Any number from 1 to 65535 is accepted.
  4. The Status area below the settings shows Running along with the address of your library and of the admin page. Click either link to open it.

If the status shows Error, the usual cause is that the port is already taken. Pick a different port and try again.

Accounts and Roles

The Accounts list controls who can sign in. Use Add User..., Edit... and Remove to manage it. Each account has a name, a password, and a role:

Passwords are stored as a one-way hash, so OpenAudible can change a password but can never show you an existing one. When you edit an account, leaving both password fields blank keeps the current password.

Give each person their own Listener account rather than sharing one. Their reading positions and bookmarks are kept separately.

Reaching the Server from Other Devices

A phone, tablet, or another computer opens the same address your own browser uses, with your computer's name or address instead of "localhost" — for example http://192.168.1.20:8000. Your computer has to be awake and OpenAudible has to be running.

There are three common ways to get to it:

Advanced: Forwarding a port on your router puts your library on the public internet. We do not recommend it. If you do it anyway, use a strong password on every account and put HTTPS in front of the server. Plain HTTP over the internet sends your password readable to anyone in between.

Do not share the address or a login with anyone outside your household. Handing out access to your library is distributing copyrighted audiobooks, no matter how convenient the link is.

Using the Library in a Browser

OpenAudible library in a web browser

The web library offers a few ways to look at your books:

Search and filter by title, author, or narrator work in every view, and there is a dark theme. The pages work on a phone as well as a desktop browser.

Admin Page

Signing in as an Admin at /admin gives you a status summary of the running application, diagnostics, the ability to import an audio file by uploading it, and a set of commands you can trigger remotely — handy when OpenAudible is running on a machine you are not sitting in front of.

Transcribing Audiobooks

OpenAudible can turn an audiobook into text. Transcription runs entirely on your own computer using a bundled speech engine — nothing is uploaded, no account is needed, and it works with no network connection. The result is a subtitle or text file saved next to the audio file, plus a built-in reader for it.

A transcript is still the copyrighted work. Turning an audiobook into text does not make it yours to share. Treat the transcript exactly as you treat the audio: personal use only, for searching, skimming, quoting, and accessibility. Publishing a transcript or passing it around is distributing the book.

It takes time. Transcribing is slower than converting. Expect a long book with a mid-sized model to take a while, and expect your computer's fans to run. Start with one short book before queueing your library.

For a walkthrough from a standing start — which model to install, which transcript format to choose, and what to do with the result — see the tutorial How to Transcribe Your Audiobooks.

Installing a Speech Model

The speech engine ships with OpenAudible, but the model — the file that actually recognizes words — does not, because the useful ones are large. You need to download one before the first transcription.

  1. Open File: Preferences and go to the Transcribe tab.
  2. Click Download Models....
  3. Pick a model and click Download. You can delete a model you no longer want from the same dialog.
speech model download dialog

A larger model is more accurate and slower. Models whose name ends in .en handle English only and are faster and more accurate at it than the same-size model that handles every language.

Transcribing a Book

  1. Select one or more books that have a converted audio file.
  2. Choose Action: Transcribe.
  3. The books go into a transcribe queue and show a "Transcribing" status in the book table while they run. You can keep using OpenAudible.

Transcripts are written next to the audio file, named after it — a book saved as Book.m4b gets Book.m4b.srt. If a book is sitting loose in your "books" folder, OpenAudible first moves it into a folder of its own so the audio and its transcript stay together. Books that already live in their own folder are left where they are.

To find what you have transcribed, use the Has Transcripts filter in the search bar or under View: Filter By.

Reading a Transcript

Select a book and choose Action: View Transcript....

transcript window

The transcript window can show the text four ways:

Also in the window:

Following the audio needs word timings, which only some formats carry. A transcript that has no times still displays, but Play from here and Follow audio are turned off.

Transcribe Settings

transcribe preferences

All of these are on the Transcribe tab of File: Preferences.

Importing/Exporting

Simple Copy and Paste

You can select one or more books in the Book Table and select Edit: Copy and paste it into any document (Google sheets, Excel, or text document).

Only the items in the table will be copied.

Exporting All Audiobook Data

To export a list of your books (not the audiobooks files), select File: Export Book List and set the "Save as Type:" to either json, csv, xlsx. OpenAudible also keeps an updated "books.json" that can be used in read-only mode by other applications.

Your audible library can be exported as a web page, json, .csv, or .xlst (Excel/Numbers) file from the File menu, so you'll have a list of all your books.

Exporting Web Page

Replaced. The Export Web Page feature has been removed. The built-in Web Server does the same job without making a second copy of your library: it serves the books you already have, from your own computer, behind a password.

