Disclaimer: This is not an ad. I'm just a happy customer that wants to see this platform succeed! I know there's been some buzz about Amazon taking steps to lock down their Kindle platform. I...
Disclaimer: This is not an ad. I'm just a happy customer that wants to see this platform succeed!
I know there's been some buzz about Amazon taking steps to lock down their Kindle platform. I wanted to share this service, as I've been using it as my primary ebook platform for months now and couldn't be happier. It is a bring-your-own-ebooks cloud sync and reader service. I download/buy DRM-free books or de-DRM the books I buy from Kobo/Amazon and then upload them here.
I regularly read on multiple different devices: an ereader, my phone, the webreader, and my tablet (for comics/PDFs). I can now fluidly switch back and forth between all of these across my entire library. It also means that I am finally able to fully integrate all those DRM-free files I got from Humble Bundle and StoryBundle into my library and not have them be "second-class citizens" on the platform.
One downside of the platform is that it won't just work on any ereader. You have to have an Android e-ink device to run the Android app (which has an e-ink toggle in it). So, unfortunately, you can't just throw this on your current Kindle/Kobo hardware. I use a BOOX Page which is very comparable to my Kobo Libra.
One upside of the platform is that they have a Calibre plugin. You can stage your whole library through Calibre, then upload all your books right from Calibre to BookFusion. You can also update individual files as needed, which is great for tweaking metadata and cover art.
If anyone has any questions about BookFusion, I'd be happy to answer them. I've now got over 1000 books in my library and approximately 100 hours of read time on the platform since I started using it six-ish months ago.
BookFusion is also one of a very small number of ebook apps that supports EPUB 3 Media Overlays, which allow to you have an Amazon WhisperSync-like “guided narration” experience. You can either...
BookFusion is also one of a very small number of ebook apps that supports EPUB 3 Media Overlays, which allow to you have an Amazon WhisperSync-like “guided narration” experience. You can either listen to the book while you read it, or switch back and forth without losing your place. And you can use Storyteller (full disclosure, I made Storyteller, but it’s free!) to align your books if you have the ebook and audiobook files!
Woah this is an amazing idea and project! Definitely going to bookmark this. Last year I both read a paperback version of The Stand and listened to the audiobook at the same time, I could not put...
Woah this is an amazing idea and project! Definitely going to bookmark this.
Last year I both read a paperback version of The Stand and listened to the audiobook at the same time, I could not put it down. This would have been a great all in one solution, if I was using an e book for it.
All the books I read last year inspired me to try to build my own catalog to add my physical library collection to a database and it ended up becoming a full fledged GUI app and had a similar idea to this (though not exactly) but quickly got in over my head. This looks so clean, I'm glad I didn't keep trying!
Thanks, let me know if you give it a shot, hope you like it! There's a Discord server linked from the docs site if you run into issues and need help getting set up.
Thanks, let me know if you give it a shot, hope you like it! There's a Discord server linked from the docs site if you run into issues and need help getting set up.
This is very cool! I've got a decent collection of audiobooks from Libro.fm, so I'll have to try this with one of the titles for which I also own the ebook. Also, a somewhat related question for...
This is very cool!
I've got a decent collection of audiobooks from Libro.fm, so I'll have to try this with one of the titles for which I also own the ebook.
Also, a somewhat related question for the crowd: what's currently the best way to deDRM Audible files (if that's even possible)?
I personally use Libation to remove the DRM from Audible books. I don't really use many of its features outside stripping the DRM, but it's worked perfectly so far for all the books I've threw at it.
I personally use Libation to remove the DRM from Audible books. I don't really use many of its features outside stripping the DRM, but it's worked perfectly so far for all the books I've threw at it.
I haven’t tried this myself, but I’m seeing this tool which appears to work for other folks: https://audible-tools.kamsker.at/ EDIT: I have now tried this (used it for the Hyperion audiobook for...
EDIT: I have now tried this (used it for the Hyperion audiobook for the Tildes Book Club, which is Audible-exclusive 🙄) and it worked great! It gives you an ffmpeg command that you can run to strip the DRM from the aax file.
Impeccable timing, smores! I also just used it myself, and it worked perfectly. I love how dead simple it is! I also didn't expect to be able to directly download the .aax files right from...
Impeccable timing, smores! I also just used it myself, and it worked perfectly. I love how dead simple it is!
I also didn't expect to be able to directly download the .aax files right from Audible. So easy. I'm going to do some downloads and then try out your tool this week!
I've set this up yesterday (thanks to your comment), converted a book using one of the paid options. It was nice to see how it works in the storyteller app, but I did not quite like how i had to...
I've set this up yesterday (thanks to your comment), converted a book using one of the paid options.
It was nice to see how it works in the storyteller app, but I did not quite like how i had to switch modes to rewind 30 seconds.
