Ever wondered what it feels like to multitask while reading a book on your iPhone?
With audiobooks, you don’t have to read but listen to the book. i.e., listening to a book while carrying out other tasks is possible, and we will be looking at some of the best audiobook apps for iPhone in this article.
Sometimes because of how busy our schedule can be, we often relegate reading to when we are less busy.
But truth be told, getting free time to read may be challenging when you are super engrossed. In times like this, audiobook saves the day.
Audiobooks are a great way to unwind after a tiring day and give your eyes the much-needed rest it yearns for.
The narrator’s voice delivers every emotion described in the audio format of books; you will laugh, cry and cherish the experience.
Certain apps out there have made getting access to audiobooks on an iPhone easy.
With this range of apps to listen to audiobooks on an iPhone, one can stay entertained and inspired anytime, anywhere.
Audiobook apps make it easy to access the book(s) you want seamlessly.
These apps are equipped with features that allow you to customize the process of listening to an audiobook while commuting, at bedtime, or doing daily chores.
But then, there’s a limited option to the audiobook you can buy directly in the apps when using an iPhone.
This is because audiobook services removed in-app purchases to avoid paying Apple a 30% margin on every digital content you buy, be it an e-book, audiobook, or subscription.
You can only add specific titles to your wish list but must visit the audiobook platform’s online store to complete the purchase.
Let’s look at some of these audiobook apps for iPhone.
Best Audiobook Apps for iPhone
1. Apple Books
Among the best audiobook apps for iPhone is Apple Books. Formerly known as iBook, the app is designed and optimized for your iPhone with a clean user interface following the design language.
Apple Books comes pre-installed on all iOS devices with your iPhone device for free, and with it, you can play and listen to free audiobooks.
You can explore millions of audiobooks and e-books from every category and genre here.
The book store on the app also gets regular updates for top charts that make discovering new books easy.
Actors, authors, or artists usually narrate the audiobooks on this app with striking voices that you’ll love tuning into.
The app offers enhanced library management and easy access to your purchased audiobooks.
One attractive feature of this app is that you can set reading goals to stay motivated and track the audiobooks you’d like to read next.
It also has a Reading Now section where you will see the audiobook you’ve listened to recently.
Another unique feature is that the audiobooks are compatible with the Apple watch.
Another characteristic of Apple Books is that it offers an In-app audiobook purchase. I.e., you can shop directly in the app.
Most of all, the app is free and has special offers and paid and free audiobooks for your enjoyment.
The app also has CarPlay support and enables family sharing. Here you can share the audiobooks with up to five family members.
2. Libby
Libby is also another audiobook app for iPhone. With Libby, you don’t need to buy the audiobooks. All you need to do is borrow them instead.
Libby is an app from OverDrive that works with Libraries around the country to display the audiobooks and e-books that it offers.
This means that Libby will give you legal access to the libraries around you so that you can find, borrow and enjoy free audiobooks and e-books you desire on your iPhone.
Two features stand out to me about the Libby app. For one, you can borrow audiobooks from the library instead of using different apps for different libraries.
So, you can register more than one library card on just one app, and you gain access to the audiobooks available in the local library.
The second feature I find fascinating about this app is that all the content from different libraries appears on a unified shelf, no matter which format, and you can play them within the app.
Hence, you can easily access free audiobooks of all kinds, from newly released books to bestsellers and obscure titles.
You can download audiobooks for offline use, but you can also stream them to save space on your iPhone.
But then you will need access to some libraries around you and register to enjoy this app. Depending on the library you access, you could also have limited content.
3. Google Play Books
Google Play Books app is from Google LLC and is a nice choice, especially for lovers of Google’s services.
This app was introduced for audiobooks in 2018. With 4.5 stars on the App Store, it is one of the best audiobook apps for iPhone.
The app has an immense collection of free audiobooks and eBooks of different niches and categories, giving you larger scope to choose your favorite book.
More so, the app also has updates on top sellers, recommendations, and book reviews.
An appealing feature of this app is that no subscription or monthly membership is needed. Instead, you can purchase audiobooks separately.
Before purchase, it also has a preview feature that gives you the choice of whether to continue with the purchase of the audio file or not.
Audiobooks on this app can easily be synced between connected devices and are compatible with browsers.
Hence, you can start listening to an audiobook in a browser on your laptop and pick it up from the last location in your Play Books app on your iPhone.
Google Playbook also allows you to control the playback of audiobooks as you wish, while it also features CarPlay support that lets you control audiobooks directly via CarPlay.
4. Kobo
Kobo is also a great audiobook app for iPhones. It added audiobooks to its e-bookstore in September 2017.
