AudioBo Changelog

Stay up to date with the latest features, improvements, and fixes in AudioBo.

v1.3.9

Improvements

  • Genre Field Compatible with Audiobookshelf and More — When a book carries several genres — Fantasy, Adventure, Young Adult — AudioBo writes them into the file the way Audiobookshelf and similar servers read them, so each genre appears as its own entry in your library. In Edit Book Info you keep typing them comma-separated, just as before.
  • Progress Bar Shows Every Stage of a Build — Press Build and the progress bar reports the very first step, file by file: "Analyzing files… 12 of 212". Once every file has been read, encoding takes over the same bar, so the whole build is visible from the first second to the last — for AAC and HE-AAC alike.
  • Cancel at Any Moment — Changed your mind right after pressing Build? Cancel takes effect immediately, including while files are still being analyzed.
  • Tags Saved Exactly as Typed — Titles, comments and other fields that contain quotation marks, backslashes or similar special characters go into the M4B character for character.

v1.3.8

Improvements

  • The Genre Field Now Takes Several Genres — Genre is no longer one word: the field holds as many genres as a book has, separated by commas — Drama, Crime, Thriller. Audible, Apple Books, Google Books and TMDB lookups fill in every genre they list, and you can type your own the same way for any book.
  • CUE Sheets in More Flavours — Some tools write .cue timestamps in hundredths of a second rather than the standard 75 frames; AudioBo now recognises both and brings in every chapter either way.
  • Big Books Get Going Faster — Whether a book is 6 files or 160, encoding now starts the moment you press Build. The step that reads each file's format runs on a small, fixed crew of workers instead of one per file, so even a very large folder stays light on your Mac — and the rest of the app stays responsive while it runs.
  • Fetch Metadata Remembers Your Source — Pick Audible, Apple Books, MusicBrainz, Google Books or TMDB once, and the next lookup opens on the same source. Books built from video still start on TMDB automatically.
  • Smoother Tag Updates on M4B Files — Update Metadata on an M4B that already carries a language tag — a book you built earlier, say — is handled even more carefully now, especially on large files.
  • Sharper Audio-Track Detection for Video Imports — When you import a video, AudioBo reads its audio tracks with the same tuned-up file check used for audiobooks, so the track list comes up promptly even on a busy machine.

v1.3.7

New

  • Keep the Original Bitrate — Apple's encoder works in fixed steps — 64, 80, 96 kbps and so on — so a source at, say, 62 kbps used to be rounded to the nearest step. Now the Custom bitrate list has a "Keep original" choice: your audio is copied into the book at exactly its own bitrate, untouched. It applies when you're only assembling the book — the moment you re-cut or reorder chapters, AudioBo has to encode, and the usual steps apply.
  • New Metadata Field: Publisher — The metadata editor now has a Publisher field. AudioBo writes it to M4B, M4A and MP3, reads it back when you re-import a book, and Fetch Metadata fills it in for you.
  • A Default Language for New Books — Set your language once in Settings → Export, and every new book starts with it filled in. A language tag in the source files still takes priority.
  • Side Stories in a Series — Novellas, prequels and short stories often sit between the numbered books — "Book 2.5" in the series. The Book Number field now takes numbers like that, and the position is saved in the tag Audible and Audiobookshelf use, so the book lands in the right place on the shelf.

Improvements

  • Right-Click → Open With → AudioBo — Open an audiobook straight from Finder, and the book comes up — even if AudioBo wasn't running. If a book is already open, AudioBo asks whether to start a new one or add the files to it.
  • A Tidier Main Window, and a Calmer Editor — A few small touches to the interface: the main window is a little cleaner, and the Edit Book window now opens in one smooth step — some Macs used to show a brief flicker or a jump while it settled.
  • Long Builds Keep Your Mac Awake — An overnight build now finishes on its own: AudioBo keeps the Mac from sleeping until the book is done. It's on by default and can be turned off in Settings.
  • Sharper Reading of AAC Files — The bitrate and sample rate AudioBo shows for an AAC file are now exactly what's in the file, so the numbers on screen and the numbers in the build match.

