This is the best of the subscription-based apps and the one with the biggest library, and hard to ignore if you already own a Kindle or an Echo. There’s also a handy ‘big picture’ mode for use when you’re in the car, plus a ‘Button-Free’ mode you can work by swiping. Audible’s Clip tool allows you not just to bookmark a passage, but make notes and save them for later. The app has a slightly cluttered layout, but it’s packed with features including a sleep timer and a speed control slider that runs all the way from 0.5x to 3.5x. It also works brilliantly with Amazon’s Echo smart-speaker family, with Alexa able to pick up where you left off on the app with a simple “Alexa, continue my audiobook.” The eBook and audible versions will even sync, so that you can carry on reading where you finished listening (or vice versa). A Kindle Unlimited subscription gives you access to thousands of Audible audiobooks, whether or not you subscribe to Audible itself, while you can get a discount on the Audible version if you’ve already bought the Kindle eBook. There’s even better news if you’re a heavy Kindle user. Its library covers hundreds of thousands of recordings, and it can afford some tempting 2 for 1 offers along with heavy discounting of some major titles, though blockbusters still tend to come in at £22 to £27. With the clout of its parent, Amazon, behind it, Audible is the 800-pound gorilla of the audiobooks jungle. Price: £8 per month | Download it from the Google Play Store or Apple App Store Audible: The best all-round audiobooks app READ NEXT: The best ebook readers The best audiobook apps available in 2019 1. However, there are advantages to playing them in a dedicated audiobook reader app, like Smart Audio Book player (see below). Many of the files are in an MP3 or M4A format which you can play through a standard music player apps. Most downloadable audiobooks are tied into an app/store ecosystem, but you can find and download DRM-free, public domain audiobooks from sites like LibriVox and OpenCulture. More advanced features include the ability to make notes attached to a bookmark, or set a sleep timer to halt playback so you can get some shuteye (or avoid missing your tube or train stop). Speed it up too much and it’ll sound weird, but it’s a good way to get through slow-moving titles in less time. You can bookmark a moment to come back to it later and often speed up or slow down the speed. You can play and pause your audiobook (obviously), select chapters or skip forwards and backwards in small periods of ten to 30 seconds. Most apps offer the same basic set of features. You can even go between the two with the apps bookmarking your progress as you go! What about listening to your audiobooks? What’s more, Amazon, which owns Audible, will give you money off the Audible book if you’ve already bought the Kindle eBook. However, stores tend to discount the most popular new books and you can find some deals if you look, so you can build up an audiobook library without spending a fortune. Once you’ve spent your monthly credit you can buy books with real cash, though the cost of a book can be anywhere from 50p to £25, with you paying more for the newest releases. As a sweetener, most of the services offer one month as a free trial, including your first credit. Your subscription gives you credit for one book per month, which you can usually spend on any book in the library. Most of the stores work on a subscription model, where you pay £7 to £8. In a way, the app isn’t really as important as the service or store it’s tied into, but this is where things get complicated. Some may be tied into accounts you have already, like a Google, Amazon or Kobo account, making your decision easier, but which apps will give you the best listening experience – and access to the best library of books? How to choose the best audiobook app for you To get into audiobooks you’ll need to do two things: sign up for a service and download the accompanying app. And while listening to an audiobook is a different experience to reading, nothing beats the drama or impact of an audiobook read out by a decent actor – and some of the biggest and best audiobooks have found world-class names to read them. You can play them at home through a Bluetooth speaker or relax before you go to sleep. You can listen to your favourite books through headphones on the long commute home or through the speakers in your car. It’s not much of a challenge to work out why.
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