It has an extensive collection of e-books and audiobooks in various languages, including English, Traditional Chinese, French, German, Japanese, Dutch, Portuguese, Turkish, Spanish, and Italian.
Kobo’s app audiobooks simplify audio listening. It is nicely designed and features player functionality like a timeline scrubber bar, time skip buttons and chapter navigation.
It also features a playing speed configuration and a snooze timer that can be adjusted to suit your preferences.
This app is one of the best audiobook apps for iPhones because of its one-tap toggle option to convert e-books to audiobooks.
The app allows users to add notes, bookmarks and even look up unknown words.
It also allows users to convert e-books to audiobooks using the one-tap toggle option easily. Here, one can also add notes and bookmarks.
This app also encourages cross-platform syncing. You can switch seamlessly between devices and preview books before getting them.
This app has a monthly subscription fee of $9.99, which comes with one free audiobook.
5. Librivox
Often described as a platform with free domain audiobooks, Librivox is one of the best audiobook apps for iPhone.
It can be downloaded from the App Store that hosts the LibriVox libraries.
The app is very popular and houses completely free audiobooks that are said to be more than 15,000 ranging from classic bestsellers to pieces of literature. A good majority of the book can be converted to 45 different languages.
The app maintains its free status by partnering with Project Gutenberg and Internet Archive to receive hosting of audio files and has thousands of volunteer readers.
It features a filter function that allows you to sort the audiobook library by keyword, title, author, or genre.
Librivox lets you resume listening from where you left off and provides a sleep timer (in case you love listening to audiobooks before bed) and unlimited bookmarks.
Although it is a free audiobook app, Librivox has a paid version of $2.99. The paid version has No in-app purchase, no additional purchase required, and no ad display.
6. Bound
Bound is also a good audiobook app that grants you access to audio files from multiple cloud storage services, which you can play back on your iPhone.
It’s an ideal option if you want to avoid your audiobooks taking up space on your iPhone.
The app supports various other formats, including .m4a, .m4b, and .aac files, and will automatically save your playback location as you progress through the book so that you never lose your place.
The app also features adjustable playback speeds and a sleep timer. You can also manage and organize your audiobooks here. The app provides options for bookmarks and also has CarPlay support.
Downloading larger files sometimes proves problematic. The app costs $3.99 on the iOS app store.
7. Scribd
Often considered a content powerhouse that spans every genre imaginable, Scribd is also one of the best audiobook apps for iPhone.
It gives users instant access to books they wouldn’t find elsewhere at the same price.
The app grants users access to thousands of audiobooks and a separate library for studies, reports, and case studies.
Scribd is also available on Apple Watch, so you always have something to listen to.
The app offers a 30-day free trial period when you sign up on the Scribd platform.
Overall, it offers paid subscribers an unlimited number of audiobooks per month. Its subscription fee starts from $9.99.
The audiobook can be synced across multiple devices, while the narration speed can be customized.
Users can also set a sleep timer and download titles for offline listening.
8. Amazon Kindle
One of the best audiobook apps for iPhone is Amazon Kindle. The app doesn’t offer an audiobook player feature but allows users to listen to books through the whisper sync icon on Audible.
Here, users can get access to an extensive library selection of audiobooks.
You can link your Amazon and Audible accounts so that when you download the e-book to your Kindle app, you can also buy and download the matching Audible audiobook at a fraction of the actual cost. Hence, you get one book in two formats.
With the aid of whisper sync, the two books will sync, allowing you to switch between reading and listening with a few taps, and as you let the audiobook play, it’ll mark the progress in the e-book. Switching between formats is super easy, and you can enjoy both.
It lets users bookmark, highlight, jump, skim, and track pages while reading a book. It also features regular notifications and updates from your favorite authors.
The app also offers unlimited content for premium users. The downside to this app is that not all e-books have audiobook companions.
9. Nook Audiobooks
The Nook audiobook app is from Barnes and Noble and is among the best audiobook app for iPhone. It can be easily downloaded from Google Play Store and Apple App Store.
The app automatically connects users to the Nook Audiobook store, which offers over 100,000 books with varying genres, some available at reduced prices.
With the Nook Audiobook app, there is no need for a subscription. Users only need to pay, download the audiobooks they want, and listen to them from the app on their iPhones.
The app features audio speed, customized bookshelves, and social sharing tools that customize the user’s experience and can be synced across the user’s device.
The drawback to this app is that Barnes and Noble omitted a purchase feature in the Nook app because of Apple’s app store rules.
Hence users cannot purchase books from within the app directly except Barnes and Noble website, which will then automatically appear on your device.
