How to use your iPad to listen to audiobooks

Good literature is only as far away as your iPad, with advances in technology making audiobooks accessible wherever you are.

You can now store the latest best seller, new release or classic novel in your pocket, allowing greater flexibility and the power to multitask whenever you choose. With the increase in availability of audiobooks, it has never been as easy to access knowledge. You can feed your appetite for literature while washing the dishes, listen to the latest historic fiction while vacuuming or keep up to date with the best travel yarn while sitting on a plane to Fiji.

Audiobooks also offer a lifeline for those people held back by arthritis and find holding a book too hard or are suffering from visual deterioration. They become a fantastic resource for those who are lonely, ill or bored, opening up a whole new world of characters, knowledge and inspiration.

How can I access audiobooks to listen to?

Audiobooks are voice recordings of the text of a book that you listen to. They are usually downloaded in the same way as other digital audio files like songs and albums.

There are many websites and apps that provide access to audiobooks, with some talking book files even being free. They can also be purchased from online bookstores like the well-known iBooks. Operated by Apple, iBooks is their online audiobook store with all their books sold through the iBooks store app. It’s easy to use the iBooks app and once you have downloaded it, you can sync your audiobooks across all your devices using the iCloud.

Audible is also another online audiobook seller. Offering a paid monthly subscription, you can also listen to audiobooks on your iPad or smartphone through their downloadable audiobook app.

Depending on the app you choose to use, there are usually only four steps you’ll need to take to begin listening to an audiobook. They are:

1. Open the app
2. Tap search on the lower right side of the screen and then enter the title of the audiobook you want.
3. Tap Audiobooks to filter the results.
4. You can customise how much time your audiobook can skip back or ahead. When you play back audiobooks you can adjust the speed (tap the speed button at the bottom left) and skip ahead or back 15 seconds. Another way to access book chapters is by tapping the chapters button at the top right of the window, which will bring up a list of chapters for you to select from.

Audiobooks are a great way to feed your appetite for reading while getting on with other things, unwinding or just broadening your horizons through the magic of literature. But will they replace physical paper books? We don’t think so, not just yet anyway!