All you have to do to start listening to audiobooks on your iPad or iPhone is pick up the app that suits your needs the most.
Days when audiobooks were sold on CDs, are gone forever. Now, all you need is a smartphone or tablet.
Many platforms offer audiobooks, you don’t have to limit yourself to Apple Books app. All other major audiobook services offer iOS and iPadOS apps that are frequently being updated. Therefore, your primary task will be to decide which platform you like most – and download the corresponding app.
It’s worth stressing that a growing number of apps combine ebook reader and audiobook player features. Thanks to that, there is no need to switch the app if you want to change reading to listening.
What you need to keep in mind is that audiobooks take much more space than ebooks. An iPad or iPhone doesn’t have memory card slot, so you can only rely on iCloud, third-party cloud service, or audiobook platform’s own ecosystem.
Each hour of audiobook recording requires approximately 15 MB when you play in standard quality. Therefore, an average audiobook lasts 8-10 hours. Be prepared that ten downloaded audiobooks can get 1 GB of internal memory.
Another thing to take into consideration is that on your iPad or iPhone you will have limited options to buy audiobooks directly in the apps. Audiobook services removed in-app purchases to avoid paying Apple 30% margin on every digital content you buy, be it an ebook, audiobook, or subscription. You can only add specific titles to your wishlist but would need to visit the audiobook platform’s online store to complete the purchase.
What is the best audiobook player for iPad and iPhone? I’m sure that on the list below you will find the app that meets most of your needs.
What features a perfect iOS audiobook app should have?
- Handle other formats from the same platform, such as ebooks, comic books, or magazines
- Support CarPlay
- Provide sleep timer
- Offer reading speed controls
- Support and sync bookmarks and notes
- Seamless sync of last-reached position
- Offer options to choose between downloading for offline use and streaming
- Include built-in audiobook store
- Provide a stable audiobook playback
10 best audiobook apps for iPad and iPhone
1. Apple Books
Apple offers its own book-reading application, and for many dedicated iPad and iPhone fans, it’s sufficient for all their audiobook-related needs.
A thoroughly redesigned app offers a better library management and easier access to audiobooks you have purchased.
If you have recently listened to an audiobook, it will appear right away in the Reading Now section. Here, you will also find all the books you’ve added to your wish list, plus a few audiobook and ebook recommendations from the book store.
A significant advantage of Apple Books over other book and audiobook apps is that you can shop directly in the app. It makes discovering and buying new audiobooks a much easier task.
What you need to know is that Apple audiobooks are available in select countries.
Benefits: In-app audiobook purchases, simple and well-designed player, CarPlay support
Compatibility: iPad, iPhone
Price: Free
2. Audible
If you have tried modern-day audiobooks (the ones available for streaming or downloading, opposite to CDs), and realized you might easily become a heavy user, you should try the Audible app for iPad and iPhone.
Audible platform is powered by Amazon. It’s the largest and most advanced audiobook service in the world. It offers the widest selection of audiobook titles, including the ones published exclusively for the platform.
But audiobooks are not the only thing to digest on Audible. You can find here original audio shows or short-form narratives. For instance, you can hear A-class celebrities narrating their favorite stories.
Audible lets you choose the preferred way of getting the content. You can either buy audiobooks the traditional way (one by one) or get them via one of Audible subscriptions: Audible Plus or Audible Premium Plus. A good thing about subscriptions is that you can download and enjoy audiobooks any time you want without the need to switch to a browser to complete the purchase.
Once you decide to give Audible a try, you can instantly access on your iOS Audible app everything you downloaded for free or bought.
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 premium-quality audio without interruptions, enables you to adjust the narration speed, and lets you quickly move forward or backward.
Benefits: Connect to the world’s largest selection of audiobooks, no compromise – the app is optimized for audiobooks
Compatibility: iPad, iPhone
Price: Free; in-app purchases from $17.99
3. Libby
Why should you buy ebooks or audiobooks if you could borrow them from the library? And why should you use different apps for different libraries, if you could use Libby?
Developed by OverDrive, Libby is a next-generation application to manage the content you borrow not from one, but multiple libraries. It’s possible because you can register more than one library card.
After signing up, it takes just a few taps to find and borrow an ebook or audiobook. You can download audiobooks for offline use, but you can also stream them if you prefer to save space on your iPhone or iPad.
The greatest thing about Libby is that all the content from different libraries appears in a unified shelf, no matter which format they are. So, if your connected libraries offer audiobooks, you can borrow them just like ebooks. And you can play them within the app.
Unlike apps that offer access to free classic books, Libby is a great way to listen to free audiobooks of newly released books and hot bestsellers.
The catalog of ebooks and audiobooks offered by your public library may not be as extensive as Audible (and you may wait in a queue to borrow most popular titles), but it’s a simple, enjoyable – and most importantly – legal way to listen to audiobooks for free.
Benefits: Read ebooks and play audiobooks from public libraries, sign in to multiple libraries
Compatibility: iPad, iPhone
Price: Free
4. Google Play Books
Google Play Books app is a great option to try for everyone who is a dedicated user of Google services or has just switched from an Android-powered tablet or smartphone.
After launching audiobooks in the Google Play Store in January 2018, Google’s iOS reading application is now an all-in-one tool for digesting different kinds of digital content: ebooks, audiobooks, textbooks, or comic books.
The book and audiobook catalog of Google Play Store is not as massive as Amazon & Audible, but it’s larger than iBooks. A significant benefit is that you can buy audiobooks one by one – there is no need to buy the subscription.
If before you were using Google Play Books on Android, download the iOS app to your iPad and iPhone, sign in with your Google or Gmail credentials, and all your previous content should begin to sync.
Audiobooks are synced as well. 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 iPad. I’ve tested it on a free audiobook from Google Play Store, and it works beautifully.