Exporting Cover Art Poster

This feature lets you create a collage poster image showing your audiobook cover artwork. When selected, a dialog appears showing options for different image sizes and layouts.

Depending on the number of audiobooks in your library, this can take a while and/or create large images. The images are saved in the temporary directory and will be shown in a image viewer window. Use the scroll wheel to zoom in or out. Use the "Save As" button to save the PNG image to a location of your choice.

Note, some cover artwork may be copyrighted, so please use accordingly.

cover art export options example cover art poster

You can change the size of the poster, the number of rows and columns, and shuffle or sort them in your library table.

Drag Files to Desktop

You can drag a "Green" audiobook from the Book Table directly to the desktop, directory folder, or other application that accepts drag and drop.

If you drag to the desktop or directory, a copy of the converted audiobook will be copied to that location.

Dragging an audiobook from OpenAudible to an application, such as VLC, will either add the file to a playlist or start playing the book.

Back Up OpenAudible Library

To back up or export your entire OpenAudible library to another directory location, use the Copy Library button under the File: Manage Libraries menu.

This can be used to save a backup copy to a cloud disk, external drive, or when you want to move your library to a new directory. See more at: Manage Libraries.

Importing

Importing is recommended when you can't download and import books directly from Audible using the Library Sync features.

Use the File: Import Books menu, or drag and drop "whole book audio files" of type MP3, M4B, M4A, directories, ZIP, AA or AAX files onto the Library Status Panel of the OpenAudible application.

Zip files are a special case, and somewhat experimental. The idea is you can download zip files from Librivox and drag them onto OpenAudible. If the zip file contains at least one audio file and an optional image file, the book will be automatically "joined". The audio files need to be alphabetically sorted to join correctly. If you experience problems, you may need to unzip the files and manually add them. This is an experimental feature.

Directories are similarly handled; we assume a directory needs to be "joined".

Note: Only import full books, not books split into multiple parts. To import a book that contains multiple audio files, please see "Joining Files" in the next section, or import from a ZIP file.

Import from URL is a feature that lets you download a book from a web URL and add it directly into your library. If you send a link to an HTML page, the application will look for a ZIP file or audio file and import that. Please use with care, as this is an experimental feature. You don't want to accidentally add audio files that aren't books to your library.

Splitting and Joining Audiobooks

OpenAudible prefers one audio file per audiobook, as this is how the software was designed. However, many people prefer audiobooks split by chapter.

It is also possible to download a book in a ZIP file that may contain multiple parts that can be combined to create a whole book in a single audio file. See "Importing ZIP files" above.

Join Audio Files

Some audiobooks contain multiple audio files. To import these into your library or to simply have a single audio file for each book, you can use the Join Audio Files command under the File menu. To join audio files into a single MP3 file, choose "Join Audio Files" from the File menu. Select a directory that contains all the audio files. Files will be joined in alphabetical order, but if your files start with a number, we will try to put them in the correct order. If an image file is present, it will be used as the cover art. Audio files in the directory must be sorted alphabetically in the order you want them joined. (Be careful: Chapter 11 will sort alphabetically before Chapter 2, so you may need to add leading zeros to make Chapter 01, Chapter 02, etc.) Next, select a destination directory for the output file. It can be OpenAudible's "temp" directory or anywhere else. After joining, you will be asked if you want to import (move) the file to your OpenAudible library.

Pro tip: You can drag and drop one or more book directories onto OpenAudible to import books into your library as a single MP3 or M4B file.
Each directory should contain one audiobook with one or more audio files and one optional JPG or PNG cover image file. All parts of the book must be in the correct alphabetical order, so be careful if you have a book with chapters 1, 2... 11, as chapter 11 may sort after chapter 1 instead of chapter 10.

Split By Chapter

We do not recommend splitting books in most cases. Instead, use a good audiobook player that can handle chapter metadata and keep track of where you are listening across all your devices. However, some players have limited storage or may not manage playback position well. In those rare cases, splitting may be useful.

To split a book by chapter:

  1. Select one or more books in the OpenAudible book table and select Action: Split Selected Books by Chapter. The command is named after the split mode set in File: Library Settings, so it may instead read "by Time" or "for Yoto".

    If you selected one book, it will be shown in the file explorer after splitting. If you selected multiple books to split, a report will show the results of the split.

    Split books will be added directly to your library and show with a green folder icon.

When splitting by chapter, OpenAudible will use either the M4B or MP3 version of the book. It prefers the format already on disk and your chosen conversion settings.

If both full MP3 and M4B versions exist the split book will be created in your preferred output format.

To ensure an audiobook is split in the desired format (MP3 or M4B), ensure that the original book is converted in that format and the preference is set to your desired format.

