Download Audiobooks .mp3 from Libby (not OverDrive!)
Download Audiobooks .mp3 from Libby (not OverDrive!)
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Hi all,
I've recently come across this great Firefox plugin to download .mp3 files from Libby (not overdrive). This makes managing your books way simpler as you can use your favourite audio player.
When I looked for similar services I could only find difficult solutions on Reddit. Posting this on Lemmy only.
**NB: keep in mind you should delete the audiobooks once you get past your expiration date. **
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Agree. Nice extension. BTW the link to GitHub doesn't work in Jerboa.
Should also point out that, while you may want to delete the book when it expires, it will not self-destruct or delete itself because of the expiration date in the filename or mp3 tags. Once downloaded and saved in some folder or used in a third party player, unlike E.T., it can no longer "phone home" to Libby or Overdrive to get itself returned or deleted. It's lost its connection.
To add to the stew, I still recommended the Overdrive (not Libby) method, mostly because it can all be done on a phone (Android at least). You borrow the book (Libby App or Overdrive website. Then go to your library's "overdrive.com" website in a mobile browser. Under "loans" find your book and tap the button "Have Overdrive app Mac or Windows" (it also works in the mobile app), then tap the button that appears next "Download MP3". That will get you a small file with the extension .odm. That's a "license" file. Save it (remember where) and tap it. It will open the old Overdrive Android app to the Bookshelf and the files will start downloading. After they're downloaded use a file manager to go to where the files are stored. In internal memory that's: /storage/emulated/0/Android/data/com.overdrive.mobile.android.mediaconsole/files/OverDrive
If the files are stored on an external SD card, the path will be similar. You select where the files are stored in the "settings" of the Overdrive android app. Select "internal" or "external". Do not choose "app storage". That would store the books among the app's own files/code. They can't be accessed there. Also be sure the setting to auto-download books is turned on.
Then just copy the book folder with its files to wherever you want. But DO copy them out of that location somewhere else. Files in the Overdrive storage location can and do "phone home" and delete themselves on the expiration date!
Of course to make this work you do need the old defunct Overdrive android app. If you don't have it, you can get a copy of it online in many places. The APKPure website or the UPtoDown website are two that I know have it. It still works for downloading files using an ODM license file acquired on the website. It can still play the books. But it can no longer access any of your libraries. So you can no longer search for or borrow books through this app.
BTW this same process also works the same way on Mac or Windows - if you have, or can find, the old Overdrive Desktop App. But I like it on my phone because it is a self-contained process. No need for a computer and then transferring the end results to your phone.
Another method I've tried, and it seems to work well, uses the extension LIBBY AUDIOBOOK EXPORTER in Chrome. I suppose it would also work in other chromium based browsers, like Edge, Brave etc It also works in the chromium based MOBILE browsers KIWI and YANDEX, which can both install Chrome desktop extensions from the Chrome WebStore.
It works much like the Firefox extension in that you don't have to play or scan the book. just open the Libby audioboooks on the Libby website. You might need to refresh the Libby page at least once, maybe a couple of times to engage the extension. It then displays at the top of the webpage and after it scans the book in the background you just hit the EXPORT button and it begins downloading all the files. There's a green progress bar that shows the downloading.
Unlike the Libby Download extension in Firefox, this extension downloads multiple files. As each one gets downloaded the "Save" box opens and you pick where to save each file. The default is the computer's default Download folder. You can choose another, like your books folder, but sadly this extension won't remember that choice on the next file, so you'd have to change it each time. A bit of a pain. So I just let everything go to the Download folder. When everything was finished, I moved all the files to a folder I had created for the book.
One of the files that gets created and downloaded is called "openbook.json" This is similar to the .CUE file that you get with the Firefox extension. It contains metadata, chapter break location info, etc. The trouble is all the current Android 3rd party players can't read this JSON file. The book will play ok, but you'll just see "parts", not chapters.
HOWEVER, if you use LISTEN audiobook player, you will soon find that it will be able to decipher the info in the JSON file and will be able to display chapters. The current version 5.0.15 cannot read the JSON file info. But I emailed the developer yesterday (July 30 2023) and explained the issue. In less than an hour he had reworked some of the code he wrote to deal with similar metadata files so that it could also read and use the JSON file info. He added it to the LISTEN app and sent me a copy of the updated app (now version 5.0.16). I don't know when the new version will appear in the Play Store. The last update was only a week ago, but I presume this new, or an even newer, update should come along in the next week or so. Look for any version greate than 5.0.15.
Noting the edit in my previous comment about the Chrome extension LIBBY AUDIOBOOK EXPORTER.
It also works in the KIWI and YANDEX android mobile browsers, both of which are the only chromium based mobile browsers that can install full desktop extensions from the Chrome WebStore website.
This is great if you are like me and prefer to keep all these processes on your phone and not have to hop back and forth between computer and phone. And I found this extension works even smoother on my phone. (Could it be that my phone has a much faster processor and more CPU cores than my computer?)