Buy and listen to audiobooks

You can listen to audiobooks on your computer, mobile device, Google Home and Google Assistant.

How to buy and download audiobooks on Android

  1. On your Android phone or tablet, open the Google Play Books app Play Books.
  2. Search for an audiobook.
  3. Tap the cover image.
  4. Tap the price and then Buy audiobook.

How to listen to Google Play audiobooks

  1. On your Android phone or tablet, open Google Play Books Play Books.
  2. Tap Library.
  3. At the top, tap Audiobooks.
  4. Tap the audiobook that you want to listen to. It will start playing.
Tip: If you listen on one device, and then switch to another device, the audiobook plays where you left off, at the closest natural stopping point.

More that you can do with audiobooks on Google Play

Add and remove a bookmark

  1. On your Android phone or tablet, open Google Play Books Play Books.
  2. Open an audiobook.
  3. At the top, tap Bookmark .
    • To delete a bookmark, tap Contents Contents and then Bookmarks. Tap More More and then Delete this bookmark.

Download audiobooks using Wi-Fi only

To avoid data charges, you can download audiobooks using Wi-Fi only.
  1. On your phone or tablet, open the Google Play Books app Play Books.
  2. At the top right, tap your profile picture.
  3. Tap Play Books settings and then Download over Wi-Fi only.
Tip: You can choose to download standard or high-quality audio. In Play Books settings, under 'Audiobook playback', tap Audio quality. High-quality audio requires more device storage space and bandwidth to download.

Download PDF for an audiobook

Some books come with additional materials such as visuals, charts, graphs, maps or other appendices.
  1. On your Android phone or tablet, open the Google Play Books app Play Books.
  2. Tap Library and then Audiobooks.
  3. Select the audiobook.
  4. Tap More Moreand then Open accompanying PDF.

Types of audiobooks

What is an abridged audiobook?

An abridged audiobook is a shorter version of an audiobook that has been edited for length. You’ll still understand the major plot points of the book, but minor details will be left out.

Abridged audiobooks are available as a separate item in the Play Store from the full length version of the audiobook. Double check which version of the audiobook you want to buy before you finalise your purchase.

Auto-narrated audiobooks

Auto-narrated audiobooks use text-to-speech technology to create audio from an eBook.

These audiobooks use a digital voice to read eBooks, so you might encounter:

  • Mispronounced words
  • Pauses in places that don’t make sense
  • A mismatch between the tone or emotion of word pronunciations and the content
If you find an issue with your auto-narrated audiobook, contact us to share your feedback.
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