Audio Scrubber for InDesign

[rabbicy]

Hi.  I am creating an ebook and adds an audio file to some pages.  Is there a way that an audio scrubber or controller be available?

I have tried placing the audio itself and expanding it, makes it visible on the page but the audio scrubber doesn't act properly on different versions of iPhones.  It only acts correctly on iPhone 17 but on other models, the scrubber shrinks or jumps around the page.  Not having the problem on Mac and iPad.  

Please help.  Thank you.

[Eugene Tyson · Accepted solution]

InDesign can embed audio but the on page scrubber is handled differently by each EPUB reader and device, especially on iPhones. That is why you are seeing it behave normally on iPhone 17 but not on older models. iPad and Mac tend to be more predictable because the layout environment is more stable.

If you need a consistent scrubber or custom controls, the more reliable approach is to export to EPUB and then add a dedicated HTML5 audio player in the code. Those players are designed to scale cleanly across devices and give you much more control.

If you prefer to keep everything inside InDesign, a simple alternative is to use a play button on the page and let the device show its own audio controller. It avoids the layout shifting and might work more consistently across the different iPhone sizes.

[rabbicy]

Thank you, Eugene.  

The device's own audio controller is helpful, however, my client would like to have a visible audio scrubber on the page itself rather than relying on the device's controller.

I have read suggestions regarding In5 as a plugin to ID.  Is this the best path to take?  I have downloaded the demo version and I can see the option for the controller on In5's interactive widget but I can't find a sample on how it looks.

[Eugene Tyson]

You'd have to contact Ajar and ask them how it works. Sorry - not a user of the plugin. 

[rabbicy]

Thank you again,  Eugene.  Appreciate it so much.

[BobLevine · Accepted solution]

in5 is a fabulous plugin but it's not really going to be much help here. Beyond scrolling frames, the features are not going to be available in an EPUB.

[rabbicy]

Thank you, Bob.

[BobLevine]

Please define ebook. What exact format are you referring to?

[rabbicy]

Hi Bob!  It's an Epub on fixed layout.

[BobLevine]

Well, I that's going to be an epub reader issue and you should also be aware that these are not responsive so expecting something that looks good on a large screen to also function properly on a phone is frankly, unreasonable.