Can You Listen To Books On The Kindle App For Free?

This has become my normal way of listening to audiobooks. A practical tip: audiobooks can be streamed instead of downloaded. This becomes an option when you press the headphone icon on the audiobook screen, provided you have a good data connection or Wi-Fi connection. This is perfect for big books like the 30 hour plus epics. They can be a pain to store on your phone and so this way you don’t have to have them downloaded all the time. The streaming quality isn’t as good as downloading in the first place but in most cases of listening – in cars, on public transport, on workout etc – you won’t notice the difference.

I have to laugh at how many books I download in the last 10 minutes at the gate before my flight is called. It becomes a ritual of begging the book to download faster as I’m holding up the line to board. And then there’s that wonderful checkmark and the rest of the travel time is spent listening to the book offline. That’s not a feature, that’s a pre-flight adrenaline rush.

This can be done by: 1. Choosing a book which is Whispersync for Voice-enabled. 2. Downloading the audio book to your Kindle. 3. Go to the settings menu on your Kindle and turn on Bluetooth. 4. Pair your Bluetooth headphones/speakers. 5. Open up the book on your Kindle, click on ‘Play’. The audio will then start streaming to your connected device. The screen on your Kindle can then be turned off to save battery power. All progress is automatically saved. To return to reading a book, open up the book on your Kindle and it will ask if you want to return to your furthest reading point or your furthest listening point. Choose listening and it will open the book at the correct point, with the text from where the narrator had left off. A very clever piece of engineering.

To confirm that your headphones are Bluetooth compatible, simply connect them to your home stereo or computer prior to pairing with your Kindle. In order to connect your headphones to your Kindle, go to Settings on your Kindle. Scroll to the right on your Kindle’s home screen until you get to “More”. Tap “Wireless & Bluetooth” and then “Bluetooth”. Switch Bluetooth to ON. Your Kindle will begin to search for available Bluetooth devices. Make sure your headphones are in pairing mode and your Kindle should find them within a few seconds. Your available devices will list in the Bluetooth setting on your Kindle. Tap the name of your Bluetooth device and it will connect to your Kindle. To listen to an audiobook, open the Audible app and select an audiobook. Tap “Play” to listen to the book through your Bluetooth headphones. If you are having problems pairing, try to switch off Bluetooth on other devices within close range to rule out interference. Also, keep your Kindle and headphones close while pairing. After they’ve paired, you can move the two devices apart as the connection is stable within a typical room. Now you can listen to your audiobooks!

A tip I have: Check the book’s Kindle store page for the “Read and Listen for Free” badge. If it is there, then you are good to go. I use my iPhone, and it is very easy to download Kindle books to your device. Then you can read them, or – if it has the audio add-on included (not all KU titles do, unfortunately) – listen to them as well. You can choose to have it stream, or you can download it for later listening over Wi-Fi or even by using data (but be aware that data can eat into your allowance quickly).

Does this work for audiobooks too? Is that a whole different ball of wax when it comes to Audible subscriptions, or could we make this work for that too? Sorry for the detour, I am curious though.

You can still get loads of free Kindle books even if you don't have a Prime membership. Many of these will be listed in the ‘Top 100 Free’ section of the Kindle Store, but there are also many free books promoted by individual authors. You can also find many free books on certain platforms, where you can download them in exchange for leaving a honest review. Recently I downloaded ‘SINFUL PLEASURES: Short Filthy Stories’ to my Kindle for example – it’s a collection of very short, but very filthy, stories that can be read in a few minutes and are perfect for popping on your Kindle to read on your daily commute or while you’re taking a break from work.

I am a huge fan of the '100 unread books' challenge. My collections reflect this. I have 'The 100 List' collection that contains the 100 books that I intend to read before I buy any more books. Then I have 'The Backlog' collection that contains all the other books that I have purchased but that are not on 'The 100 List' and are therefore not being read. When I finish a book from 'The 100 List' I remove it from the list and move the top book from 'The Backlog' to 'The 100 List'. This way 'The 100 List' is a constantly rolling list of 100 books that I am reading. It turns my huge Kindle library from a source of guilt to a game. The two collections are simple to set up and use but they enforce a strict discipline on my reading that has already saved me so much money in avoiding impulse purchases of books.

There is a lot of wishful thinking going on with these answers, so I'll just have to be the downer here. Audiobooks are separate products with their own ISBNs and payment structures. If authors get 35% of the Kindle sale price for their e-books, then they get a slice of the Audible royalty pool for their audiobooks, along with the narrator, producer, and audio publisher for the publisher. This would mean that authors are losing money by including the audiobook with their e-book. Amazon offers discounted bundles of e-books and audiobooks as a marketing cost, which they hope will enable authors to double-dip. But from a business logic perspective, it would be an unusual book that could be sold as an “included” audiobook, even as a loss-leader for a mega-bestseller. Don’t hold your breath waiting for this to become the norm.

As an avid reader who juggles multiple e-readers, I’ve explored the compatibility between Kindle and Kobo extensively. Unfortunately, Kobo devices don’t natively support the Kindle app due to the differing ecosystems. Amazon’s Kindle books are designed to work within their ecosystem, which includes Kindle e-readers, the Kindle app for mobile devices, and Kindle Cloud Reader for web browsers. Kobo, on the other hand, operates on its own platform, with books primarily purchased through the Kobo store or loaded via EPUB files. The lack of a dedicated Kindle app for Kobo devices means you can’t directly access your Kindle library on a Kobo e-reader. However, there are workarounds if you’re determined to read Kindle books on a Kobo device. One method involves removing DRM protection from your Kindle books and converting them to EPUB format, which Kobo supports. Tools like Calibre, a free and open-source e-book management software, can assist with this process. It’s important to note that DRM removal is a legal gray area and may violate Amazon’s terms of service, so proceed with caution. Once converted, you can sideload the EPUB files onto your Kobo device via USB or use Kobo’s Dropbox integration for wireless transfers. This method requires some technical know-how but is a viable solution for tech-savvy readers. Another approach is to use Amazon’s Kindle Cloud Reader in the experimental browser on your Kobo device. While Kobo’s browser isn’t optimized for this purpose, it can sometimes load the web version of Kindle, allowing you to read your books online. This method is far from ideal, as the experience may be sluggish and lack features like offline reading or seamless page turns. For a smoother experience, consider using a tablet or smartphone with the Kindle app alongside your Kobo e-reader. This way, you can enjoy the best of both worlds without compromising on functionality. Ultimately, while there’s no straightforward app to read Kindle books on Kobo devices, the workarounds available can bridge the gap for determined readers. The decision to explore these methods depends on your comfort level with technology and your willingness to navigate the limitations. If you’re deeply invested in the Kindle ecosystem but love your Kobo device’s hardware, it might be worth the effort. Otherwise, sticking to Kobo’s native offerings or using a secondary device for Kindle books might be the more practical choice.