Audible: Audio Entertainment

I tried the trick someone mentioned about activating the delete toggle and if the delete buttons don't show up, tap the cloud tab and then back to device and voila, the delete buttons appeared and worked. Relieved. Thanks for the tip. :)

One thing I will say about this update, it seemed to fix the scrolling issues completely for me which is excellent.

It appears that, with the latest version of iBooks, iBooks/Apple have now partnered with Audible to offer the ability to purchase Audible's audiobooks through the iBooks app.

This appears to be completely accessible.

The only problem is, I can't find a way to set bookmarks when I am done reading so I can come back to where I left off later.

If I am reading a book, pause it, and then come back to it a short time later, I am able to resume from where I left off. However, if I don't use the iBooks app fro some time, say, for a few days or so, when I bring the app back up, the book I was reading defaults back to the beginning and looses the position where I left off.

So, is there any way that I can actually set a bookmark in the iBooks app for audiobooks so that I am guaranteed never to lose my position in the audiobook where I left off?

I have heard from other sources there there is not (yet?) a way to do this, so, if this is the case, is there any other app I can use to make bookmarking possible?

I have heard that the Audible app itself allows one to physically mark one's place in an audiobook and that you can look under your iTunes library option within Audible in order to find audiobooks you've downloaded through iBooks? Is this true? Has anyone ever tried it? Does it work reliably?

Also, ifthis is true, how much does downloading the Audible app cost? Do you have to take a subscription to Audible in order to use the app to view individual books you've purchased through iBooks?

Thanks much.

Also, how is accessibility in the very latest version of Audible?

First of all, the partnership between Apple and Audible is not new, as it has been going on for many years now. The only real change is that you now use the iBooks app to shop for audiobooks instead of going through the iTunes Store.

Regarding iBooks losing its place in an audiobook, I haven't had that happen. For me, even if I haven't used the app in a long time, it picks up right where I left off in an audiobook without any issues.

There is no way to set bookmarks within the iBooks app to my knowledge. However, if the book has chapter marks, you can use the table of contents to jump to a specific chapter, so if you are having problems with iBooks not remembering your place, you can make a note of what chapter you're on and jump to it the next time you open the app.

Audible can be used to play titles from iTunes, which appear in a separate tab in the app. Unfortunately, the bookmark feature in Audible can only be used with titles downloaded directly from Audible within the app itself. If you buy an audiobook from Apple, even if Audible provided the title to Apple, you cannot download the book from Audible without buying it again directly from them.

Going forward, I strongly recommend buying audiobooks directly from Audible instead of getting them from the iTunes Store or from the iBooks app. Even though the Audible website isn't exactly the best when it comes to accessibility, there are many benefits from shopping through Audible. The biggest benefit is that you can download the book as many times as you want, whereas if you make a purchase from Apple, you can only download the title once. Additionally, if you become an Audible member, you can buy books at a much lower cost, so if you are a regular audiobook listener, you will save a boatload of money. Finally, the Audible app has a number of features that can come in handy, including setting multiple bookmarks, syncing across multiple devices, remembering your place even if you delete the book from your device, controlling exactly what happens when you press the next track and previous track buttons, and other things.

The Audible app, for the most part, is accessible, with a few quirks. Occasionally I find that I need to close the app from the app switcher and relaunch it because the list of titles doesn't refresh properly, and the process for deleting audiobooks is a bit tricky at first, but other than that I have no real complaints with the app's accessibility. The benefits of using Audible far outweigh the negatives in my opinion.

I concur with the above post. The Audible app is the way to go. I have been using this app for many years now and find that the accessibility, for the most part, works just fine. As the above post mentioned, the delete feature is a bit strange but completely dueable. It's just not as intuitive as one might think it should be. The monitary savings via the Audible subscription service is very nice, too. If you are already an Amazon.com user, the user name and pass word for that account is what is used for an Audible account sign in. They merged a couple of years ago.

If i can't pay through the app via my iTunes account, the app is useless to me as a south african. Our south african iBooks only have public domain books and it sucks.

I posted a comment yesterday about Kindle books on another post, and it got me thinking. I don’t like putting out information that might be wrong, and I realized I’m still kind of confused about how Audible’s plans actually work. Here’s what I do know: there’s the $15/month plan, which I believe is Audible Premium Plus. From what I understand, that gives you access to the Premium Plus catalog for the month, and you also get one credit to buy any audiobook you want, no matter the price. What I don’t fully get is whether there’s a plan similar to Kindle Unlimited, where you can listen to as many audiobooks as you want—without needing credits—like a true all-you-can-read setup.

Because when I did the free trial before, I remember seeing books that I had to pay extra for, even though I was on a plan. I get that not everything is included, and there’s a discount if you’re on the $15 plan, but it didn’t make sense to me. If I’m already paying a monthly fee, why can’t I listen to any book in the catalog for that month and have the credit as a separate thing for a book I want to own? I also saw something yesterday about a cheaper plan—around $7 or $8 per month—that gives you access to the Premium Plus catalog, but you don’t get a credit or the member discounts on books. Is that correct? Because if so, that plan might be better for someone like me. I don’t need to keep books—I only want to listen to them once. I’m not trying to build a digital library. I also noticed there are higher-tier plans where you can get more credits each month if you pay extra, but again, it feels a little complicated. I’m not trying to criticize Audible here—I totally understand that this is a business and that audiobook production takes time, money, and real work. I’m willing to pay. I just don’t fully understand how the model is set up. I think I’m most familiar with the $15/month plan, but I’d love a clearer breakdown of all the plan options—especially if there is one that works more like Kindle Unlimited.

