If you are looking for the best means to play your favourite audiobooks on your Android phone or tab, in this post, we have provided high-quality and best audiobook apps you can select from.
Audiobooks are increasingly becoming more popular, and the primary reason for this trend is, they’re now quite accessible — more than ever before. In today’s tech-powered world, you no longer need to purchase a CD (compact disc) with the audiobook version of that latest novel from your best author. Also, there’s no need for you to keep your old CD player so you can listen to audiobooks.
A lot of people have just discovered the joy that playing audiobooks on their smart speakers (like Google Home, Amazon Echo, or Apple HomePod) brings. But you don’t need to order a smart speaker; simply download a free audiobook app, and you are all set to enjoy listening to your favorite audiobooks.
If you own a mobile phone or tab, which runs the Android operating system or iOS, there are myriads of audiobook apps available on the Google Play and the App Store. In the nitty-gritty of today’s review article, we list the best audiobook apps for Android and iOS.
10 Most Popular Audiobook Apps for Android and iOS Smartphones
Google Play Books
American tech giant Google introduced audiobooks to its Play Store last year, and on the same day, Play Books application in the Android Store received an update with audiobook support. Google Play Books is a usage hub for various types of digital content, including audiobooks, ebooks, comic books, textbooks. One of the things you would love about this software is, the content you can have access to via the app syncs across every one of your devices, connected to your Google account. So, you can start listening to an audiobook in your Play Books app on an Android or iOS device and continue from the last location in a browser on your laptop. It is free but offers in-app purchases.
- Download Google Play Books from the Play Store
- Download Google Play Books from the App Store
Apple Books
Apple provides its customers with its own book-reading app. Launched in 2018 as Apple Books, a completely rejiggered update comes with improved library management as well as easier access to audiobooks you’ve bought. It is one of the best audiobook apps available on the iOS platform.
Any audiobooks you’ve recently listened to will show up right away in the Reading Now section. In this place also, you’ll see all the books that you have added to your wish list, in addition to a couple of audiobook and ebook suggestions from the book store. Using this app on your iPhone makes discovering & purchasing new audiobooks extremely easy. It is also free but has in-app purchases.
- Download Apple Books from the App Store
Audible
Audible is the world’s largest, one of the best audiobook apps and most advanced audiobook service, giving you access to exclusive titles, book series, and audio shows. The app, which is compatible with both Android and iOS, allows you to select your preferred way of getting content.
You can choose to purchase audiobooks using the conventional means (one by one) or buying them through a subscription that sets you back by $14.95 a month, enabling you to get 1 free audiobook download and buy other titles 30 per cent off the list price. Audible is free and contains no ads. It also syncs audiobooks in your account between every one of your connected devices, and you can also listen to audiobooks when offline.
- Download Audible from the Play Store
- Download Audible from the App Store
LibriVox
This is a volunteer-powered service, offering you audiobook versions of classic books, which entered the US public domain, for free. LibriVox Audio Books Free is an app on the Android platform, designed by Book Design, another company. Nonetheless, the software also provides you with audiobooks from LibriVox for free. As of now, this app has more than 24,000 free classic audiobooks for your listening pleasure, and if you are resident in the US, you’ll also gain access to more than 75,000 paid audiobooks, which include new releases as well as bestsellers.
- Download LibriVox Audio Books from the Play Store
Libby
Developed by OverDrive, Libby audiobook app is a next-gen tool for managing the content you borrow from public libraries. The plural term, libraries, is used since the software allows the use of more than one library card, and all the content got from various libraries will be displayed in the unified, easy-to-use library. If your connected libraries provide you with audiobooks, you can also borrow them, the way you do ebooks, and play them within the app.
- Download Libby from the Play Store
- Download Libby from the App Store
Audio Books
Audiobooks.com is a great platform on which you can get access to quality audiobook service, including both free titles and paid bestsellers. On the website, you can download more than Over 7,000 audiobooks and over 100,000 premium ones. And every week, 100s of new audiobooks are added to the catalog. Audio Books app provides you with quality sound and allows you to adjust narration speed. You can also chat with customer service from within the application.
- Download Audio Books app from the Play Store
- Download Audio Books app from the App Store
Kobo
If the Kobo app is your major source of eBooks, you would be glad to know that in September 2017 the platform has also added audiobooks to its e-bookstore. You can now purchase both ebooks (with comic books & textbooks included) as well as audiobooks. This app works just like Google Play Books does. It functions as either a book reader or an audiobook player, providing you with the common library as well as access to the store.
- Download Kobo from the Play Store
- Download Kobo from the App Store
Oodles
Oodles is perfect if you are looking for free ebooks and audiobooks from legal sources. The app contains more than 50,000 ebooks as well as 15,000 audiobooks from the public domain. This vast collection of content includes classic books from popular authors, like Jane Austen, Victor Hugo, Mark Twain, etc. But you can’t get newly released titles or all-time bestsellers since the app offers only the public domain titles.
- Download Oodles from the Play Store
- Download Oodles from the App Store
Nook Audiobooks
If the Barnes & Noble ecosystem is your favorite, this software is a dedicated app for playing your Nook audiobooks. But it is a different application from your typical book-reading Nook app since unlike popular software (Google, Kobo, or iBooks), you would need 2 Nook applications for your digital content from Barnes & Noble store.
- Download Nook Audiobooks from the Play Store
- Download Nook Audiobooks from the App Store
Kindle for Android
Kindle is among the most popularly used book-reading apps on the Android platform and also plays audiobooks. Unlike the earlier mentioned Google Play Books that works as either a book reader or an audiobook player, Kindle gives you a more flexible option if you’re not that dedicated to audiobooks. The way the app handles audiobooks is unique from other similar applications. It is also a great tool to listen to your favorite audio books on your Android phone.
- Download Kindle for Android from the Play Store
Wrapping up
If you have any experience to share as regards our list of the best audiobook apps or want to recommend a quality app we didn’t include in this compilation, kindly post your thoughts via the comment section.
Kotigo is also a nice and recommended audiobook app that should be included in the list of audiobooks.
Thank you