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We're ooking at subscribing to Audible, mostly because they've sent my wife an offer of £2.99/month for 4 months.
But I have a couple of questions I'm hoping someone can answer:
1. From what I understand there is a library of free books you can stream and then you get 1 book to download and keep each month. But, what is the free book library like? Does it have recognisable authors? Kids authors? Things the children will actually want to listen to like David Walliams, Roald Dahl, Wimpy Kid? Or is it all obscure stuff like the rubbish on the shelves of poundland?
2. Can you listen to it on multiple devices at the same time? ie. 3 children all listening to a different book on their own Echo Dots at bedtime? Or is it like basic Netflix with only one person at a time? If so, is there a family style subscription? I can only see one price on their website.
Free book library is ok, but I rarely use it as the 1credit books I get are usually 25+ hours of listening so keep me going for a month with my usage. No idea about kids books. Also, if it's like kindle don't go for free books that are part 1 of a series as on kindle quite often parts 2,3 and 4 are pay for....
No idea on multiple devices, I'd have thought so as you should be able to log in across multiples.
I pay for a year upfront and get 24 credits. There are often 2for 1 or 3for 2 deals so you end up with more books than credits.
You get access to a lot of podcasts and short series as well and more recently there is a big library of free books. It's quite a mixture - thousands of books that tend to be either older or from less famous authors. Some look like they are produced specifically for audible. The choice is much, much better than the free ebooks you get via kindle subscriptions. they aren't just streamed, you can download and listen offline.
We often have 3 or 4 echos playing at once. There are lots of kids and young adult books - some well known, some less so. Our main problem is getting the little blighters to stop turning it back on after lights out.
For 2.99 a month there's not much risk and 4 months is plenty of time to explore what's available.
Yes you can listen on multiple devices.
There's not much in the free bit for me but there's plenty in there.
Just don't give your kids free access to the app, they'll spend all your credits on diary of a wimpy kid books that cost less to buy than a credit. 🤦🏻♂️
The first series of Alan Partridge's audible podcast 'from the oasthouse' is sublime. Every bit of the writing is pin sharp.
Have you looked at the selection of audio books available through your library? Our library, Edinburgh have quite an extensive supply and the overdrive app is actually quite good!
Libraries are very much a use it or lose it resource.
We've had it until recently as the kids like to listen to audiobooks as they go to sleep. No problem listening to two devices at once - this is on iPads where the app let you download the files though.
I've never really liked the model where you pay a subscription but don't get access to everything. The free stuff never seemed that good - with the exception of some of the exclusive podcasts (eg. Alan Partridge).
Anyway, we finally binned it off recently as we found we could use our local library's app to borrow ebooks and audiobooks for free. I think all libraries offer this and it's great. I was really annoyed I'd never looked into it before rather than giving Audible money every month.
Thanks all.
For 2.99 a month there’s not much risk and 4 months is plenty of time to explore what’s available.
Yeah that was what I was thinking. From what I can see you can cancel any time?
Have you looked at the selection of audio books available through your library?
Yeah, I use the Libby app and really struggle with the interface. Seem to have to press the same thing 10 times to get where you want. Also disappointed with the selection of audiobooks on there. Magazines on there however are great. Other bike magazines that shall not be names and Trail are my go-to's.
From what I can see you can cancel any time?
I quite often cancel / restart as I need to catch up on the books I've downloaded and accrue 1 or 2 spare credits.
When you cancel you still have access to your library and credits to use - so I pay for around 8 books a year rather than 12.
I use Libby and Overdrive as well but it seems to depend a lot on where you are. We moved from london to oxford and the number and variety available dropped pretty dramatically.
The first series of Alan Partridge’s audible podcast ‘from the oasthouse’ is sublime
Agreed. I'm hanging on to see if the second one goes into the Included section, but I will probably break eventually.
The libby app is amazing for books and magazines but all the audiobooks I want to listen to are always on hold. No good when you want to listen to a series in order.
Yeah, I use the Libby app and really struggle with the interface. Seem to have to press the same thing 10 times to get where you want
Can you not just download the mp3s and play them in your podcast client or music player?
I’ve never really liked the model where you pay a subscription but don’t get access to everything
It wasnt really a subscription though since you retain access to the purchased books when you cancelled.
I quite often cancel / restart as I need to catch up on the books I’ve downloaded and accrue 1 or 2 spare credits.
Yep, currently cancelled mine whilst I catch up on the books I've bought. I'll re-subscribe when I've finished them all.
It wasnt really a subscription though since you retain access to the purchased books when you cancelled.
Yep, I've closed my account, yet can access all the books I've bought via their App. I also converted them all to MP3 using OpenAudible's app (before I closed my account). NB They didn't let me pause it for more than 3 months, hence I ended up closing it as that was the only option left whilst I caught up on all the books I'd bought.
I've been using Audible for 3.5 years now and have spells where I dip into it regularly then drop it for a few months. Overall I recommend it.
Pausing membership - I think you can pause ony once in any given 12 month period
Audible Plus catalogue - lots to listen to when your subscription is active, but I think you lose it if you pause
Special offers - they regularly do Black Friday deals etc, and that's when it's worth buying books for say £2.99 instead of using a credit on them
What is the quality of the reading like on the Audible ones? I used to get BBC/Chivers audiobooks from the library to listen to in the car on the way to work (6/7 hour drive each way), and the readers were great. Then I tried some off the internet and they were read by some awful Americans who didn't do the books justice, especially uk authors, so gave up on them. If they're read by competent readers it makes all the difference.
What is the quality of the reading like on the Audible ones?
It is variable.
You can listen to a couple of minutes sample which I tend to do for just this reason.
On several occasions have decided that listening for a mere ten seconds or so was more than enough.
xWhat is the quality of the reading like on the Audible ones?
It is variable.
Yep, dissonance has it. Some narrators are excellent and bring the book alive, others are incredibly monotone/disengaging and do nothing to keep your attention.
By all means try some samples, but you don't always know until you're a fair few pages in.