To Re-split a book, you'll need to delete the book directory, then convert the whole book to your desired type, then split by chapter again.

Making a card for a Yoto Player is the most common reason to split a book into MP3 chapters, and there is a Split for Yoto mode that handles Yoto's size and length limits for you. See Yoto Players and MYO Cards.

Tag Editing and Auto-Fill

OpenAudible includes a tag editor to allow you to update the metadata associated with your audiobooks.

To access, select one book and use the Action: Get Info menu.

Get Info Window with Tag Editor

Podcasts

OpenAudible can manage your saved podcast episodes. Use the File: Library Settings menu to check or uncheck the "Enable Podcasts" feature.

Enabling this feature will add a "podcasts" directory alongside your "books" directory.

If you subscribe to many podcasts, use caution when enabling this feature with the automatic download feature turned on. You can see how many episodes are available by looking at the Library Status panel.

Note: To view all podcasts, use View: Podcasts (Ctrl+2), select "Podcasts" from the search menu, or click the "Podcasts" link on the Library Status panel.

Ignoring and Deleting Podcasts

A podcast you no longer want does not have to stay in your library. Right-click it, or use the Action menu:

Ignored Books

Some books in your library might be lame. Maybe you'd rather not download them. For those books, just select them and Action: Ignore Book to add it to the list of books to be ignored.

Restore Ignored Books

  1. Click on the "Ignored:" Library Status in the upper-left of the main window
  2. Your ignored books will be shown. Select one or more books and right-click or Action: Unignore Book(s) to remove the books from the ignored list.

Read Status

Each book can have a "read status" which can be set from the Action: Set Read Status.

Options are:

You can also set a custom value by selecting the Get Info menu and editing the value in the Read Status field.

Chapter Names

Chapter names are available for some books. When they are available, they will be added to the output file and available in audiobook players that recognize standard chapter metadata.

If you have converted files created before version 3.1, your output books may be missing chapter names. To add chapter names to these books, you'll need to perform a Controls: Full Audible Library Sync, then manually delete the mp3/m4b files, select Control: Rescan Files, then re-encode the files.

File Names

Currently, file naming is handled by OpenAudible. You can rename the filename under the Controls: Rename Book.

A future version should allow you to customize the filename format by author, series, genre, etc., but this commonly requested feature is still "in progress."

Duplicate Books

Detecting duplicate audiobooks and removing them is a challenge. OpenAudible includes several methods to detect and compare possible duplicate books. Generally OpenAudible will not allow duplicates if the ASIN or Product ID match. But in some cases, you may want the title to match -- for instance the same audiobook with different narrators or translations.

Selecting "Possible Duplicates" from the Find dropdown menu will show all possible duplicates.

Selecting any two books from the Book Table will compare the two books and display a short report about their differences in the Summary Panel. You can decide to delete one of the books, or ignore the differences. Use care when deleting a book that you know which files are associated with each book-- you do not want to delete a book that has an audio file associated with it that you want to keep.

Unsupported Books

AAXC files that have been downloaded from Android or Kindle are not supported. (However, these can be downloaded using OpenAudible.)

To check if your book is downloadable, open a regular web browser, click on your library, and search for the name of the book. If there is a "Download" button, it should be available to download. Without a download button, there is usually an explanation of why it can't be downloaded.

If you have an AAX file that won't convert, delete or move the file and re-download it using OpenAudible.

License and Demo Mode

OpenAudible is shareware and can be tried before buying. To use all the features, a low-cost license is required.

A license can be purchased from openaudible.org/purchase or from within the application About: Purchase.... One license can be used on up to 5 personal audible accounts. Not for commercial use. Use only for archiving and backing up your audiobook purchases.

Activating the license is done through the About: License... menu. More details about the license and order lookup are available at openaudible.org/license.

If you exceed the limit of five audible accounts on one license, your license will not allow you to work with books from additional Audible accounts.

A license entitles you to one year of free updates. After 1 year, an upgrade can be purchased through the application that will give you another year of software updates. But you can always use a version of the software that was created before the annual expiration date.

In demo mode, conversion and splitting of audiobooks is disabled. Exporting to JSON/CSV is limited to the first 10 audiobooks. Exporting a cover art poster includes the OpenAudible logo.

Log Window

Getting an error or something doesn't seem right? Use the File: Log Window menu to open the OpenAudible Log Window. Here you can view startup messages and see details about errors and events.

AI Help

OpenAudible includes a built-in AI Help assistant powered by Claude AI. It can answer questions about app features, help you troubleshoot problems, and guide you through tasks — all without leaving the app.

