By Roger Fingas
┬áApple’s newly released iOS 8.4 beta relocates audiobooks out of the Music app into iBooks, and it adds a separate launcher for them in CarPlay, AppleInsider has discovered.
With the first beta of iOS 8.4, CarPlay users will see a new “Audiobooks” app sporting the iBooks icon. The change to CarPlay was tipped by reader Jason.
Within the iBooks app itself on an iPhone or iPad, audiobooks occupy their own unique collection, accessible from the pull-down menu at the top of the screen. Notably listeners can open a selectable tracklist for each book, and fast-forward or fast-rewind through a title by tapping and dragging the cover art.
Apple has drastically revised the Music app in iOS 8.4. Apart from breaking off audiobooks, it adds things like a persistent MiniPlayer, a Recently Added section, global search, and various graphical changes such as new icons and bigger album and artist images.
It’s not certain when the finished version of iOS 8.4 will be released. The firmware is just in its first beta, and so far available only to developers. It’s unlikely to be ready in time for the launch of the Apple Watch on April 24, but will presumably be done before WWDC in June.