Books widget not displaying cover art after upgrading to iOS 18

Updated my 14 Pro Max to 18.1.1 tonight (finally) and can confirm that the issue still persists:

It is interesting to note that the titles (audiobooks, in my screenshot) which do not display artwork in the widget are audiobook files NOT purchased from the Apple Book Store; these were manual transfers of a few .m4b files I'd created through AudiobookBuilder, which were unaffected under iOS 17. The ebook title which does happen to display artwork was a purchase from the Store.

I am suspecting that the widget's bug centers around where it is looking to retrieve album artwork - inside the file itself versus using the artwork cache. iOS 17 (and 16, if memory serves me) didn't exhibit this behavior, so something within iOS 18 may have inadvertently changed that.

Again, just a suspicion at this point in time - but for the OP (and all who are seeing this behavior with audiobooks), are the audiobooks in question purchases or manual transfers?

I also noted that for those displaying without artwork - when tapping that cover (or lack thereof) to open that title, the iOS Springboard only opens the Books app itself (to the home screen) and not to the actual audiobook in question. Again, in the past, tapping something within the Books widget would take you straight to that title.

It works with the purchased ebook from my screenshot - just not any of the audiobooks displaying blank cover art. Perhaps the widget isn't making the appropriate join to the title in question - maybe because the file lacks certain codes linking it to its Store entry (which it wouldn't find, since it's a manual transfer). Again, just a suspicion at this point in time.

For all seeing this, Apple engineers rarely peruse these boards (these are mostly user-to-user forums) - so the best way to get this on Engineering's radar is to fill out a bug report from the link below:

https://www.apple.com/feedback/books-ios-ipados.html

I'll be doing this myself. But this sure sounds like a bug - removing the widget and adding it back does not fix things, nor do the standard post-update techniques. (shut down/restart, force restart, etc.) It also does not sound as if it's device-specific, as it looked like one poster had an iPhone 13. The more people fill out the report from this link, the greater the chance that it will reach Engineering.

Steve

Happens to me too, but only on books which do not have a cover art image. For me it then displays a white background with the books icon:

Up until iOS 18, it would display the generated cover, as it's show in the library:

Me too. In the past, it’s been only specific books. Sometimes the next iteration of iOS fixes it. Sometimes, removing all synced, side loaded books from my iPhone. Syncing without books again. Reboot phone, resync books with iTunes.

Other times, I’ve had to delete the books from my library (but not from the folder they’re in), then sync phone. Then reboot computer & phone and add books back to library, then re-sync to phone. 🤷🏻‍♂️

Mine also. And on CarPlay. I deleted the books app and reinstalled. No dice. I think we’ll have to wait until Apple updates the books app. The frustrating part is that it’s background so, it’ll just start working and you’ll never know

I agree completely with Steve A’s comments. Yes, it’s for sideloaded m4b’s.

To note: this isn’t the first time this has happened.

Additionally, I don’t think it’s necessarily related to the iOS update. Apple Books is updated through the store. Unfortunately, it is done silently, and there are no version numbers or indication that it was updated. I believe the issue was more with the app than the iOS version.

For me, the cover art of audiobooks isn't showing at all

The app (free) BookPlayer’s widget works just fine 🤷🏻‍♂️. I don’t read books on my device, only audiobooks, but I assume it’s the same for the widget. Apple Books seems to be broken

That’s what we’re saying. Also, since 18.0.1 bookplayer also isn’t working

I downloaded 18.1 RC (iPhone 13pro) to see if the problem is fixed, it’s not. 🙁 This is ridiculous. You’d think Apple’s widgets would just work.