To open the AI Help dialog, select About: AI Help or press F9.

The dialog shows a conversation area where your questions and the assistant's answers are displayed. Type your question in the input field at the bottom and press Enter or click the Ask button to submit it. A brief "Thinking..." indicator appears while the response is being prepared.

The assistant is context-aware: it automatically includes relevant information about your app state — such as your license status, platform, app version, and recent activity — so it can give more accurate answers without you having to explain the basics.

Note: AI Help requires an internet connection. The number of questions per session is rate-limited: demo users can ask a smaller number of questions, while licensed users can ask more. The assistant is designed to answer questions about OpenAudible only; off-topic questions are not supported.

Privacy: Diagnostic information sent with each question (such as app version and platform) does not include personal account details or download links.

Troubleshooting

Here are some common problems and their solutions:

Often, opening the File: Log Window and looking at the last few lines can show an error with a description that might help you figure out what happened.


If you are having trouble downloading or converting a specific book, select the book and look at the Audiobook Info Panel State field.

The State field shows the current state of the book, including:
Ready to Download, Downloading, Ready to Convert, Converting, Error, or OK.

Login Errors

Logging into Audible from OpenAudible can fail for a few reasons.

Download Errors

There are a few reasons why a download might fail.

First, select the book and look at the Audiobook Info Panel State information to see the current status.

Important: It is always best to back up your files as soon as possible.

Conversion Errors

To troubleshoot an audiobook not converting, select the book and look at the state in the Book Info Panel.

Conversion can fail if...

You may need to Action:Delete Book and do a Controls: Full Audible Library Sync, download and convert.

Compatibility Issues

OpenAudible is available for Mac (Intel and Apple Silicon), Windows (Intel/AMD64 and ARM64), and Linux (AMD/Intel x64). OpenAudible does not run on Android, iOS (iPhone and iPad), or Chromebooks.

On macOS, OpenAudible requires macOS 10.15 (Catalina) or later. We recommend keeping your Mac on a current point release — compatibility with the very earliest 10.15.x builds can be inconsistent, and updating to the latest available macOS point release often resolves startup issues on older systems.

Mac: app won't launch, or you see launch errors. If OpenAudible refuses to open — or shows a dialog about an unverified developer — macOS Gatekeeper has likely quarantined the app. This can happen when installing via Homebrew Cask or downloading through certain browsers. To approve OpenAudible without using Terminal:

  1. Open the Applications folder in Finder.
  2. Right-click (or Control-click) OpenAudible.app and choose Open. Double-clicking will not work here — it must be right-click > Open.
  3. Click Open on the dialog warning about an unverified developer. On macOS Sequoia (15) or later, this dialog may only have a Done button — close it and continue to the next step.
  4. Open System Settings > Privacy & Security.
  5. Scroll to the Security section, find the message that OpenAudible was blocked, and click Open Anyway. Enter your admin password if prompted, then confirm.

If the application fails to start or crashes unexpectedly, check that your antivirus software allows OpenAudible to run.

If the application crashes, look for the OpenAudible/tmp/log.txt file in your home directory and review it and/or send it to us. We greatly appreciate bug reports!

The OpenAudible application directory contains command-line scripts that can help debug startup or crashing problems:

The output running from the command line will remain after a crash. You can copy and paste the error message or send a log.txt file to us. Crash logs are especially appreciated.

Note: If you are using a USB drive or NAS for your library location and are experiencing download or conversion problems, try switching to a physical local disk to see if that is the culprit. Sometimes a bad driver can cause unexpected errors.

Additional Help

For quick answers to questions about OpenAudible, use the built-in AI Help assistant (About: AI Help or press F9).

OpenAudible may stop working at any time due to changes in Audible's systems or API. If this happens, check for an update.

Submitting a bug report from the About menu will send diagnostic information to the developers. Bug reports require the latest version of OpenAudible, so check for an update first. For best results, restart OpenAudible, reproduce the problem, then fill in the bug report with as many details as possible and click Send. No GitHub issue number is needed. For questions, support, or feature requests, please use the contact page instead.

Uninstalling

Uninstalling follows standard practices. If you used an installer, there will be an uninstaller.

Mac and AppImage users can move the application to the trash.

Your settings files can be deleted. The "Preferences Directory" location is displayed in the Preferences. The default locations are:

Credits

This software gratefully uses FFmpeg under the LGPL built using ffmpeg-build from acoustid.

Please do not share your books. Any personal metadata in the audible files are copied to the output files.

Use of this software for piracy or on file sharing sites is strictly prohibited. Violating these terms will result in us canceling your account and banning you.

This software is copyright the authors of the software.

OpenAudible loves, but is unaffiliated with audible.com