How to buy & listen to audiobooks on Google Play

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 Google Play audiobooks on an iPhone

  1. On a mobile browser, like Safari, open play.google.com/books.
  2. Sign in to the Google Account you use for Google Play Books.
  3. Search for an audiobook.
  4. Tap the cover image.
  5. Tap the price and then Buy.

Tip: You can't buy or rent audiobooks using the Google Play Books app on your iPhone and iPad.

How to listen to an audiobook you bought from Google Play

  1. On your iPhone or iPad, open the Google Play Books app Play Books.
  2. Sign in to the Google Account that you used to buy your audiobook.
  3. At the bottom, tap Library and then select your audiobook.
Tip: If you listen on one device, then switch to another device, the audiobook plays where you left off, at the closest natural stopping point.

More you can do with audiobooks on Google Play

Add & remove a bookmark

  1. On your iPhone or iPad, open the Google Play Books App Play Books.
  2. Open an audiobook.
  3. At the top, tap Bookmark .
    • To delete a bookmark, tap Contents Contentsand then Bookmarks. Tap More Moreand then Remove Bookmark.

Download 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 only over Wi-Fi.
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 iPhone or iPad, open the Google Play Books app Play Books.
  2. Tap Library and then Audiobooks.
  3. Select the audiobook.
  4. Tap More More and then Open accompanying PDF.

Types of audiobooks

Abridged 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 finalize your purchase.

Unabridged audiobooks
An unabridged audiobook contains the full literary work. These are the vast majority of the audiobooks in our catalog.
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.

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