What devices and OS versions are supported?
Bookmark will run on any generation iPhone or iPod Touch. The app requires OS version 3.1 or higher and one or more tracks in the Audiobook category in iTunes synced to the device.
What formats are supported?
Bookmark is designed to work with long-playing audiobook formats like Audible (.aa) and .m4b. These allow even long books to fit on one or two tracks which are often 6+ hours in length. The current version of Bookmark is not designed for playing many, short .mp3 files ripped from CD, although a future version will accommodate these.
If you have audiobooks ripped from CD, please consider joining them into .m4b audiobooks using one of the following:
- Mac: Audiobook Builder or Join Together
- Windows: Audiobook Converter
What is the maximum supported file size?
Audible books of any size are supported. .m4a/m4b files should be under 320MB to play reliably. Files larger than that may report a false length that causes Bookmark to not be able to navigate forward or backward.
What do I do if Bookmark crashes or is running slowly?
Please do the following:
- First, please make sure you are on the latest version of Bookmark. Upgrades are always free and you can check by opening the App Store app and looking for Bookmark under the Updates tab. If an update is available, please install it.
- You may also want do a full reboot of the phone. Hold down the button on top of the phone until you see "slide to power off". Slide the red button right and the phone will shut down. Press the button again to restart it. Open Bookmarks and try again. The iPod app can take up too much memory even when it's not playing and in rare instances can cause Bookmark to crash when starting.
- Please be aware that Bookmark is designed to work with long-playing Audible (.aa) or .m4b audiobooks, not with many, small .mp3 format files ripped from CD. You can join individual .mp3's into .m4a's using Audiobook Builder for Mac OS X or Audiobook Converter for Windows. We are working on a newer version of Bookmark that will allow convenient listening of .mp3's and we anticipate this version will be available in February 2010.
- Contact support at support@bookmarkapp.com if none of these work.
Do the bookmarks stay with the audiobook file so I could use them in other players?
Unfortunately no, the bookmarks won't stay with the file itself. There are limitations with what Bookmark or any app can do with music files - they can list the library contents, determine where in a music file is being played, the name, the album art, etc., but they cannot modify the music file itself. We are working on a feature that allows the electronic bookmarks to be exported, imported, synced etc., so that two people with the app could keep their bookmarks and notes in sync. This feature may be available in early 2010.
What is backgrounding?
Backgrounding means you can start listening to a book in Bookmark then exit the app to use another app like SMS or email while still listening to the book in the background. When you restart Bookmark, it will continue playing from the current point.
Does Bookmark work with podcasts?
No, the current version of Bookmark does not work with podcasts although we have received requests for that and may include them in a future version. If you would like to see podcasts supported, please drop us a line at support@bookmarkapp.com.
Headphone button compatibility
Earlier versions of Bookmark (before 1.1.1) didn't work well with the button on the iPhone headphones. It is now compatible and also works with iPhone / iPod Touch docks that have built-in play/pause switches. Please email us at support@bookmarkapp.com if you find any hardware incompatibilities.
Does Bookmark support double-speed listening?
Yes, although indirectly. Non-Apple apps like Bookmark cannot control playback speed, but to enable 1.5X or 2X listening, just open an audiobook in the iPod (or Music app on the iPod Touch) and set the speed as seen in the screenshot below. Bookmark will play audiobooks at the speed set here.
