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phillyman

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jul 17, 2008
158
71
HI All,

I'm having issues with getting Audible books from my phone to my watch. I've installed/uninstalled both apps multiple times.
When I start a sync to the watch it just "stalls". I was able to get one book to sync overnight and that was about it.
How long should it take and does anyone else have issues with syncing books to their watch?
I don't want to keep the books on my phone and control through my watch. I'd like to workout with just my watch since it would have my audio, fitness and a backup CC all in one.

Thanks,
Philly

PS: Yes, I have a support ticket with audible. In the past I've had excellent tech support but the person I had today was less than useless.
 

artfossil

macrumors 68000
Oct 5, 2015
1,765
2,031
Florida
HI All,

I'm having issues with getting Audible books from my phone to my watch. I've installed/uninstalled both apps multiple times.
When I start a sync to the watch it just "stalls". I was able to get one book to sync overnight and that was about it.
How long should it take and does anyone else have issues with syncing books to their watch?
I don't want to keep the books on my phone and control through my watch. I'd like to workout with just my watch since it would have my audio, fitness and a backup CC all in one.

Thanks,
Philly

PS: Yes, I have a support ticket with audible. In the past I've had excellent tech support but the person I had today was less than useless.

Listening to Audible books on my Watch is one of my favorite things about the Watch! I love listening without my phone when I walk or jog in the pool.

But the Audible apps are really some of the most unreliable and most frustrating apps I’ve ever used.

On a good day it might take 20 minutes or so to sync a book to my Watch. (Never timed it.) On a bad day I give up in frustration.

My sync voodoo is
-Latest versions of both apps
-Both phone and Watch on same network.
-Put Watch on charger (and yes I put my phone on the charger too)
-Voodoo part: change settings on phone so Auto-lock is set to “never”. (Just works better for me.) (Note: some users claim turning off Bluetooth speeds up the sync but I’ve NEVER ben able to get my Watch to sync without Bluetooth on.)
-More voodoo: sync seems to go better once there is a book on the Watch.

Try escalating your problem to Audible tech support. They are much more helpful.

I will say that the newer versions of the apps are better than the old ones in terms of both speed and information about the syncing process. But they are just inconsistent.

I don’t know what Watch you have but mine is a Series 5.
 
Last edited:
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phillyman

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jul 17, 2008
158
71
Hi Artfossil,

It was Voodoo... Just had to keep trying. In my case it was actually moving the devices farther apart. It took about 6 hours to get about 8 books on there but I made it... Auto lock turned off certainly helped.
 
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lsh

macrumors 6502a
Feb 6, 2012
725
189
Cincinnati, OH
Thank you. I reinstalled on both watch and phone & turned off auto lock and things seem to be working now, I
downloaded a book anyway.
I do have Bluetooth OFF on my phone and the watch on the charger.
 
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venkyvijay

macrumors newbie
Jul 13, 2022
1
1
Audible not properly syncing to Apple watch is a common problem. Some of the issues I have faced after using for several issues.

1. The large (audible) files of 7 to 20 hours take longer time, and sometimes fail to sync with messages: Apple watch is not responding..). You either resume or abandon the sync process.
2. After syncing (apparently after seeing the watch icon on iPhone Audible app) you are still unable to play on the apple watch with messages: Not synced from iPhone..or Please sync with your iPhone...etc.). This is very disappointing after spending 30-45 Minutes or even hours...working on the sync process.
3. Sync begins or happens faster when your watch is on the charger.

I have tried many things to sync a file that's 9 to 10 hours of Audio. I have uninstalled Audible on iPhone (automatically uninstalled on the watch), unpaired the watch with the phone, and restarted. Nothing worked...

Try these simple things:

Step1: Make sure your watch is paired with your iPhone.
Step2: Make sure to have the same Wi-Fi Connection on your iPhone and Watch, and that your internet is working
Step3: Download Audible and make sure that you are able to see the Audible icon on your Apple watch
Step4: Download the file on iPhone first, using three dots, right-click to sync with the watch.
Step5: Turn off Bluetooth on your phone, so that iPhone's audible data is transferred to the Watch quickly.
Step6: Make sure to see the Apple watch icon on iPhone below the audible file,
Step7: Please give 5 minutes time for the last-minute sync process, don't rush to open the audible app on the watch.

You are done, and you will be able to play audible on the watch and connect to your earphones to see all the chapters are playing. Make sure to check before you go out on a walk or gym.
 
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