v1.3.6

Improvements

  • Even Better With External Drives and Network Volumes — Building a book and updating its metadata have been tuned end to end for USB drives, external SSDs and network volumes: AudioBo reads less, writes smarter and finishes faster — wherever your books live.
  • Your Original Files Are Protected at Every Step — Before AudioBo touches a file, it sets aside a complete copy. Cancel a build, run out of disk space, lose the connection to a drive — everything goes back exactly as it was: same files, same metadata, same dates. Replacing files during an export works the same way: the old ones are kept safe until the new ones have fully arrived. And for the worst case — a drive that disconnects in the middle of writing — AudioBo keeps an intact copy of your book for 30 days and shows you exactly where it lives, with a button that reveals it in Finder.
  • Up to Twice as Fast on Big Books — Updating metadata on large audiobooks is now up to twice as fast, with the biggest gains on external drives — on a 5 GB book that's about a minute saved every single time.
  • Exported M4A Chapters Start Playing Instantly — Chapter files are optimized so playback starts the moment you tap them, even when the files live on a NAS or in cloud storage.
  • Smarter Keyboard Shortcuts While You Edit Text — When you're renaming a chapter or typing in any text field, ⌘← / ⌘→ and ⌘⇧← / ⌘⇧→ do exactly what they do in every Mac text field — jump to the start or end of the line, or select up to it. The moment you finish editing, the same keys go back to controlling playback.
  • A Tidier Chapter List at Every Sidebar Size — With the sidebar icon size set to Large on your Mac, the chapter list keeps every row perfectly uniform — including right after you rename a chapter.

v1.3.5

Improvements

  • 80% Less Disk Space While Building — Building a book creates temporary files along the way. They're much smaller now and are cleaned up as the build goes instead of piling up until it finishes — so a build needs about 80% less free disk space than before. This mattered most on very long books, which could ask for a surprising amount of space and stop partway if it ran out. And if a disk does fill up, AudioBo now says so in plain words.
  • Your Sort Order Stays Put — The manual Sort Title As and Sort Author As fields introduced in 1.3.4 were written into the file correctly, but weren't read back when the book was imported again — so the next metadata update could overwrite what you typed. Now your entries come back with the book and stay.

Fixes

  • Under the Hood — A round of stability, accessibility and security polish throughout the app.

v1.3.4

New

  • Chapter Covers — Give any single chapter its own cover image — the prologue, an interview, each book in a collection. Right-click a chapter and choose Set Chapter Cover, or just drag an image straight onto it; see and manage them all under Edit Book → Change Covers. Chapters you leave alone keep the book's main cover. One thing to know: not every player shows per-chapter covers — some, including Apple Books on Mac, show only the book cover — but they're always saved in the file, so any player that supports them will show them.
  • Sort As — Control exactly how your book and author are alphabetized in Apple Books and other apps. AudioBo already does the standard thing automatically — a title like 'The Hobbit' files under H, and authors sort by last name — and now you can also set your own sort text by hand, right under the Title and Author fields in Edit Book.

Fixes

  • Correct Chapter Titles — Chapter titles that showed up as scrambled symbols — common with Czech and other Central-European names, and with some Russian and Ukrainian files — are now detected and repaired automatically on import.
  • No More Freezing on Long Books — Fixed a rare freeze that could stop very large audiobooks near the end of exporting. Long books now export all the way through, every time.

v1.3.3

New

  • Your Own Completion Sounds — Pick the sound AudioBo plays when it finishes importing or exporting — not just the built-in chimes. Choose any audio file from your Mac, preview it, and you're set. AudioBo keeps its own copy, so it still works even if you later move or delete the original. It's all in the new Sounds tab in Settings.

Improvements

  • Smoother Video Import — When you drop in video files, each file's chapters now stay together as a single, draggable chapter you can edit and rearrange — just like joining audio files.

