How to Listen to Audiobooks on Your Kindle App

The estimated reading time for this post is 4 minutes

Q. Hi, a friend of mine just told me I can listen to books using my Kindle app on my iPhone. She said I can switch back and forth between reading and listening and even follow along reading the book while the book is being read aloud.

Can you tell me how this works? I’d love to try this but I’m not good with tech so I hope it’s easy to do.

A. One of the best features of a Kindle book is Whispersync, the ability to switch back and forth between a Kindle ebook and an audiobook without losing your place. Now you can do that easily, all from one app on your iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch, or an Android device. You no longer have to switch back and forth between your Kindle app and your Audible app.

You can listen to audiobooks on your Kindle app, if:

a) you own both the Kindle ebook and audiobook versions of the book

and

b) the book is Whispersync-enabled.

This feature of the Kindle app can be handy when you want to switch between reading and listening, perhaps when you’ve been listening in your car and arrive home and want to read the ebook version. You can also use this feature to help your children learn to read, focus more on their books, or master a new language.

How to Listen to Books on the Kindle App

1. Download the Kindle app and sign into your Amazon account.

2. Tap on Library

3. Find the book you want to read/listen to.

4. Tap on it to download it to your device.

[note]Note that you must have an Internet connection to download the book. After the book has been downloaded you don’t need an Internet connection to read or listen to it. [/note]

If the book is Whispersync-enabled and you own the Audible audiobook, you’ll see a headphones icon in the bottom menu bar. Tap the top of the screen to show the menu bar. Tap the headphones icon to be taken to the audio version of the book.

You’ll see the book cover and a download arrow. Tap the arrow to download the audiobook to your Kindle app.

=> If you only own the audiobook version of the book and not the Kindle book you can’t use the Kindle app, you must use the Audible app to listen to the book.

After the download is finished, tap the headphones icon to switch to listening to the audiobook. Tap the Play arrow button to begin listening to the audio version of the book.

[note] If you’ve already started reading the Kindle ebook version of the book you may be asked if you want to skip ahead to where you left off reading in the book. [/note]

Following Along Reading While Listening

One very cool feature of the Kindle app is that you can follow along reading your Kindle book while you listen to the audio version.

As the audio version is playing, tap the book icon in the lower left corner of the screen.

You’ll be taken to the Kindle ebook screen on the page that’s being narrated. The Kindle app will turn the page and move ahead as the book is being read aloud.

Similarly, if you want to skip ahead or back, swipe the pages in the ebook and the narration will start reading at the top of the page appearing on your screen.

Other Kindle App Audiobook Features

The Kindle app has other helpful features to help you listen while you read. You can adjust the speed of the narration to be slower or faster by tapping on the speedometer icon and choosing the narration speed.

You can jump ahead or rewind 30 seconds. You can also use the Sleep Timer so you can fall asleep while listening to the book.

Availability of Whispersync Books

Over 60,000 books are Whispersync-enabled at Amazon. Check out the Kindle Books with Narration page at Amazon to see which books have Whispersync enabled.

Whispersync Audiobooks at a Discount

To use the Kindle app to listen to audiobooks you must own both the audio and ebook versions of a book and the book must have Whispersync enabled. The good news is that the audio versions of Whispersync books are often significantly discounted, sometimes to as little as $0.99.

[tip] If you’re consider buying an audiobook, check to see if it’s Whispersync-enabled. If so, you may actually save money by buying the Kindle ebook version first and then getting the audiobook version at a deep discount. [/tip]

Kindle Matchmaker

You can use Kindle Matchmaker to find out which Kindle books you already own are available as a audiobooks with Whispersync. Click on this link to use Matchmaker to check for your Kindle library: Kindle Matchmaker

=> See, Kindle Matchmaker – Making the Most of Whispersync for Voice

Your Thoughts

Did you know you could use your Kindle app to listen to audiobooks? Do you like the idea of following along, reading while you listen to a book? Do you like to switch back and forth between reading and listening to books? Share your thoughts in the Comments section below!