How to listen to a reading plan?

Today my grandmother called wanting to know if it was possible to start a bible reading plan and just listen to it instead of reading it, as it would be easier for her and she would enjoy it more. I have been using Logos for years and have the platinum version of Logos 9, and naturally I thought that the Logos mobile app for her iPad would be perfect, as the free version comes with the LEB bible with audio. I set her up with a free account and helped her get Logos Mobile installed, and then created a new bible reading plan, but unlike my reading plan, she does not have the speaker symbol to let it read it to her like it does with mine. Here is what my reading plan looks like with the ESV bible selected:

Thinking that maybe it was just because there was something wrong with the LEB bible, I went ahead and helped her purchase the ESV bible translation, and so she has that now, and the free basic version already includes the ESV audio bible with it, so I figured she would have the same resources I have now, so when I reconfigured the reading plan to be based on her newly purchased ESV, here is what it looks like on her iPad:

Notice the yellow highlighted area with the speaker icon missing.

Now my thought is that maybe the problem is because she just has Logos 9 Basic and I have Logos 9 Platinum, and so maybe the basic package does not have enough features to play audio in the mobile app, and so I figured it was just something like that, which really kinda makes me feels bad, because I had her purchase the ESV bible thinking she would be able to listen to it since she has the ESV audio bible already in her account, but apparently things don't work like that maybe? I have always had a package, so I have not tried to do this with the basic version before, so is there something else I need to do to get that to work, or is listening to the bible not possible with the basic package?

If anyone has any thoughts, I would really like to get this working for her, as at her age she is trying to stay connected to the word as best she can, and I would really like to enable her in the venture if possible, so any suggestions/feedback are welcome and appreciated!

I have included screenshots in my post, but I'm not seeing them when I preview, so hopefully you all are able to see the screenshots I posted.

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Comments

MJ. Smith

No screen shots - did you use the paper clip or the amber icon to its right?

Jason B

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1191155#Comment_1191155

I saved the screenshots this time as images and attached them using the paper clip, and now they seem to be showing, so apparently I cannot just paste. Please check the post again and hopefully now you can see them.

MJ. Smith

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1191156#Comment_1191156

Yes, they now show. You are correct that you cannot just paste them. I don't use an iPad - does this help? Logos Mobile - Play Audio – Logos Help Center

Kathleen Marie

I don't have an ipad, but I have been messing around with audio on a variety of devices. I am vision impaired and my sight is continuing to deteriorate at about the same pace that technology is being developed to help people like me. I am constantly trying to do things just a little bit ahead of them being fully implemented.

ESV audio does not play OFFLINE on my android devices. I don't think we own the ESV audio. I think we just have access to it when streamed.

LEB does not have an Old Testament audio. Try the LEB for a New Testament chapter.

Forum rules do not allow me to post my solution for my situation. Good luck!

Kathleen Marie

Also, after a purchase, you need to make sure that everything is fully downloaded AND synced AND restarted.

Jason B

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1191170#Comment_1191170

That is a good point about the LEB not having the OT audio, as I had forgotten about that, but despite that being true, the icon still appears in the mobile app for the LEB in the OT. Also, my grandmother was online and not offline at the time we tested all of this, so that is also a good point to consider, but at least in this particular case, she was also online. I'm just really baffled by this and not understanding why it does not work for her. I guess it is possible it is just a difference between an Android and iPad, but I really doubt they would not include audio for iPads.

Thanks again for trying to help and maybe the answer will be found.

Jason B

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1191171#Comment_1191171

Thanks for mentioning that Kathleen. I had just purchased the ESV and it showed in the library, so I'm assuming it has synced by that point, but I can check with her tomorrow and see if it is working for her, as she shuts off her iPad every night, so it will be fully rebooted tomorrow, so if that is what it takes to make it work, then that will be fixed when she boots up tomorrow. lol Thanks for your suggestion and maybe it will help!

Kathleen Marie

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1191176#Comment_1191176

Things showing up as being downloaded, and things being fully synced, are not the same thing. I have had times when the audio did not work. I had to manually update to get the downloads. I had to wait for the sync and let it finish. I had to close and reopen the software. And once I needed to restart the device, do all that all over gain, and restart the device again.

Sometimes the issue is not Logos. Sometimes the issue is the operation system. Sometimes the operating system is fixed by restarting, and sometimes it takes weeks for a bug to get fixed.

Linking audio to text is something that can go wrong in so many ways in the operating system, never mind the software. It is worse on Linux. LOL.

In other softwares, once on Linux and once on Android, there were bugs in the software that the programmers needed to fix. You really can be the only that cares enough to find and report the bug.