Fixes

  • More Stable — Fixed two rare crashes — one when closing the metadata editor mid-edit, and one during certain exports — plus a round of behind-the-scenes polish.

v1.3.2

New

  • Regex Find & Replace — An advanced find-and-replace system for power users: it tames even the most convoluted chapter titles with regular expressions and a live Before & After preview. Lives on the new Regex tab in the Batch Rename window.
  • A New Speed Tab — Choose how many audio files AudioBo converts at the same time, tuned to your Mac's processor. Not sure what to pick? The built-in speed test checks your Mac and recommends a value. It makes little difference on a single book, but it's the foundation for the upcoming Batch Conversion, where it can save a lot of time.
  • Log — For the Curious — While your book is building, click Log in the toolbar and watch what's happening under the hood: live FFmpeg output, encoding speed, and every tag as it's written. Nobody really needs it — we built it for fun — but it beats staring at a progress bar.

Improvements

  • Smarter Chapter Matching — and Apply Anyway — AudioBo now checks much more carefully whether the chapters it finds online actually line up with your audio — and when they don't match perfectly, it spells out exactly what's going on: same length but split differently, a different edition, extra audio at the start, and more. And the big one — you're no longer blocked. Preview the found chapters by ear, and if they sound right, apply them anyway.
  • New Filename Format: Author - Title [Series #] — The series goes in square brackets, and drops off cleanly for standalone books with no series.

Fixes

  • Option + Arrow Keys Behave — Holding Option to peek at file names no longer makes the arrow keys jump to the top or bottom of the chapter list.
  • Behind-the-Scenes Polish — A batch of under-the-hood improvements, plus fixes for various rare edge cases that only turned up with unusual files and setups.

v1.3.1

New

  • Turn Videos Into Audiobooks — Drop video files — MKV, MP4, MOV, AVI and more — straight into AudioBo and it extracts the audio for you, with no manual ripping. When a video carries several language tracks, you pick which one to use.
  • TMDB Metadata for Movies & TV — A new metadata source pulls titles, descriptions, and cover art from The Movie Database (TMDB) — perfect for turning a film or series soundtrack into an audiobook.

Improvements

  • New Import Tab — Sort Your Tracks — A new Import section in Settings lets you choose how added tracks are sorted — by file name, track number, title, or date modified — and whether new files are appended at the end or re-sorted with the rest.
  • Narrator-Based Filename Presets — Export presets can now build output file names from the narrator, alongside the existing title and author patterns.
  • Keep Your Mac Awake During Export — AudioBo now prevents your Mac from going to sleep while a long export is running, so builds finish without interruption.
  • Copy and Export the Cover — The Edit Book window now lets you copy the current cover and export it to a file, rounding out the paste-from-clipboard support.
  • Better Language Tag Compatibility — The language is now written in additional metadata formats, so tag editors like Meta correctly show the language of your M4B audiobooks.

Fixes

  • Filenames With Apostrophes Now Export — Books whose source file names contain an apostrophe (like "Dawn's Early Light") no longer fail during export.
  • Bitrate Now Rounds Up — When capping the bitrate to your source, AudioBo rounds up to the nearest supported value instead of down — a 125 kbps source now exports at 128 kbps rather than dropping to 112.
  • System Clock Changes No Longer Interrupt Exports — A long export is no longer cut short if your Mac's clock jumps mid-build, for example during an automatic time sync.

v1.3.0

New

  • Enhance Chapter Titles with AI (beta) — A new button in the Batch Rename window normalizes chapter titles with Apple's AI (Apple Intelligence). It fixes capitalization, punctuation, dashes, and ampersands while preserving the source language. The feature is experimental and may not always work correctly at the current stage of Apple Intelligence development.

Improvements

  • Remove All Brackets — New Cleanup option in Batch Rename. Strips (, ), [, ], {, and } characters in one tap so you can flatten messy chapter names without losing the words inside.
  • Chapter Numbering Can Start From Zero — Batch Rename now accepts 0 as the starting number — useful for "Prologue = 00" style numbering or any sequence that should begin at zero.
  • Animated Export Completion — The success checkmark on the Export Done screen now has a nice animation. Tap it to replay.
  • Paste Cover from Clipboard — Copy any image — from a browser, screenshot, or Finder — and press ⌘V in the Edit Book window to drop it straight onto the cover. Right-click the cover for the same option in a menu.
  • Keep Your File Order on Import — A new toggle in Settings → General disables the automatic re-sorting that happens every time you add files. With it off, each new file or folder is added at the end as its own group, and existing tracks (including any manual reordering) stay where you put them.
  • Show Filenames with Option Key — Hold the Option key to temporarily replace chapter titles with their source filenames — a quick way to verify that imported files are in the right order, without opening Finder for each one. Can be turned off in Settings → General.

