Hear Ye! Hear Ye! Audiobook juggernaut Audible now available in beta

[wuyanks]

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Audible, the popular audiobook service, has been working on an Android app for quite some time. And today, I am pleased to announce that the app is now available as as a public beta. The latest version of Audible for Android Beta will allow you to:

• sign into your Audible.com account
• sync your previously purchased audiobooks
• "sideload" audiobooks from your PC to your Android device (requires *.aax files)
• search for and download new audiobooks straight from the app
• play back the audiobooks, with an option to rewind 30 seconds
• bookmark a specific place, with the option to add notes
• view details, chapters, and previously saved bookmarks of audiobook

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An Audible.com membership starts $7.49 per month for the first three months ($14.99 for each subsequent month), which is required to get full use out of the Android app. However, there's an option to test out the the Android app, and at the same time, the Audible.com service. You will get to play with all the features of the app, but will only have access to one chapter of each listed book. This can be a great opportunity to see if Audible for Android is right for you.

After playing with Audible for Android, I must say that I am extremely impressed. The UI is sleek and easy to use; it sort of reminds me of the Kindle Android app. And this is no surprise, since Audible is owned by Amazon as well. The audiobooks download rather fast over 3G and WiFi, and the sound quality is superb. There is also a huge selection of audiobooks available. For those book enthusiasts always on the go, this may be the ultimate alternative (or even complement) to Amazon's Kindle app. However, there is no integration for e-books, so this beta app is limited to audiobooks. Hopefully in a future release, there will be e-book integration, but for what it is, Audible for Android looks like a sure winner.

Audible Android UI

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In order to gain access to the public beta, all you need to do is join Audible's Google Group here. After that, you will immediately gain access to Audible for Android's beta app. The download is not yet available from the Android Market, but you can download the app on their Google Group page, and install it as you would any APK.

So, does anyone currently use Audible.com service? And has anyone tried out the Android app yet? Let us know.

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Source: Audible for Android Google Group

Thanks to mjb0314 for the tip

 

[Shadez]

Im not sure if this has it or not, but if they put college text books on here.. I can see it being used a lot by that crowd.

 

[justin82]

works i am using it now

 

[cbushnell]

I've been an Audible Member since 2004 and with over 400 books in my library really welcome this app to the Android family. The beta @ .145 still has a way to go, but the devs are making good progress at fixing bugs. The biggest noise from testers over on the beta site is complaints over Audible requiring only the Enhanced format (DRM and large sized files). Quite honestly I don't think Audible will change the policy which may be an issue for people with limited data plans. I listen to books almost every day and the convenience of this app is awesome, yesterday on my drive home I had finished part one of a book, at the stoplight I selected the next part of the book and it started streaming to my phone before the light changed. As Audible stores all of your purchases in the cloud there is no reason to keep the titles on your device. All in all a big win for Andriod...

 

[cromo8]

so if i want to listen to the twilight series while playing modern warfare will this work just fine?

 

[WVOz1970]

Heading over right now to check it out. I've been an Audible member since 2006 and have a lot of books sync'd for my iPod. I've been waiting for this app and looking forward to using it!

 

[FunN4Lo]

Can you buy audio books one at a time with out joining a monthly subscription?

 

[WVOz1970]

My initial reaction... it's OK. What I don't like is that it only works with their "Enhanced" audio format. My assumption is that there is some type of DRM worked in there somehow. For audiobooks, I really do NOT need enhanced format. Their file size can get to be huge. Also, a number of the books in my "library" were never made available in enhanced format.

So... for now, it's not a complete fail. Borderline fail, though, unless they make it so I can get other formats.

 

[techRob]

Can you buy audio books one at a time with out joining a monthly subscription?

Yes, but it's more expensive.

I'm not sure about the $7.49 plan...but i have a $14.99/mo plan. It gives me "1 credit" per month, plus good discounts on their entire stock. Every once in a while they'll have crazy sales on select audiobooks. Now, the the significance of the one credit, is that most books can be purchased with this use of said "1 credit" - most, not all. So, in essence, $15/mo gets you a free audio book (which I typically use for audiobooks that cost around $19 or more after the discount). You can save / stack around 5-7 credits (some audiobooks are 2-3 credits).

I don't know about the initial post saying "download speeds are fast at 3g" - download speeds at 3g for me our absolute crap. I tried downloading the files that were about 200-some-odd MB (probably larger, can't remember), and it was saying a few to several hours (can't remember)...after i noticed that, i switched over to wifi and had the download done in about 10-30min.

The main difference, as far as I'm concerned, between the "enhanced audio" and the stuff you can get for your PC, is that the enhanced audio is literally twice the size. So a file that is normally 80MB, is now 160MB. As for the audios being stored "on the cloud" ... yes and no. Audible.com keeps track of what you purchase, and as long as you know your username/password for the website, you can always re-download them. But you MUST download them to play them on your device. Me personally, I like the idea of storing them so I can listen to whatever whenever. So the sudden mark-up of double file size is pretty significant (especially with all the video files that i like to keep on my phone)

DRM - yes, Audible using a unique DRM that requires it's software to play the audible file (or certain devices that have their stamp of approval or something). My MP3 player (that went thru both washer and dryer..RIP...) was capable of playing said files. WMP and i believe iTunes both can play em...maybe...i can't remember the details behind that tho.

 

[techRob]

dangit no editing...

** the $15/mo gets you one audiobook, and typically anywhere from $2-$10 off some audiobooks (if memory serves)...your experience may vary on this one.

 

[homemadehitshow]

I am running Stock 2.1 Droid and can't find this in the market, anyone have a QR code or tip on how to find it.

 

[wuyanks]

it's not available in Market yet. Re-read OP. the link is there.

edited: go here Google Group page

 

[homemadehitshow]

and to make life easy for others here is the QR

 

[WVOz1970]

Can you buy audio books one at a time with out joining a monthly subscription?

I must be grandfathered in... or they don't advertise it. When I joined, I signed up as an "Audible Listener" for $9.95 a year. I don't get any credits, but I do get 30% off list price (or more) of books. Generally speaking, I buy 4-5 books a year and that savings more than pays for the $10.

I don't see that listed as an option on their website, but it may still be hidden somewhere. If you know you're going to buy at least 3-4 books, it's worth the $10. If you're going to buy 10+ books a year, it's better to go on a monthly membership plan.

 

[techRob]

I enjoy the "thought" about getting a "free book" every month lol ... even though i'm spending $15/mo. ... but, the books i get cost more than $15 after the discount, and i've been buying a bunch of other audios too