Ever wondered why you couldn’t listen to audiobooks on Spotify? Me too! That’s where all my other audio content sits — my music and my podcasts — so why not lump in audiobooks so I can listen to everything in one place?
Well, you can. Spotify now allows you to listen to a wide range of audiobooks through its mobile and desktop applications, so you can listen to your favorite books at home or on the move.
Personally, I think this is a positive move, as it stops me needing to flick between the Spotify and Audible apps when I want to change between a podcast and audiobook. However, there are some notable caveats that limit this feature’s usage and mean listening to audiobooks on Spotify may not be as good as using a dedicated audiobook app.
Firstly, to access audiobooks on Spotify, you’ll need to pay. You either need to purchase an audiobook through the Spotify web app, or you need a Premium subscription. Given many users will have a Spotify Premium sub, that likely won’t be an issue.
Second, unless you buy an audiobook outright, even if you have a Premium sub, you’ll only get 15 hours of audiobook listening a month. Personally, I think that’s pretty stingy, given many audiobooks run way beyond that — so that’s potentially less than one book a month. Until they increase the amount, I think I’ll stick primarily to Audible and use Spotify for the odd audiobook here and there.
If you can limit your listening (you might want to learn how to enable a sleep timer so you don’t sleep through your allowance) though, this could still be a useful feature. Besides, if you’re already paying for Premium, you’ve not got 15 hours of audiobooks bundled in for free.
Here’s how to find audiobooks on Spotify.
How to listen to audiobooks on Spotify
The screens below were taken on an iPhone 15 Pro and on macOS, but steps should be more or less the same on other devices.
1. Tap Search > Audiobooks
(Image: © Future)
First up, open Spotify and tap Search. Then tap Audiobooks. This will be the same on mobile and desktop (pictured immediately below), although obviously the layout on both apps differs slightly.
2. Select a curated audiobook or browse via genres
(Image: © Future)
You can either select a curated audiobook from the audiobooks home page, choose a genre or select Explore all genres. Alternatively, simply search for the audiobook you want, if you know what you’re after.
3. Hit Play
(Image: © Future)
Hit Play to start listening. It’s worth noting that there doesn’t appear to be a countdown timer for the audiobook allowance you have left that month. Ration your listening carefully if you tend to binge audiobooks.
That’s all there is to it. Think this will tempt you to come to Spotify? We can show you how to get Spotify Premium. Want to find a song you listened to recently? Learn how to see your listening history on Spotify. Like that song? Here’s how to download songs in Spotify.
