When you get audiobooks from Google Play, you can listen to the audiobook on your computer, mobile device, Google Home and Google Assistant.
How to buy and download audiobooks on Android
- On your Android phone or tablet, open the Google Play Books app
.
- Search for an audiobook.
- Tap the cover image.
- Tap the price
Buy audiobook.
Buy audiobook.Tip: Users can also buy audiobooks through Play balance.
How to listen to Google Play audiobooks
- On your Android phone or tablet, open Google Play Books
- Tap Library.
- At the top, tap Audiobooks.
- 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
- On your Android phone or tablet, open Google Play Books
- Open an audiobook.
- At the top, tap Bookmark
.
- To delete a bookmark, tap Contents
- To delete a bookmark, tap Contents
.
Download audiobooks using Wi-Fi only
To avoid data charges, you can download audiobooks using Wi-Fi only.
- On your phone or tablet, open the Google Play Books app
.
- At the top right, tap your profile picture.
- Tap Play Books settings
Download over Wi-Fi only.
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.
- On your Android phone or tablet, open the Google Play Books app
- Tap Library
- Select the audiobook.
- Tap More
Types of audiobooks
Abridged audiobooks
Unabridged audiobooks
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.
An unabridged audiobook contains the full literary work. These are the vast majority of the audiobooks in our catalogue.
AI-narrated audiobooks
AI-narrated audiobooks use text-to-speech technology to create audio from an eBook.
These audiobooks use a digital voice to read eBooks. 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 AI-narrated audiobook, contact us to share your feedback.