Fixes

  • Files Starting With a Dash Now Export — Filenames like -001.mp3 were being rejected by an overzealous safety check. They now export normally.
  • Book Title No Longer Stuck as "Audible" — Single-file MP3 exports from Audible (and similar platforms like LibriVox, OverDrive) used to set the book title to the publisher's brand instead of the actual book. AudioBo now skips these stamps and uses the real title from the track.

v1.2.9

New

  • xHE-AAC support — Import audiobooks encoded with xHE-AAC and edit their metadata, chapters, and cover in place without re-encoding the audio. Exports still convert to standard AAC — xHE-AAC encoding is licensed exclusively by Fraunhofer.

Improvements

  • Your File's Cover Comes First — The cover embedded inside the audio file now always wins over a cover.jpg (or folder.jpg) sitting next to it. The folder image is used only when the file itself has no cover. Fixes the stale cover from a previous book showing up after "New Book".
  • "Language" Reads in Your Language — The Language field in Edit Book Info now shows the localized name — pick German and you'll see "Deutsch", not "German", regardless of how the tag was originally written.
  • Better Starting Point for Fetch Metadata — For single-file imports (typical Audible MP3s), the metadata search now starts from the actual track title instead of the album tag — so you no longer have to clear "Audible" before searching.

Fixes

  • Special Characters Now Display Correctly — Names like Übersetzer now show as Übersetzer. Some tag editors save these as HTML codes and AudioBo wasn't translating them back.
  • Large Audiobooks Drop in Cleanly — MP3 files over 2 GB used to silently disappear when dragged in, even though they imported fine through the Browse button. Both paths now accept files up to 32 GB.
  • New Book Works From a Closed Window — Pressing ⌘N for New Book used to do nothing if you'd closed the main window. It now brings the window forward first, then asks for confirmation.

v1.2.8

New

  • Fetch Metadata: Choose Fields to Apply — When you find a match in Fetch Metadata, a new "Choose fields…" popover lets you pick exactly which pieces to pull in — title, author, series, narrator, year, genre, language — with a color-coded diff so you can see what's about to change before you hit Apply.
  • Fetch Metadata: Richer Audible Details — Audible results now enrich automatically from Audnexus when you open a release, filling in series, narrator, and other fields that the Audible search alone doesn't surface.

Improvements

  • Fetch Metadata: Expandable Descriptions — Long book descriptions collapse to two lines by default and expand on click, so short matches stay compact while full text is always one tap away.
  • Smarter Bitrate Defaults — When your source audio sits between bitrate steps (say 112 kbps), AudioBo now rounds up to preserve quality rather than picking the next-lower option.

v1.2.7

New

  • Damaged File Protection — AudioBo now detects corrupt audiobook files during import and tells you exactly what's wrong with each one — damaged audio stream, truncated container, improperly converted source. Files that can be fixed are silently repaired in the background, and exports no longer hang on broken sources.
  • Clear Book After Metadata Update — New Settings option that automatically closes the current book after Cmd+U, ready for the next one.

Improvements

  • Faster Metadata Updates — Cmd+U is noticeably quicker on large audiobooks.
  • Quick Group Editing — Select several chapters (or all of them) and press Enter to jump straight into batch renaming.
  • New Spinner Animation — A custom morphing glyph replaces the system wheel during long operations. Respects Reduce Motion, and VoiceOver announces "In progress".
  • Book Number Field — Field now accepts up to 6 digits.

