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Akimbo Audio Book Player - User Manual - 1.4.0
Akimbo Audio Book Player - User Manual - 1.4.0
Book Player
Version 1.4
June 2011
Contents
Main Sections
Contents
Additional Data
Statistics ...................................... 18
Widget ......................................... 19
Accessibility ................................ 8
Covers .......................................... 22
Page 1
Screens
The main screens available in the player are:
Player Screen
The player screen is the main screen you will use. It allows you to listen to the book and control its play.
Library Screen
The library screen allows you to view and manage your books and music. If contains several sub-screens:
Add File/Folder
This screen allows you to add a file or an entire folder (including its subfolders) to the library.
Book Edit
This screen allows you to edit the books information and add, remove or download its covers.
Book Info
This screen shows detailed information about a book along with its covers.
Settings Screen
The settings screen allows you to set your preferred configuration for the player.
Statistics Screen
The statistics screen shows some statistics about your listening history.
Help Screen
The help screen provides help about the player.
Features
A full detail of the features offered by the player is listed in this manual. Here are just a few of them:
Supports all major audio book formats (mp3, mp4, m4b, m4a) and other audio formats.
Recalls the last position and the volume level per book in the library.
Provides cover support for inherent covers as well as automatic download of book/album cover
(either per book, of for the entire library). Also allows you to add cover images of your own.
Offers a wide array of navigation options, including undoing position changes, going to any point or
chapter in the book, and rewinding or advancing the current position by configurable durations.
Includes a lock mode, which prevents accidental change to the currently played position.
Allows loading your entire audio book library folder in just one click.
Provides a full range of accessibility features for support of visually impaired people, or for use of
the player without looking at it (see Accessibility)
Shows usage statistics (duration of listening to audio in several interesting cross-sections).
If you have any issues or questions, see the troubleshooting section at
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ZaoXiOZK0zlhw4gOq_bFmeihZvYj9f9_NwrhbCLlM9k/view?hl=en
Page 2
Getting Started
1. When you first open the application you will see an empty player screen (this is also the case
when your last played book reached its end). To play a book you need select it from the library.
Please press the menu button and select Library to open the library.
2. If this is your first time in the library, it will contain no books.
a. To load books press the Add File/Folder button on the top left (or choose the same
option from the menu). You will be shown a file explorer window. Navigate (by pressing
the folder names) until you see the folder or file you want to scan. If you need to go
back to a parent folder, press the Up to item at the beginning of the list. When you get
to the desired folder either perform a long press (press and hold it down for a few
seconds) on the items name, or click the green add button
next to it. The application
will scan the books in this location and add them to the library (this may take a few
minutes, depending on the amount of files in the folders).
3. To play a library book to play press its entry in the library; the application will go back to the
player screen and continue to play the book from its previous position.
Page 3
Player Screen
The main player screen is where youll spend most of your time listening to books. You can play your
book, pause it, seek within a chapter, jump to a different chapter, or step a predefined amount of time
forward or backward in the book.
any Step buttons configured
Player Overview
Next Chapter
to be lockable.
Press this button to switch to
Go-To
the beginning of the next
Press this button to open the
chapter. The button is
Go To dialog (see below),
disabled at the last chapter.
which enables you to quickly
Play / Pause
switch to any position or
Press Play to resume play.
chapter in the book.
Press pause to pause play.
Small Step Back
Note that you can switch
Press this button to quickly
between a normal-sized and
rewind play position a preset
a large Play/Pause button
short amount of time
(see Settings)
(default is 10 seconds).
Sleep Timer
Player Buttons
Lock / Unlock
Press lock to lock the player
and prevent accidental
position changes. When in
lock mode the following
buttons are disabled: Next
Chapter, Previous Chapter,
the Position Seek Bar, and
Previous Chapter
Press this button to switch to
the previous chapter. If
pressed late in the chapter,
or during the first chapter,
the player will switch to the
start of the current chapter.
Page 4
Bookmark
Long-press this button (press
and hold) to add a bookmark
to the book at the current
position.
Press this button to open the
bookmark dialog (see below),
which allows moving to a
previously bookmarked
place.
Speed Control
Speed control is only enabled
upon purchase of the
separate app Presto, and
only in MP3 and OGG
formats (it is not supported
in M4B books).
Speed factor changes in
steps of 0.1 units. Speed can
be slowed down to half the
original speed (0.5x), or
accelerated up to twice the
original play speed (2.0x).
You can enable speed control
in the Player tab of the
settings screen.
Please note that at the time
of this writing Presto is in
Beta mode. Play issues
resulting from speed control
should be directed to Presto
developers at aocate.
