'Audio Books' App Updated With CarPlay Support and Refreshed Interface

[MacRumors]

The iOS app for Audiobooks.com today received an update to overhaul the browsing experience, dedicated audio player, and even allow full integration with CarPlay "and select in-car infotainment systems", to allow its users to listen to audiobooks while driving.

The company didn't release much information on the update outside of the release notes, so there isn't any word yet on how easy and fluid the experience is when pairing with CarPlay. It does, however, appear to be the first dedicated audiobook app to announce compatibility with Apple's CarPlay system.

Elsewhere in the update, Audiobooks.com introduced a more "minimalist look and feel" to the app, tweaked the controls and experience of the audio player, and re-shuffled the settings page to make more critical information easier to navigate through. Considering the Audio Books app jumped from version 4.6 to 5.0.3, however, there were even more changes brought to the app alongside these.

What's New in Version 5.0.3

-Fully updated user interface with a new minimalist look and feel
-Improved book browsing and general user experience for international users
-Full integration with CarPlay and select in-car infotainment systems
-Audio player updated to incorporate full functionality and controls without sub-menus
-Re-organized settings page displays critical account information more prominently
-Improved navigation throughout the app for a more intuitive user experience

The app touts itself as having over 60,000 audiobooks, with over 2,500 available to download for free. Following an initial free trial, the service works like any other paid monthly experience, with $14.95 a month buying users one free audiobook every 30 days. The company promises cross-platform continuation of audiobooks, meaning users can start a book on their phone, continue it on the ride home, and finish on their computer at night.

Those interested can download the free Audio Books by Audiobooks app [Direct Link] and get their first audiobook for free.

Article Link: 'Audio Books' App Updated With CarPlay Support and Refreshed Interface

 

[iAshley]

Give me a Spotify for Audiobooks and I'm in.

 

[ArtOfWarfare]

$14.95 a month buying users one free audiobook every 30 days

That's a retarded model. You have to pay ~$15/month whether you get an audiobook or not, and you're limited to a single audiobook in that ~month.

As the person above said, give me Spotify for audiobooks. Or better yet, Spotify itself should just have audiobooks. I'd be okay giving them $15/month for unlimited streamed music and audiobooks.

Edit:

Did some research and, actually, Spotify already has a limited inventory of audiobooks. They're in the "Word" category. Here's the blog post announcing it a few years ago:
https://community.spotify.com/t5/Live-Ideas/Audiobooks/idi-p/32287

Here's a list of what was available as of a few years ago:
http://pansentient.com/2011/06/audio-books-and-fiction-on-spotify/

 

[Mad Mac Maniac]

Interesting. I, however, use audible and love it.

 

[Douglas B]

In Audible's app, the feature that allows you override the 'chapter' skip buttons |< and >| for use as skip back 10, 20 or 30 seconds etc...* was the best thing that ever happened to my steering wheel controls. I just wish I also had a pause button on my steering wheel.

*you choose the number of seconds in a separate setting.

 

[manu chao]

Spotify itself should just have audiobooks.

But then Spotify would become as bloated as iTunes ...