Audible Plus — $7.95/month, Access to unlimited streaming and listening from the Audible Plus Catalog
Audible Premium Plus — 1 Credit, $14.95/month, 1 credit per month to be used to redeem any title from our Premium selections, Access to unlimited streaming and listening from the Audible Plus Catalog, Exclusive sales and discounts on purchased titles
Audible Premium Plus — 2 Credits, $22.95/month, 2 credits per month to be used to redeem any title from our Premium selections, Access to unlimited streaming and listening from the Audible Plus Catalog, Exclusive sales and discounts on purchased titles
Audible Standard
$ 9.99 /month, Select 1 audiobook a month from our entire collection, Download your selected audiobooks for offline listening, Listen to your selected audiobooks until you cancel, Unused monthly selections don't roll over to the next month
Audible Premium Plus Annual — 12 Credits, $149.50/year, 12 credits at time of purchase to be used to redeem any title from our Premium selections, Access to unlimited streaming and listening from the Audible Plus Catalog, Exclusive sales and discounts on purchased titles
Audible Premium Plus Annual — 24 Credits, $229.50/year
24 credits at time of purchase to be used to redeem any title from our Premium selections, Access to unlimited streaming and listening from the Audible Plus Catalog, Exclusive sales and discounts on purchased titles

One thing this list does not tell you, is that the plus plan, is build every other month, and it equals to just a little bit over the $14.95 one credit monthly plan. As such, you only get a free credit every other month. If you do the math, the $14.95 monthly is actually a little bit more affordable by the end of the year, than the $7.95 plan.

Regarding discounts, with the main plans, you get a 30% discount on any book you purchase out-of-pocket, anytime.

Regarding exclusive sales, Audible will email you periodically throughout each month, announcing sales they have going on. They tend to have quite a few. Including a two for one deal, where you're able to buy two books for one credit. A discount where you can get books between 70 to 85% off their original price, these books you buy out-of-pocket at an extremely reduced price. And if I am remembering correctly, they also have different seasonal/holiday sales as well.
Also if memory serves, last year, near the end of 2024, they had a storewide 80% discount on pretty much everything in their library. That sale was, insane.

Finally, these days the best thing about Audible, is there plus catalogue. See Kindle unlimited, only with audiobooks. The only difference really, is that you don't get as many newly released titles as you do with Kendall unlimited.
Oh, and they have a crazy selection of podcasts too!

HTH. :-)

In the UK we have a few membership choices. The one I have is £14.99 a month. This gives you 2 credits. You can then also buy more, 3 extra credits is £18.00 for example. Also, they sometimes have offers on. 3 credits get 1 free. That is currently in play. For some reason though, you can't hold more than 5 credits at once without losing 1. The final benefit we have is everyday we have a daily deal price where they choose a book from any genre at a vastly reduced price. Typically £1.99 or £2.99. So we don't have unlimited options as such. HTH

Right, so I read through all the info that was posted, and honestly it’s still kind of a lot to sort through. Based on my specific situation—whenever I listen to audiobooks, I’m not trying to keep them. I don’t care about the credit system, I’m not building a library, I want to listen and move on. That said, I would still love access to the full Plus Catalog if possible, like everything in it, without having to worry about credits. I wouldn’t go past the $15 mark for a plan. I know the $15/month plan includes a credit, but again, the credit isn’t something I need. The discounted pricing per audiobook membership doesn’t really matter to me either—if I get it, cool, if not, no big deal.
Also, I wanted to add something else for context. For me personally, when it comes to Audible and Kindle Unlimited, I treat both of them more like entertainment—or kind of a “treat myself” situation—rather than some long-term essential subscription. What I usually do is rotate what I subscribe to depending on my mood. One month I might do a ChatGPT Plus subscription, another month I’ll switch it up and try Claude, or Gemini. Then another time I might grab a month of Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, or even Suno. I don’t like stacking subscriptions if I know I’m not going to be using all of them at once, so I usually rotate based on what I feel like engaging with that month. When it comes to Kindle Unlimited or Audible, I don’t really calculate pricing in the long run unless I’m thinking about going all-in with a yearly membership. Most of the time, I keep a list of books I want to read or listen to—usually saved on Goodreads—and I check whether they’re on Unlimited or Audible. If they’re not, I track prices using some book deal tools and wait for a discount.

So if I see a good number of books I’m interested in on one platform, I’ll pay for a month or maybe two and try to get through as much as I can during that window. If I don’t finish, I’ll go for another month, but I don’t usually go past three months. I only sign up when I know I’ll use them and when I’ve got the time carved out to enjoy the content. Thanks again for any advice or suggestions—you guys are always super helpful.

So based on all that, which Audible plan would you actually recommend for my situation? I want to listen to as much as I can from the catalog each month, and I don’t need to own anything after I’m done. Just want something simple that fits that use case.

Based on your preferences I'd recommend the Audible Standard subscription. It's fairly affordable, you get a credit a month, but credit does not roll over to the next month. Since you are not invested in the credit system, I believe this will not be an issue for you. You still get full access to the Plus Catalog, which is awesome, btw, and if you want a new release, well there is always the credit. If you don't want to keep the books, just remove them from your library.

HTH.

If anyone wants streaming-only options, there is BookBeat which is pretty cheap, and Storytel which is more expensive. For both of these apps, for a monthly fee, you can stream or download as many books as you want. I'd recommend these over Audible if you don't want to worry about credits. And here in the UK, BookBeat, is cheaper than Audible, the cheapest Audible membership is £8.99, and BookBeat is about £6. Don't know what that would be in the US.