Announced in a blog post today, Google has begun selling audiobooks from its Play Store. The introduction of audiobooks at Google Play brings with it an easier way for those in the Google ecosystem to enjoy their favorite reads in a seamless way across devices.
According to Google, you’ll be able to listen to audiobooks on a variety of devices like smartphones and tablets. You’ll also be able to listen via a Google Home or any Google Assistant-powered device. In the near future, audiobooks integration for the Assistant will arrive in Android Auto. The service also doesn’t require a subscription to stream with – just buy the book and fire it up.
To kick things off, Google notes it’s offering Ready Player One by Ernest Cline, Astrophysics For People In A Hurry by Neil Degrasse Tyson, and The Wisdom of Sundays from Oprah Winfrey, Eckhart Tolle, and friends. Discounts are also in place for first-time audiobook owners: your first book bought through the Play Store will be 50%. Obviously, Google wants you to buy from them so this deal may be worth it if you’ve had your eye on a particular release for a while.
Of course, there is a caveat when listening to audiobooks from the Play Store: you won’t be able to sync your place in an audiobook with the ebook version of the same read. This is due to both formats being completely separate. Hopefully, in the future, some type of integration between the two platforms will be introduced.
You can shop for audiobooks in the Play Store here.
You must log in to post a comment.