OverDrive made this decision in anticipation of Mac’s new OS, expected for release this fall, called Catalina. The macOS Catalina will require all apps to be 64-bit. The OverDrive for Mac app is 32-bit, which will make it incompatible with the upcoming macOS. When we decided to end support for OverDrive for Mac, we failed to appropriately gauge the number of users that would be impacted and how. The OverDrive mobile app is a lot better than it used to be, but I like the versatility that comes with using a third-party app to listen to audiobooks. Note that I’m performing most of these.
OverDrive for Mac is available for macOS versions 10.6 (Snow Leopard) through 10.14 (Mojave). If you're running one of these macOS versions, you can use OverDrive for Mac to download, listen to, and transfer MP3 audiobooks from your library.
OverDrive for Mac and OverDrive MP3 audiobooks are not compatible with macOS 10.15 (Catalina) or newer. This is because Apple requires all apps in macOS Catalina or newer to be 64-bit, and OverDrive for Mac (which is required for downloading MP3 audiobooks) is 32-bit. If you're running macOS Catalina or newer, these are your audiobook options:
Hot on the heels of an initial public beta released last week, Alessandro Levi Montalcini has announced the release of USB Overdrive beta 2 for Mac OS X.
USB Overdrive is a universal USB driver. The software recognizes input from USB devices like mice, trackballs, joysticks and gamepads. Support in this beta version is limited to mice and trackballs only, but the rest are coming soon. With USB Overdrive, you can program your input devices to emulate the keyboard, execute complex macros, support control-clicking, scrolling and more.
The developer advised that the final version of USB Overdrive X will be distributed as shareware; users who registered the original version after Mac OS X’s release will be entitled to a free upgrade, and users who registered before then will be entitled to a reduced-cost upgrade.
Changes in USB Overdrive beta 2 include:
USB Overdrive is distributed as shareware. Registration costs US$20.