Decrease Speed
Decrease speed button
appears below the sleep
timer button. Pressing it will
slow down play speed by a
factor of 0.1 with regard to
the original speed.
Increase Speed
Increase speed button
appears below the bookmark
button. Pressing it will
accelerate play speed by a
factor of 0.1 with regard to
the original speed.
Speed Factor
Player Information
Book Information
Cover
Step Configuration
For each step button you can
configure its size, whether it
may be locked, whether it is
shown in the player screen
and whether the text below
it is shown. See more in
Settings Screen
Book Position
Volume Control
Chapter Position
Position within the current
chapter appears below the
book position.
Left in Book
The amount of time left in
the book appears below the
Go-To button.
Left in Chapter
Page 5
Go To Dialog
Go To Position
Bookmark Dialog
To switch to a specific
position in the book, set the
dials at the top part of the
dialog to the desired hour,
minute and second, and
press the button below the
dials.
Note that the minutes and
seconds dials are cyclic, so if
you scroll above 00, you will
go back to 59.
If you set a position that
exceeds the books duration,
the button will grow red and
become disabled (see image
below)
Go To Chapter
To switch to a specific
chapter in the book, set the
dial at the bottom part of the
dialog to the desired chapter
index, and press the button
below the dial.
The text on dial indicates the
chapters number, total
number of chapter, the
chapters position in the
book, and its name. For
example, if the sixth chapter
out of twelve, called The
Lamp, begins after an hour
and five minutes, its text will
read 6/9 (1:05:00): The
Lamp
Page 6
Last Position
Library
Notification Icon
Next Position
Settings
Opens the settings screen,
where you can control the
applications behavior and
settings. See more at
Settings Screen
Close
If you press this you will be
prompted to close the
player. Press yes and the
application will shut down
(stopping and audio play at
progress) and be removed
from memory completely.
Statistics
Opens the statistics screen,
where you can see some
useful (or not) statistics. See
more at Statistics Screen
Help
Opens the help screen,
where you can get help on
how to use the application.
Page 7
Accessibility
The player mostly complies with accessibility recommendations suggested at eyes-free site.
If you are visually impaired it is strongly recommended to change the settings to use Spinners instead of
dials (see Settings Screen), as they are more accessible without sight.
In addition, the player offers a range of accessibility features. These features can be used for better
experience if you are visually impaired or using the application without looking at the screen.
All accessibility features are controlled by the Settings screen (see Settings Screen).
Text Indication
Voice Indication
Page 8
Library Screen
The library screen allows you to manage your books, and choose which one to play.
To access the Library pull up the menu in the Player screen and select Library.
Overview
When you open the library
for the first time, it will be
empty. After youve added
some books (see Adding
Books) you will see a list of
your books. You can scroll
down the list to see more
books if the library exceeds a
single screen. You can also
filter the books shown in the
library (see Filtering Books)
Book Layout
Edit button
Press it to edit the books
main details, manage its
covers, or remove it from the
library (see Editing a Book).
Filtering Books
You can filter the books
currently shown in the library
by entering text in the search
filter at the top.
Information button
Press this button to see a
vast array of information
about the book (see Book
Information).
Accessibility Note
If you are using the D-Pad to
scroll through the library,
long click an item to get a
context menu containing the
Edit and Information
screen options.
Playing a Book
To play a book click its entry
anywhere outside the two
buttons. The application will
switch to the Player Screen
and resume play of the book
from its last position. If you
press a book that is currently
playing you will simply go
back to the player screen.
Page 9
Adding Books
To add a book to the library
press the Add File/Folder
button at the top of the
library (or pull up the menu
and choose Add
File/Folder). This will open a
file explorer where you can
choose which books to add.
If you add files whose title
already exists in the library,
they can be merged into
these titles. You can control
merging options in the
Settings Screen (Library Tab)
File List
The main part of the screen
shows a list of the files and
subfolders in the current
folder. At the top of this list
you will always have an item
which will take you back to
the parent folder.
Each line in the explorer
contains either a file or a
folder (you can tell them
apart by the icon on the left).
To descend into a folder
press its name.
To add the file or folder to
the library either perform a
long press on the item, or
press the
green add
button.
After you add the book the
explorer screen will close,
and the file or folder will be
loaded to your library.
To leave the screen without
loading anything, press your
devices Back button.
Top Row
The explorers top row has
an indication of the current
folder at the left. At the right
of the top row is a button
allowing you to set the
current folder as root,
thereby causing future Add
actions to start from that
folder.
Page 10
Editing a Book
Press a books
edit
button, or long-click the item
and select Edit to open the
Edit screen.