Today I tried loading up the converted book to BookFusion, and how it works there makes so much sense. Pressing back/forward just skips a sentence. I love this, it's better than Kindle's integration!
Now, looking at the costs. I've bought both the epub and the audio. Converted using a paid service to offload the CPU usage on my NAS. I would need a Bookfusion subscription to be able to upload 1GB files.
Moving away from Kindle/Audible and that ecosystem adds to the costs and I'm losing a lot of convenience. I want to stick to KOReader and the Storyteller app, and since both are open source, I'm sure some whispersync like service would be possible (KOReader Sync Server?) Ideally, this also syncs back to Calibre.
EDIT: I see there's discussion about KOReader sync and Calibre on the Discord. I'll dive into that!
Disclaimer: This is not an ad. I'm just a happy customer that wants to see this platform succeed!
I know there's been some buzz about Amazon taking steps to lock down their Kindle platform. I wanted to share this service, as I've been using it as my primary ebook platform for months now and couldn't be happier. It is a bring-your-own-ebooks cloud sync and reader service. I download/buy DRM-free books or de-DRM the books I buy from Kobo/Amazon and then upload them here.
I regularly read on multiple different devices: an ereader, my phone, the webreader, and my tablet (for comics/PDFs). I can now fluidly switch back and forth between all of these across my entire library. It also means that I am finally able to fully integrate all those DRM-free files I got from Humble Bundle and StoryBundle into my library and not have them be "second-class citizens" on the platform.
One downside of the platform is that it won't just work on any ereader. You have to have an Android e-ink device to run the Android app (which has an e-ink toggle in it). So, unfortunately, you can't just throw this on your current Kindle/Kobo hardware. I use a BOOX Page which is very comparable to my Kobo Libra.
One upside of the platform is that they have a Calibre plugin. You can stage your whole library through Calibre, then upload all your books right from Calibre to BookFusion. You can also update individual files as needed, which is great for tweaking metadata and cover art.
If anyone has any questions about BookFusion, I'd be happy to answer them. I've now got over 1000 books in my library and approximately 100 hours of read time on the platform since I started using it six-ish months ago.
BookFusion is also one of a very small number of ebook apps that supports EPUB 3 Media Overlays, which allow to you have an Amazon WhisperSync-like “guided narration” experience. You can either listen to the book while you read it, or switch back and forth without losing your place. And you can use Storyteller (full disclosure, I made Storyteller, but it’s free!) to align your books if you have the ebook and audiobook files!
Woah this is an amazing idea and project! Definitely going to bookmark this.
Last year I both read a paperback version of The Stand and listened to the audiobook at the same time, I could not put it down. This would have been a great all in one solution, if I was using an e book for it.
All the books I read last year inspired me to try to build my own catalog to add my physical library collection to a database and it ended up becoming a full fledged GUI app and had a similar idea to this (though not exactly) but quickly got in over my head. This looks so clean, I'm glad I didn't keep trying!
Thanks, let me know if you give it a shot, hope you like it! There's a Discord server linked from the docs site if you run into issues and need help getting set up.
This is very cool!
I've got a decent collection of audiobooks from Libro.fm, so I'll have to try this with one of the titles for which I also own the ebook.
Also, a somewhat related question for the crowd: what's currently the best way to deDRM Audible files (if that's even possible)?
I personally use Libation to remove the DRM from Audible books. I don't really use many of its features outside stripping the DRM, but it's worked perfectly so far for all the books I've threw at it.
I haven’t tried this myself, but I’m seeing this tool which appears to work for other folks: https://audible-tools.kamsker.at/
EDIT: I have now tried this (used it for the Hyperion audiobook for the Tildes Book Club, which is Audible-exclusive 🙄) and it worked great! It gives you an ffmpeg command that you can run to strip the DRM from the aax file.
Impeccable timing, smores! I also just used it myself, and it worked perfectly. I love how dead simple it is!
I also didn't expect to be able to directly download the .aax files right from Audible. So easy. I'm going to do some downloads and then try out your tool this week!
I've set this up yesterday (thanks to your comment), converted a book using one of the paid options.
It was nice to see how it works in the storyteller app, but I did not quite like how i had to switch modes to rewind 30 seconds.
Today I tried loading up the converted book to BookFusion, and how it works there makes so much sense. Pressing back/forward just skips a sentence. I love this, it's better than Kindle's integration!
Now, looking at the costs. I've bought both the epub and the audio. Converted using a paid service to offload the CPU usage on my NAS. I would need a Bookfusion subscription to be able to upload 1GB files.
Moving away from Kindle/Audible and that ecosystem adds to the costs and I'm losing a lot of convenience. I want to stick to KOReader and the Storyteller app, and since both are open source, I'm sure some whispersync like service would be possible (KOReader Sync Server?) Ideally, this also syncs back to Calibre.
EDIT: I see there's discussion about KOReader sync and Calibre on the Discord. I'll dive into that!