Good news for those who love listening to audiobooks in their car is that Google Play Books app lets you control audiobooks directly via CarPlay.
Benefits: All kinds of digital books in one place, easy to use, sync between connected devices, audiobooks are subscription-free, CarPlay support
Compatibility: iPad, iPhone
Price: Free
5. Kobo
If your major source of digital content is Kobo, you should look no further.
Kobo added audiobooks to their ebookstore in September 2017. It means that now in this single online destination for both ebooks (including comic books and textbooks) and audiobooks. And Kobo for iPad and iPhone is a single app for everything you’ve purchased in the Kobo online store.
The app works the same way as other ebook-audiobook combos. It’s either a book reader or an audiobook player, with the shared library. One thing to keep in mind is that audiobook playback is not perfect. New app updates are aimed at fixing audiobook-related issues.
Kobo app’s audiobook player is nicely designed and extremely easy to use. A nice slider makes it easy to navigate through the book with just one tap. The player displays information how much time is left to finish, and you can slow down or speed up the narration at any moment.
There is no information about CarPlay compatibility, so we have to assume there is none.
Benefits: All in one place – both ebooks and audiobooks, beautiful audiobook player
Compatibility: iPad, iPhone
Price: Free
6. Nook Audiobooks
For people who are determined to use the Barnes & Noble ecosystem, there is a special app designed to play Nook audiobooks. However, it’s a different app from the regular book-reading Nook app.
In other words – unlike Google, iBooks, or Kobo – you need two Nook apps for your digital content from Barnes & Noble store.
On the other hand, having a dedicated audiobook app should guarantee a seamless error-free experience. However, from several user reviews, Nook Audiobooks app is not reliable and stable enough.
When it comes to features, the Nook app connects you with the Nook audiobook store offering over 100,000 books, some of them available at reduced prices. You can try most audiobooks by downloading their free samples.
Benefits: 100,000 Nook audiobooks, free samples
Compatibility: iPad, iPhone
Price: Free
7. LibriVox Audio Books
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 for iPad and iPhone was developed by a different company (Book Design LLC). However, it offers free audiobooks from the LibriVox catalog as well.
The app is a great way to test if audiobooks are your thing. LibriVox is free to use, and it offers unlimited access to over 50,000 free audiobooks.
In the LibriVox catalog, you will find audiobooks recorded in over 30 languages. The app is a top destination for literary classics, but you can also see here biographies, history books, short stories, and poetry.
Having 50,000 titles at hand, you may get lost easily. That’s why LibriVox offers a robust search function. You can search by keyword; browse by title, author, or genre; check out recently added audiobooks.
The app provides a sleep timer (in case you love listening to audiobooks before bed) as well as unlimited bookmarks.
Benefits: A large collection of free audiobooks, in-app access to all titles, CarPlay support
Compatibility: iPad, iPhone
Price: $2.99
8. Audiobooks.com
Are you looking for an audiobook service that gives access to both free titles and paid bestsellers? Audiobooks.com app is the right thing to test on your iPhone or iPad.
Audiobooks.com platform offers over 100,000 premium-quality audiobooks. Over 8,000 can be downloaded for free. The company claims that hundreds of new audiobooks are being added to the catalog every week.
You can access all your tracks using iOS Audiobooks.com app tailored for iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch (no CarPlay support, yet).
The application lets you adjust narration speed or set a sleep timer. The app’s unique feature is the possibility to life chat with customer service right within the app.
Audiobooks.com service is subscription-based. Your first book is free, and after the 30-day free trial period, you will pay $14.95 per month (the same as for Audible).
Benefits: Wide compatibility, advanced player, instant access to customer service
Compatibility: iPad, iPhone
Price: Free
9. Scribd
Scribd is a refreshingly different subscription-based digital content platform.
If you are looking for Audible alternatives, you should sign up for Scribd and test the platform during the 30-day free trial.
For one flat monthly fee starting from $8.99, Scribd offers unlimited access to different kinds of digital content: ebooks, audiobooks, newspapers, and magazines.
And the Scribd app for iPad and iPhone enables you to delve into anything you want, no matter the format. It could be the newest audiobook or a featured article from The New York Times. It means the app is more versatile than Google Play or Kobo, as these apps don’t give you access to newspapers and magazines.
The platform claims paid subscribers can listen to an unlimited number of audiobooks per month. However, sometimes you will have to face this: “Occasionally, we have to limit the titles that you’re able to access within a specific content library in a 30-day period.”
Benefits: Ebooks, audiobooks, and magazines in a single app; unlimited number of downloads for subscribers
Compatibility: iPad, iPhone
Price: Free; subscriptions from $8.99/month
10. Amazon Kindle
Amazon Kindle is one of the most popular book-reading apps for iOS, staying in the Top 3 of the “Books” category almost constantly.
The app doesn’t offer an audiobook player feature as such, but it provides another exciting solution that gives the user the chance to listen to books.
Unlike Google Play Books or Libby (which can be either a book reader or an audiobook player), Kindle offers something much more flexible. It’s addressed to people who are not dedicated to audiobooks.
In the Kindle Store, you can buy an ebook and add an audiobook companion later – for a fraction of the audiobook’s regular price. Thanks to that, you have one book in two formats.
Whispersync for Voice technology enables the user to switch between reading and listening with a few taps. The last-read location is synced between book versions and your devices. You can start reading on the iPad on your way to work, and switch to listening on your iPhone in the evening.
Kindle app with the option to add audiobook companions is a good solution not only for readers who want to have a freedom of choosing the format that suits the mood, but also if you share your Kindle library with family members.
Benefits: Ability to add audiobook companions for Kindle ebooks, Whispersync for Voice technology
Compatibility: iPad, iPhone
Price: Free
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