Disabling a Cover
You can disable or enable the
use of any cover by toggling
the button on the top right.
Disabled covers will be
partially masked to indicate
that they will not be used
(see more at Appendix C
Covers)
Actions
Saving your Changes
To save the changes you
made in the Edit screen press
the Submit button at the
bottom.
Downloading a Cover
To automatically download a
books cover, press the
button on the bottom right.
This will launch an internet
search for suitable covers.
See more about covers at
Appendix C Covers
Removing a Book
Navigate the explorer into
the desired folder by
pressing folder names. To go
to the parent folder press
the Up to item at the top.
Image files will be shown
(depending on supported
cover formats, see Settings
Screen) with their thumbnail
on the left and a
green
button on the right. Perform
a long press on the item, or
press the button to add the
image to the books covers.
Deleting a Cover
To remove a books cover,
press the
button at the
bottom right. Note that you
can only remove covers that
Page 11
Book Information
Press a books
info
button or long-click the item
and select Information to
open the Information
screen.
Attribute
Last Played
Position
Genre
Year
Format
Files
Bookmarks
Covers
Volume
Added to Library
Last Update
Internal Key
Page 12
Description
Date in which the book was last played
The books last play position
The books genre
The books publication year
The books audio format
Number of audio files comprising this book
Number of bookmarks set in this book
Number of cover images available for this book
The books audio volume (in a scale of 0 to 15)
Date in which the book was added
Date in which the book data was last changed
Internal book key. For advanced use only.
Add File/Folder
Use this option to add books to the library. This is identical to the button at the top of the Library screen.
Download Covers
Use this option to automatically download covers to all the books in your library currently without a
cover. Pressing Download Covers will launch an internet search for suitable covers. You can determine
the number of covers to download in Settings Screen (the default is a single cover per book).
Note that the search will only encompass books without covers.
Sort
Use this option to change the order of the books in your library. This will open a dialog containing the
sort criteria. You can define up to three criteria, in decreasing priority. For each criterion you can select
whether to show the data in ascending order (A-Z) or descending order (Z-A).
Pressing a criterion button will open up a dialog allowing you to change it.
Table 2 Library Sort Criteria
Criterion Name
N/A
Added to Library
Duration
Last Played
Last Update
Title
Author
Genre
Year
Description
Do not use this criterion
The date and time in which the book was added to the library
The books duration
The date and time in which the book was last played
The date and time in which the book data was last changed
The books title
The books author/artist
The books genre
The books publication year
Rescan Library
Use this option to rescan your library, and remove any books whose audio files are missing. This is useful
in case you deleted some audio files from your storage space and want to remove all the redundant
library books at once (instead of going over them one-by-one).
Clear Library
Use this option to remove all the books, and clear the library altogether. After you press this you will be
prompted to approve removal of all the books from the library.
Note clearing the library will not remove any of your audio of image files. The only changes are to the
players internal database. Covers which you have downloaded from the internet and are no longer in
use will also be removed at this time.
Page 13
Settings Screen
The Settings screen allows you to configure the applications looks and behavior. To access the Settings
screen pull up the menu in the Player screen (press your devices menu button), and select Settings.
The Settings screen contains of three tabs: player, library and accessibility.
Player Tab
The left tab controls the
behavior of the main Player
Screen.
Notification Type
Determines whether the
notification icon is a fullcolor one or standard.
On Startup
Determines behavior on
startup:
No book loaded the player
screen will be empty.
Load Last Book loads the
last played book paused.
Resume Last Book loads
and plays the last played
book.
Step Configuration
Max. Bookmarks
Determines the maximum
number of bookmarks kept
per book.
Notification Icon
Page 14
Library Tab
The middle tab controls the
behavior of the Library
Screen.
Audio Stream
Determines the audio stream
through which the audio is
played. Normally this is the
devices Music stream, but
you can change it to Voice,
which will use the phones
voice-call stream (this may
help if you want to send the
audio over Bluetooth to the
headset).
Note: changing this requires
completely shutting down
and restarting the app.
Allow Merging
MP4/M4A/M4B
This will allow merging MP4
files including M4A and
M4B (assuming Allow
Merging by Title is enabled).
Previous Chapter at
Determines how many
seconds must elapse in a
chapter in order for the
Previous Chapter button to
seek to the beginning of the
current chapter (and not to
the previous chapter).
Merging Options
Data Storage
Library Sort
Page 15
Covers to Download
Accessibility Tab
Controls Tab
Audio Extensions
Advanced. Contains a
semicolon-separated list of
known extensions of files to
be added to the library. Edit
this if you have files which
you think should be played
but their extension is not in
the list.
