Sync audio files to Apple Watch

[TD540]

💬 Narrative

I'd like to be able to sync audio books so they're available directly on the watch (the Wi-Fi-only-one) while I'm off jogging without iPhone on me.

[h-unterp]

I'm here because the Apple Music app does not support fast forwarding or speed playback. I consume lots of audio and would really like this.

Anyone interested in making this happen?

This seems like a starting point:
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/58306178/is-it-possible-to-transfer-audio-files-from-iphone-to-apple-watch-using-transfer

[GianniCarlo]

This is on my list to tackle after releasing v5.0.0, (possible v5.1.0) I've read that transferring the file from phone to watch is not as robust as one would like, though this may have changed in the latest OS updates. In any case, the first iteration I'm planning is for the Watch to function independently from the phone, so it either streams or download the file directly from the internet. After that, once standalone playback is wired up (we have to check if the AVPlayer available for WatchOS has limitations vs the one in iOS), it could be a good starting point for another app version to enable transferring the file from the phone, so it's not limited to just fetching the file from the network

[h-unterp]

@GianniCarlo happy to help you test any new watch versions

[briandonahue]

@GianniCarlo I see this issue is now closed... is it too difficult to implement? I also would love to have this feature.

[GianniCarlo]

@briandonahue this issue is currently open, the one I closed was #912, just because it's referring to the same thing as this older ticket. I haven't began yet on the planned changes from my earlier comment, as I want to finish first the interactive widgets support before focusing on this

[briandonahue]

@GianniCarlo Sorry! I must have needed more coffee yesterday morning 😄 Glad that it's still on the roadmap. It's so frustrating to not be able to do this with the built in Books app, this will be a great feature when you get the chance to work on it!

[sejmann]

@briandonahue I eagerly await this feature in BookPlayer, too, to be able to leave my phone behind on a walk/run! My hacky work around is to use Overcast -- pay the $10 annual subscription that allows uploading arbitrary files. But, apparently the watch has a maximum duration per file part, so I use AudiobookBuilder.app to split to split the file near chapter breaks into several files of less the 4hrs each. This also requires uploading the files to overcast.fm to download them first to the phone, and then set up a playlist containing them to sync to the watch.

@GianniCarlo if you made watch sync a paid feature, I'd pay it! =)

[GianniCarlo]

@sejmann this is the next milestone for the app (standalone playback on the watch), and moving the files between the iPhone and Apple watch would be free for everyone, the only thing behind a paywall would be playback streaming from the cloud, as we would need to have the files uploaded to our servers to support that

Disclaimer, I just had my first kid this week, so I'll be figuring out a rhythm this month on how to get back to coding while helping out as much as I can at home

[jeffm2001]

Count me as another person who will be excited about this feature.

Since @sejmann mentioned Overcast, figured I'd share my current workaround. I used to do what @sejmann described, but I recently started self-hosting an audiobookshelf instance, which has the ability to generate an RSS link that you can then load into Overcast as a podcast. This route seems to get around the file size limit, and also seems to work better with Overcast's position syncing between watch/phone.

[briandonahue]

Disclaimer, I just had my first kid this week

@GianniCarlo Congratulations! Enjoy, and take all the time (and rest) you need!

[anmolbyte]

congrats on the kid! just another voice for this feature, thanks for your hard work!

[simonfisher]

Hope the juggling kid/life/work is going well! Really appreciate your app. Would like to add another voice of support for this feature