How do I listen to my audiobook on Android?

Pocket Casts, AntennaPod, or YouTube Music with your private podcast link is the simplest route. Each chapter is an episode, you can download them for offline listening, and the app remembers where you stopped. For a dedicated audiobook app, download the files and open them in Voice or Smart AudioBook Player.

Open the book from Your Library in Chrome and press the headphones button to open the Audiobook panel. Everything below starts there.

Pocket Casts

  1. Press Podcast app, then Copy link.
  2. Open Pocket Casts and paste the link into its search.
  3. Open the result and subscribe. The first load can take a few minutes.
  4. Download the episodes you want offline.

Pocket Casts syncs your position across devices when you're signed in to the same account.

AntennaPod

AntennaPod is free. Copy the podcast link, then use its add-podcast option and enter the link as the podcast address. Subscribe and download the episodes.

YouTube Music

Press Podcast app, then YouTube Music, in the panel. YouTube Music opens with your audiobook ready to add as a podcast. Confirm the add, then use each episode's menu to download it. YouTube Music needs an adult account for this.

Voice or Smart AudioBook Player with files

Both read a folder of chapter files, keep your place, and show the chapters. Voice is free and also plays the M4B.

  1. Press Download, then tap Chapters (ZIP), or Whole book (M4B) for Voice.
  2. Chrome saves the file to your Downloads folder.
  3. For the ZIP, open Files by Google, select the ZIP, and extract it. The chapters are numbered so they stay in order.
  4. In Voice, add the folder. In Smart AudioBook Player, move the folder into its audiobooks folder and refresh its library.

Android Auto

Play from the phone app and it shows up on the car screen. Voice supports Android Auto, and most podcast apps do too. Download the chapters on your phone first so a weak signal doesn't interrupt you.

Listening in Chrome

You don't need an app. Press play in the panel and lock your phone. Playback continues, the lock-screen controls work, and the reader remembers where you stopped. Chrome needs an internet connection for this, so download or use a podcast app for flights and subways.

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