Consumerist just posted a listing of sites where you can legally download free audiobooks:

http://consumerist.com/2010/08/check-out-these-sites-for-free-audio-books.html

Are there any others you like?

One feature I’ve received a number of requests for is the ability to customize the Time Ribbon. I’ve added that to what will become version 1.3 (see screenshot below):

I still have more features and fine-tuning to do before 1.3 is ready to submit to Apple so I don’t have a timeframe yet. You can be sure I’ll update as soon as I do.

You might have noticed that I’ve added some ads on the right for Simply Audiobooks.  They don’t say it on their website (probably can’t legally) but they’re kind of like the “Netflix of Audiobooks”.  You sign up, make a list of books you’d like to listen to, then they’re mailed to you and you later mail them back.  I haven’t signed up yet myself (my Audible library still has unlistened-to books) but it looks interesting.  Are any of you customers?  I’d like to hear what your experiences are.  Since I’m displaying ads, it probably goes without saying that I’d get a commission from any sales using these links, but I’m genuinely interested in learning how well this service works.

15-Day CD Rental Free Trial

With the release of version 1.2.3 I have a few promo codes to give out. If you leave a comment and say that you’d like one, I’ll send a code to the email associated with the comment. All I ask is you leave a review on iTunes or share it on Twitter or Facebook if you like Bookmark. Hurry, supplies are limited!

Update 8/8: One thing I forgot to mention is that promo codes are for the US store only. Sorry, that’s Apple’s policy and I wish it weren’t the case.

Update 8/12: I still have a few codes left and FYI, they need to be redeemed before 8/28.

Update 8/20: I requested the remaining promo codes for 1.2.3 from Apple so I still have a few. These will need to be used by 9/17.

I’d really appreciate it if you could take a minute to fill out a short survey about how you use Bookmark and what features you’d like to see in future updates. It will help us decide what needs attention first to make Bookmark more useful for you.

Take the Survey

If you have an iPhone 3G and you’ve installed iOS 4, you’ve probably noticed performance of the whole device go down. A longtime user and tester of Bookmark sent me this article that he said helped dramatically improve the speed of his device.

http://www.andrewstechnology.co.uk/reference/tips/38-iphone-3g-lag-fix.html

From a technical perspective, it makes sense because Safari is a memory hog and it doesn’t really quit when you exit the app (Apple apps have had backgrounding since the beginning). That said, I haven’t tested it. My main device is an iPhone 4 and I keep a 3G running 3.1.3 for testing purposes.

Apple approved version 1.2.3 today with the following changes:

1. Fixes bug that could cause the wrong chapter to display or be played at startup.
2. Begins the process of adding better accessibility via VoiceOver.

To update, just open the App Store app on your device and click the “Updates” tab.

It’s only been about ten days and the first Portuguese book apps we’ve published are doing well. The free one, O Gato Preto just made iTune’s “New and Noteworthy” section in Brazil.  It’s also been in the Top 20 for a week.

Authors or publishers who are interested in making their books available in the iTunes App Store should contact me. We have a lot of options available and I’d love to discuss how we can work with you.

Thanks to two alert users who sent me support emails, I’ve tracked down and fixed two bugs in 1.2.2. First, track labels could be too short in some cases and secondly the app can start up in the incorrect track in some multi-track books. It should be available as an update next week. Thanks for your patience.

Update: As a workaround to have the correct chapter load at startup, you can go back to the library screen, click the blue arrow to the right of a book/podcast, then choose the current track in the detailed list.

The most frequent feature request I receive that I’m not able to act on is chapter listings. The iPod/Music app is able to display chapter lists so it would seem obvious that apps like Bookmark should be able to as well. To explain why Bookmark doesn’t support chapters I have to explain a little about how the app works. Starting with iOS 3, Apple provided the ability for developers like me to access the iPod library, with some limitations. All apps have to use the same software to request tracks and information about those tracks from the iPod. The information is fairly complete but it does not contain any chapter info.

Prior to iOS 4, there was an undocumented loophole that allowed apps to determine where chapters were located and several competitor apps took advantage of that loophole. This made it a bit awkward when answering email requests to add chapter lists because customers would point to these apps as proof that it could be done. My response was always the same, that because this wasn’t documented anywhere, I was concerned the capability might go away in a future OS. This is exactly what happened in iOS 4 and now the competitor apps that supported chapter listings have a broken feature and probably some unhappy customers.

You have my word that I will always try to provide a consistent listening experience. Apple did the right thing in opening up access to iPod content which allowed specialized apps like Bookmark to exist. If they ever officially add chapter listing, I promise I’ll incorporate it as a feature.