On AudioBookShelf, podcasts, Books, and Car Play

Reading Time: 3 minutes

Recently I drove for 26 hours over two days between Switzerland and France and I used Audible rather than Audiobookshelf to listen. The reason for this is that when I am driving I do not want to fiddle with an app on a phone. I don’t even want to fiddle with apps on Car Play.

I noticed that PocketCasts, the Podcast App, MyCitroën and even TomTom can be quite distracting when you’re trying to set things up when you’re driving. Most of these apps are fine, if you start from a parking above ground with access to data, but if you’re underground you need to fiddle while driving. To be clear, I don’t, and that’s one of my reason for not using most car play apps.

Imagine designing an app that requires your full attention, despite being a car play app. Podcast apps are awful from this respect. I didn’t bother listening to podcasts for this reason.

Audiobookshelf and No App

When I use Audiobookshelf, it’s fine, when I’m walking, but useless when I’m driving. The reason for this is that it’s a browser app. A browser app on a phone, when you’re driving is unusable. It would be dangerous and distracting to use. That’s why, for long drives I favour the Audible app. With Audible I have quick and easy access to the books I am currently reading and I can choose one right before I start driving from the parking. I can also pause and resume with ease. This is key, for road trips.

Podcasts and Audiobookshelf

For a while I had all my podcasts in Audiobookshelf. It worked well and I enjoyed having everything self-hosted. I then noticed that with an RTS app I only got two or three out of five podcast episodes at a time.

Awful Injected Ads

One of the reasons for which I stoped listening to almost all American and English ads, aside from duration, is injected ads. You start to listen to a BBC ad and then you are punished with an awful, kitschy ad that is horrendous. It’s loud, it’s kitsch, it’s out oof context. It’s invasive.

Podcasters have forgotten that the reason we listened to their content, rather than mainstream radio, is that we didn’t want ads, and we didn’t want hyperactive presenters. We wanted information provided in a neutral, informative manner. That era is gone and podcasts are now no different to mainstream radio. In essence they have forgotten their origins, and the niche they filled.

Google Adsense, My Blog, and Other Sites

When I write this, it isn’t from a neutral point of view. For years I had Google Adsense ads on my blog, which I allowed Google to place automatically. Eventually, on my site, and many others, I noticed that the ads have become like we saw in magazines. Every second page is an ad.

With websites, such as my own, I switched from ads to donations for a simple reasons. Ads ruined the user’s experience on my blog like they use my experience when listening to podcasts when I am walking and driving. When I am walking and driving I don’t want to fast forward by 30 seconds three or four times before getting back to content. It’s distracting, and dangerous, both on foot, and driving.

And Finally

Whilst it is very easy to subscribe to dozens of podcasts it does take time to listen to episodes, especially now that they last from one to three hours. That’s why it makes sense to use podcast apps, rather than Audiobookshelf. I have just three podcasts, and could easily run out of episodes if I go for regular solitary walks.

If I am patient I could get a spot to test the Audiobookshelf iOS app, but until that day it makes sense to use the Audible app. It’s easy to slide between both, as long as you ensure that you stop listening at a chapter marker. It’s less fiddly than scrubbing through to the right point, ahead of a drive.

And finally, since my desire to listen to English language podcasts has declined, so the interest of the Radio France app has increased. It’s a well designed and convenient app, as long as you’re not driving a car. I might slide back to listen to more English podcasts when they do away with injected ads.