Audiobooks are getting more and more popular. The main reason for their success is the fact that they are more accessible than ever before. You don’t have to buy a CD with the audiobook version of the new novel from your favorite author. You don’t need to keep that old CD player just to be able to listen to audiobooks. Many people have recently discovered the joy of playing audiobooks on their smart speakers, such as Amazon Echo, Google Home, or Apple HomePod. You don’t have to buy a smart speaker, though. All you need is a free app. If you have a phone or tablet powered by Android, you’ll find plenty of audiobook apps. Download one, and you’ll be able to listen to audiobooks in a matter of minutes. We list the most popular and interesting Android audiobook applications in the below. There is one thing you’ll need to remember about audiobooks.
They take much more space than ebooks. A single audiobook can “eat” the same amount of space as a movie (from 100 to even 500 MB). It’s because they don’t take an hour or two, but five or ten. If you’d like to share your experience with audiobooks or would like to recommend an app that is missing, please use the comment section below. Our readers and we are also waiting for you in social media. Google brought audiobooks to Play Store in January 2018. The same day, Play Books app in the Android Store was updated with audiobook support. The app is now a usage hub for different kinds of digital content: ebooks, textbooks, comic books, and - eventually - audiobooks. The content you can access via Google Play Books Android app syncs across all devices that you have connected to your Google account, for instance, another Android device or the web browser. The sync capability also applies to audiobooks.
It means that you can start listening to an audiobook in a browser on your laptop and continue from the last location in your Play Books app on your Android or iOS device. I have tested it on a free audiobook from Google Play Store (Mindfulness by Mark Williams), and it works beautifully. The audiobook you start playing in the Play Books app is being downloaded to your device. Thanks to that, you will be able to listen to it when you are offline or without using your cellular data. If you have tried audiobooks and realized they are your thing, you should try Audible. It’s the largest and most advanced audiobook service in the world, offering exclusive titles, audio shows, and book series. Audible lets you choose the preferred way of getting the content. 14.95 per month and enables you to download one audiobook for free and get other titles 30% off the list price. On top of that, if you are a member of Amazon Prime extensive subscription platform, you have free access to Audible Channels - a carefully curated selection of original programs, lectures, and audio editions from top sources.
Once you decide to give Audible a try, you can access and play your audiobooks on the Android phone and tablet using a dedicated Audible app. The app is free and ad-free, and syncs audiobooks in your account between all connected devices. You can listen to audiobooks even if you are offline. The player offers superior audio quality without interruptions, enables you to adjust the narration speed, and lets you quickly move forward or backward. The app also offers extended access to an Audible store, with advanced recommendation tools, and ability to explore Audible’s original shows, comedy, and other audio channels. LibriVox is a volunteer-powered service that offers free audiobook versions of classic books that entered the public domain in the US. LibriVox Audio Books Free is an Android app that’s developed by a different company (Book Design). Nevertheless, it offers free audiobooks from LibriVox as well. Currently, the app offers over 24,000 free classic audiobooks.
