Books & music
You choose what your parent listens to, and it lands on their iPad. Here is where to get it, and exactly what to do.
The one rule that matters: Idyll can only play files you actually own and can download. It cannot play Audible, Spotify, Apple Music, Apple Books, or a library loan from Libby or OverDrive — those are locked to their own apps and cannot be moved, by anyone.
Everything below is a place that gives you a real file to keep.
Where to get audiobooks
LibriVox — free. Thousands of classics read by volunteers. No account, no payment, nothing to cancel. If you want to try this once before spending money, start here. librivox.org
Libro.fm — paid, and it supports a local bookshop. Every title is DRM-free. Buy the audiobook, open My Library, click Files next to it, and download. Choose M4B if you are offered the choice — it is one single file instead of fifty, which makes everything simpler. libro.fm
Downpour — paid. Sells DRM-free MP3 downloads. Buy it, then download from your account library. downpour.com
Where to get music
Amazon Digital Music and Bandcamp both sell MP3s you download and keep. Bandcamp is especially good for older and independent artists. Buy the album, then download it — on Bandcamp choose MP3 when it asks about format.
The CDs already in the house. If your parent has a shelf of records or CDs, those can be copied to a computer and added — no purchase needed. On a Mac or PC, insert the CD, let the music app import it, and choose MP3.
The Internet Archive has a large free collection of older recordings, including a lot of the music someone born in the 1930s or 40s grew up on. archive.org
How to add it — three steps
Do this on your phone, in the Idyll family app. Your parent does not need to do anything, and their iPad does not need to be nearby.
- Download the file to your phone first. When you buy or download, save it to Files (on iPhone, choose Save to Files when it asks, or use Download and find it in the Downloads folder).
- Open Idyll on your phone and tap the Audio Books & Music tile on the home screen. Choose the Audio Books tab or the Music tab, then Add an audiobook or Add music.
- Pick the file and tap upload. Idyll fills in the title, author and cover art from the file itself, so usually you only have to check it and continue.
It appears on your parent's iPad on its own. Nothing needs to be installed or approved on their end.
A few things worth knowing
One file or many. For a book, you can add a single file or a whole folder of chapters at once — pick them all and they become one book, in order. For music, one file is one song; pick several at once and they become an album.
M4B and M4A take a few minutes. MP3s are ready almost immediately. Anything else has to be converted first, so the book appears on the shelf a little later. That is normal — you can close the app and it carries on without you.
Big files are fine. A single file can be up to 5 GB, which is far larger than any audiobook you are likely to buy. Long books are not a problem.
They never lose their place. Idyll remembers where your parent stopped, in every book, and picks up from there. There is nothing for them to bookmark or remember.
You can remove things too. Anything you add, you can delete from the same screen, and it disappears from their tablet.
Stuck on any of this? Email support@idyll.care and tell us where you got the file and what happened. If a file will not add, that is worth telling us about — it is usually a locked file rather than anything you did wrong.