Fixes

  • Metadata Field Clearing — Clearing any field via Cmd+U (Description, Summary, Series, Sort fields, Comment, Copyright, Encoded By) now actually removes it from the output. Previously some fields quietly persisted.
  • Description / Summary Independence — Description text no longer leaks into the summary field on re-import.
  • Save As Filename — Filenames containing internal dots (e.g. "Stephen E. Ambrose") now pre-fill correctly in the save dialog.
  • Clear Book Animation — Instant clearing instead of a jerky two-phase transition.

v1.2.6

New

  • Split into Parts — Split long audiobooks by duration or file size into multiple M4B files.
  • Fetch Metadata in toolbar (⌘F) — Quick access to Fetch Metadata without opening Edit Book first.

Improvements

  • Export summary shows Length · Chapters · Parts
  • Enter key confirms action in all dialogs
  • Improved accessibility for export controls (VoiceOver)

Fixes

  • Fixed crash when exporting large audiobooks with 100+ chapters
  • Fixed sample rate 48 kHz being silently downgraded to 44.1 kHz
  • Fixed metadata update failing on certain audiobook files

v1.2.5

New

  • Auto-clear book after export — New option in Settings to automatically clear the current book after a successful export.
  • Tabbed Settings window — Settings are now organized into General, Export, and Sounds tabs for easier navigation.

Fixes

  • Fixed metadata update on certain audiobook files — Update Metadata no longer fails on audiobook files created by older tools. The app now automatically handles exotic MP4 containers.
  • Improved error messages for read-only files — The Update Metadata button now shows a clear reason when a file cannot be modified, and automatically fixes permissions on files received via iCloud sharing.

v1.2.4

New

  • Open audio files with AudioBo from Finder — AudioBo now shows up in Finder's Open With menu for supported audio formats.
  • Drag files onto the Dock icon — Drop audio files onto the AudioBo Dock icon to add them to your current book. If AudioBo isn't running, it will launch and open them automatically.
  • Drag cover art out of Edit Book — You can now drag the cover image right out of Edit Book and drop it into Finder (or onto your desktop) to save it as a file.
  • Choose the Audible store when fetching metadata — Fetch Metadata now lets you search specific Audible regions: US, UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Japan, India, and Australia.
  • Fetch Metadata from the File menu — You can now open Fetch Metadata directly from the File menu with Cmd+F.
  • Book descriptions now work better across other apps — Descriptions are now saved in a way that improves compatibility with tools like Subler, Mp3tag, and Audiobookshelf.

Improvements

  • Much faster work with M4B books — Editing, rebuilding, and transcoding M4B books is now dramatically faster — for both AAC-LC and HE-AAC files.
  • Better Audible search results — Search is now more reliable for titles with special characters, and for books that previously failed to appear correctly.
  • Optimized for MacBook Neo — Added performance optimizations for MacBook Neo.

Fixes

  • Fixed a freeze when merging many M4B files — Combining multiple M4B files into one book no longer gets stuck during export.
  • Fixed Description field not saving when updating metadata
  • Fixed several smaller issues in the interface, accessibility, and translations

v1.2.3

New

  • Fetch Metadata from the Internet — Search Audible, Apple Books, MusicBrainz, and Google Books to fill in cover art, book info, and chapter names — all in one click.
  • Export Filename Format — Choose how exported files are named: Author - Title, Title - Author, with series number, and more. Six presets in Settings → Export.

Improvements

  • Better export error messages — Corrupt audio files are now identified by name with a clear recommendation. The Get Support button auto-attaches the log.

v1.2.2

New

  • Update Metadata Without Re-encoding — Rename chapters, change cover art, or edit book info — then save it directly to the original file with Cmd+U. No re-encoding needed. Works with M4B, M4A, MP3, FLAC, OGG, and AIFF.
  • Language and Genre in Metadata Editor — Two new fields in the metadata editor: Language (50 languages supported) and Genre with autocomplete suggestions.
  • "Don't Show Again" for Confirmation Dialogs — All confirmation dialogs now include a "Don't show again" checkbox. You can reset them anytime in Settings.