Cover Extensions
Advanced. Contains a
semicolon-separated list of
extensions to be considered
when adding a cover from a
file. Edit this if you have
images which you think
should be loaded but their
extension is not in the list.
Mode
Determines the accessibility
mode.
Use Spinners
Voice Track
Determines the voice track
(male or female) when voice
indications are used.
Voice Volume
Determines the voice volume
when voice indications are
used.
Double Press
Page 16
Headphone Plugged
Actions
Headphone Unplugged
Customizes the action taken
when a headphone set is
unplugged from the device.
Headset Control
This enables or disables your
ability to control the player
using a headset.
Headset Hook
Customizes the action taken
when the headset hook (to
answer or hang up calls) is
pressed.
Headset Play/Pause
Resetting to Default
To reset the settings to the
factory defaults (see
Appendix B Settings
Factory Defaults) press the
Reset button on the
bottom. The reset changes
are only saved if you press
Save afterwards.
Headset Stop
Customizes the action taken
when the headset
play/pause button is pressed.
Headset Prev
Customizes the action taken
when the headset previous
button is pressed.
Headset Next
Customizes the action taken
when the headset next
button is pressed.
Headset Rewind
Customizes the action taken
when the headset rewind
button is pressed.
Headset FF
Customizes the action taken
when the headset fast
forward button is pressed.
Page 17
Statistics Screen
The Statistics screen shows some statistics about your audiobook listening history. It also allows you to
reset or disable statistics collection.
If any event, the data collected is only saved locally (in the devices internal storage) and is never
broadcast outside your device. The statistical data is anonymous and doesnt contain any book specific
information (such as title or author), but only the duration of listening per day.
Statistics
The main part of the
statistics screen shows
various statistics in four
sections:
General
Actions
Past Week
This section shows the
listening duration for each of
the past 7 days.
Weekday Average
This section shows the
listening duration for each
weekday (counting only days
in which the app was used).
Weekday Average
This section shows the
listening duration for each
year.
Page 18
Reset
The Reset button allows
you to delete all the statistics
collected so far. Pressing the
button show a dialog.
Approve the action to delete
all the statistical information
(warning, this cannot be
undone).
Stats Collection
The Stats Collection button
toggle stats collection mode.
When it is enabled (green
checkmark) statistics are
being collected. When it is
disabled (red cross mark)
statistics are not being
collected.
Widget
Akimbo Player comes equipped with a widget that allows basic play control from the home screen.
Play/Pause
The right section contains the play/pause button. When a book is loaded pressing this button pauses or
resumes audio play (according to the state of the button). When a book is not loaded pressing this
button will open the player.
Book Information
The middle section shows the books title and author (or indicates that no book is loaded). Pressing it
will open the player.
Page 19
Chapters
Covers
Page 20
Page 21
Appendix C Covers
When you press the cover search button in the Book Editing screen, or select the Download Covers
option in the Library screen, Akimbo App will initiate a web search to download suitable covers.
The search is based on each books updated Title and Author.
You can configure the number of covers to load for each book in the Settings screen.
When the Download Covers option for the entire library is chosen, only books without covers
will take part in the search.
The search automatically ignores numbers at the beginning of the books title. For example, if
your title is 04 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, the search will actually be for Harry Potter
and the Goblet of Fire.
You can disable or enable any cover of a book (see Library Screen, Editing a Book).
The icon shown next to a book in the library screen will be the first enabled cover.
In the Player screen covers cycle with each chapter. If the chapter has an inherent cover it will be shown.
Otherwise, a cover from the list of the books enabled cover will be shown.
Page 22
Library
Images
Page 23
Troubleshooting
The troubleshooting section was moved to
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ZaoXiOZK0zlhw4gOq_bFmeihZvYj9f9_NwrhbCLlM9k/view?hl=en
Support
Bugs, feature requests, and any other matters can be reported by e-mail to
akimbo.app@gmail.com. Please try to be as specific and explicit as possible in your mail, and
provide the application version and all the relevant information.
Visit Akimbo App Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/pages/AkimboApp/191241390898010
Version Changes
Partial speed control support (IMPORTANT: feature requires purchase of a separate app
Presto, and is limited to MP3 and OGG files).
Fixed the widget left button image to match configured action.
Added a feature to prevent the device from locking the app when playing, or when playing while
charging.
Workaround for blank screen issue on Samsung Galaxy S2 (resulting from
http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=17623)
Support using a standard 2.3 notification icon
Fixed an issue of loading books from blocked formats
Temporary volume control option by long-pressing the small step buttons.
Bookmarks are persisted immediately (as opposed to within a minute and a half).
Page 24