I have been the one to find and report bugs in all sorts of situations when I needed to use a device at a more advanced level than the average user. Way back with my first mobile phone, a Palm, I drove the poor engineers at Sprint a little crazy. I had a $5.00 subscription to TV and it was my only access to TV. I used to be able to see back then and actually watched the news and a soap opera and weekly TV show on that tiny screen. And I was not a happy camper when I could not watch my shows.

Tech is awesome when it works and a huge time and money suck when it doesn't. If I had better vision and did not move so often and there was no pandemic, I would probably ditch all my tech and go entirely offgrid and oldschool. But that is not my life. So I bumble my way through the best I can with what I can afford of what has been released to the public.

Good luck!

JT (alabama24)

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1191170#Comment_1191170

ESV audio does not play OFFLINE on my android devices. I don't think we own the ESV audio. I think we just have access to it when streamed.

The ESV audio is free (good!), but the "license" does not allow for offline listening. You must have an internet connection to use it.

JT (alabama24)

naturally I thought that the Logos mobile app for her iPad would be perfect

Here is my short answer: Logos is not a good option, in my opinion, if your desire is what I would expect with a "listening reading plan."

Kathleen Marie

I am fine for the ESV offline and for the Lexham Bible, but I have no speaker icon next to any of my KJV bibles or my NKJV Bible.

If we own the Christmas gift of the NKJV Gospels, the Gospels should play in the NKJV and we should see an icon next to the NKJV?

I own multiple KJV Bibles. Which one, if any, is linked to the Scourby audio Bible?

I have no speaker icon for Verbum on Windows, or Logos on Kindle, for either of these audio Bibles. The Logos Kindle is a fresh installation. The Verbum Windows is an established installation that has been working well otherwise.

I've manually installed, synced, downloaded the entire Bible, restarted the software and the device several times on Windows. I tried a fresh install on my Kindle Fire. Nothing is helping on either device. unlike the OP, I do have speaker icons for the ESV and Lexham Bibles, on both devices.

DMB

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1191206#Comment_1191206

naturally I thought that the Logos mobile app for her iPad would be perfect

Here is my short answer: Logos is not a good option, in my opinion, if your desire is what I would expect with a "listening reading plan."

That looks pretty short. And surprising. I'm not a reading-plan person ... I just read. But I'd of thought mobile-listening would be at the top of the priorities for FL. Surprisingly, a lot of people listen (not being sardonic).

JT (alabama24)

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1191209#Comment_1191209

If we own the Christmas gift of the NKJV Gospels, the Gospels should play in the NKJV and we should see an icon next to the NKJV?

No. As I mentioned to you just now in another thread, there are only a very small handful of "read aloud" resources with audio tied to the actual text.

JT (alabama24)

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1191215#Comment_1191215

But I'd of thought mobile-listening would be at the top of the priorities for FL. Surprisingly, a lot of people listen (not being sardonic).

My listening to resources has exploded exponentially in the past several years. I am in my car very often and it gives me time to reclaim that I wouldn't otherwise have.

When I think of "bible reading plans," I think of something like "Read Genesis Chapter 1, Psalm 1, Matthew 1, and Acts 1:1-16." If I wanted to have an audio bible reading plan, I would need to have an audio book that had each reading placed together OR have an app that could automatically navigate those changes for me. You would not want someone fumbling with your app while weaving in and out of traffic.

I can fully understand why people would want this, and why they would want it in Logos. However, it would seem to me to be a high cost, low return effort for FL. There are plenty of other features I would want them to spend their time and expertise on.

However, YouVersion (a non-profit ministry) has already done something like this... and it is free to users.

Kathleen Marie

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1191259#Comment_1191259

No. As I mentioned to you just now in another thread, there are only a very small handful of "read aloud" resources with audio tied to the actual text.

Thank you so much for clarifying!

I can fully understand why people would want this, and why they would want it in Logos. However, it would seem to me to be a high cost, low return effort for FL. There are plenty of other features I would want them to spend their time and expertise on.

It appears to be a tricky thing to develop and maintain. At least from what I see without other softwares, secular as well as Bible apps.

As the computer literate population ages and as more disabled students are entering mainstream education dependent on technology, things that we considered cute tricks for the privileged are increasingly becoming core tools for the marginalized.

As a visually disabled person that sometimes qualifies for free technology supplied to visually disabled students, I choose the brands with the best accessibility tools, and sometimes I have the funds to pay for some expensive stuff despite living in poverty. And I am even willing to increase my general level of poverty to pay for things that compensate for my disabilities.

Things are changing. How we categorize and assign value to technology is shifting quickly. Some high-cost, low-return features must be present for some customers or their benefactors to invest in the product at all.