Audio books have become a very popular means of consuming content over the last few years, especially because they make it easy to listen to literature while doing mindless tasks like working out, commuting or just doing chores.
There are several apps that make it easy for you to listen to the very best audiobooks on your Android device. I will go over a few of them here; feel free to add some more in the comments section below.
1. Audiobooks from Audible
Audible is one of the world’s largest providers of audiobooks with around 180,000 titles offered. Audible has a paid membership service which starts from $14.95 per month, but you can get your first book for free if you decide to try them out.
Even if you don’t want their membership plan, you can still purchase any book you want, but you do get a thirty percent discount if you subscribe to one of their membership schemes.
The Android app itself is decent enough. Once you’re logged in all your purchased books will be synced to your device, and you can listen to them anytime you want, even offline. Audible provides decent features such as bookmarks, sleep timer, wifi-only download and even built-in sharing options.
Price: Free
2. LibriVox
LibriVox provides access to over 15,000 free audiobooks which can be downloaded or streamed from any location. The free titles are mostly classics such as Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice and The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. Users in the United States can also purchase from a selection of over 50,000 audiobooks, but those can be a little hard to find.
In terms of design, the main interface is rather clunky with several sections displaying your favourite books, recommendations and new titles. There is also the issue of ads, but you can upgrade to the premium version for $1.99 to get rid of those.
The majority of the audiobooks themselves are sadly not up to the quality you might find on a premium service such as Audible, but there are a few gems out there which could make using the app worthwhile.
Price: Free / $1.99
3. Smart Audiobook Player
Smart Audiobook Player is another app that has a good reputation amongst Android users. The app’s design is admittedly outdated, but it provides a wide range of functions that you may be interested in for free.
Once you’ve installed the app, you’ll need to tell it where your audiobooks are stored (which means you must have some on your device already) for them to be imported into its library with complete metadata information. From there you can easily play the books one after the other.
Price: Free
4. Audio Books by Audiobooks
As the name implies, Audiobooks is another web-based service similar to Audible that provides thousands of audiobooks in different categories. It’s a newer service, though, so there are less books than with Audible, but it emulates the subscription model of the former with a monthly fee of $14.95 after a 30-day free trial.
Using the app you can search for your favorite genre of books to purchase or even check for free audiobooks! Once you have selected or purchased a book, it will be added to your account, and you can stream or download it via the app.
Price: Free
5. Overdrive
Overdrive is a popular online library service that offers several audiobooks in addition to ebooks and videos. To use this service you need a library card and a local library in your area that subscribes to the service.
Once you have those, you’re good to go. Simply install the app on your smartphone or tablet, then check out the audiobook you want to listen to. (Titles will vary depending on your library and the level of activity in your local community.)
Price: Free
Which audiobook app listed above is your favourite? Or if we left it off this list, tell us about it in the comments below.
Ayo Isaiah is a freelance writer from Lagos who loves everything technology with a particular interest in open-source software. Follow him on Twitter.
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