Improvements

  • Export Duration on Completion Screen — The "Building Complete" screen now shows how long the export took.
  • Wider Bitrate Range — Expanded bitrate options across all codecs and formats — including lower bitrates for HE-AAC and MP3, and finer steps for AAC-LC.
  • Smarter Custom Tab Defaults — The Custom tab now automatically adjusts settings based on your source audio, so less manual setup is needed.
  • Better Sidecar Chapter Handling — Improved reliability when using external chapter files (TXT, CUE) with multi-file audiobook projects.

Fixes

  • Fixed a rare crash when exporting long books
  • Minor UI fixes for macOS 14 and 15

v1.2.1

New

  • Export to M4A and MP3 — You can now export audiobooks as M4A or MP3 in addition to M4B. M4A keeps the same high-quality AAC output in separate files, while MP3 is the best choice for older non-Apple players.
  • Support for sidecar chapter files (YouTube timestamps) — Drop a long audio file with a timestamps file, and AudioBo splits it into chapters automatically. Also works with CUE files.

Improvements

  • More polished UI — Lots of small UI refinements across the app — cleaner spacing, tighter layout, and an overall more native macOS feel.
  • Better long-book splitting for the iPod preset — Improved how very long audiobooks (12h+) are split into multiple parts when exporting with the legacy iPod preset.

v1.2.0

Improvements

  • Faster import for large audiobook collections — Collections with 200+ files now import instantly — no more waiting after the progress bar completes.
  • Refined Export window experience — Export flow now feels more polished and responsive.
  • Under-the-hood improvements — Many internal changes lay the groundwork for exciting new features coming soon.

v1.1.9

New

  • 320 kbps bitrate option for higher quality stereo AAC exports
  • What's New window shows release history after app updates — After each update, you'll see a summary of all changes. Access it anytime via Help → What's New.

Improvements

  • Redesigned export folder picker in Settings for easier navigation
  • Long book titles now wrap to two lines for better readability

Fixes

  • Improved handling of special characters in chapter names — ç, ã, ö, ü, ñ, å now display correctly
  • Various Settings window layout refinements

v1.1.8

New

  • Full Undo/Redo support (Cmd+Z / Shift+Cmd+Z)

Improvements

  • Refreshed toolbar icons
  • Cleaner dropdown menus
  • Improved export error handling

v1.1.7

New

  • New Book toolbar button (Cmd+N)
  • New tooltips for every interactive element
  • Updated VoiceOver support

Improvements

  • Improved handling of very low-bitrate audio
  • Improved audio metadata handling

v1.1.6

Improvements

  • Chapter cleanup upgraded — detects and removes Roman numerals
  • Updated localization — clearer wording and more consistent phrasing across the app

v1.1.5

New

  • You can now bring in OGG, APE, WMA, WV and Opus files as source audio

Improvements

  • Chapter-name cleanup for English titles became noticeably smarter
  • The Batch Rename & Cleanup window got some UX refresh

v1.1.4

New

  • AudioBo now remembers the last export preset you used — including your custom one
  • Added support for very high sample rates (88.2 kHz and 96 kHz) when working with FLACs
  • New Settings window (Cmd+,) for managing language, export folder, and more
  • You can now choose a default export folder — no need to pick a location every time

Improvements

  • Batch Rename now highlights added text in green so you can preview changes before applying

v1.1.3

Fixes

  • Bug fixes and stability improvements

v1.1.2

New

  • Batch Rename tool to quickly clean up and renumber chapter titles
  • Custom preset now remembers your last-used export settings

Improvements

  • Duplicate files are now skipped automatically during import
  • Better compatibility with Apple Books and more reliable M4A processing

v1.1.1

Fixes

  • Bug fixes and stability improvements

v1.1

Improvements

  • AudioBo now handles M4A files with corrupted metadata during export
  • Language switching now works instantly — no restart required

Fixes

  • Stop button no longer shifts position when duration text changes
  • Improved keyboard shortcuts

v1.0

New

  • Initial release — AudioBo launches on the Mac App Store. Convert MP3, M4A, FLAC, and AIFF files into proper M4B audiobooks with chapters, metadata, and cover art.