Hey everyone, it's Jackson.
Today I wanted to talk to you about my top 5 favorite audiobook apps.
Before I do that, I should make a quick announcement.
I'm moving back home for the rest of the summer so I won't be recording in my nice studio
equipment at school, which is free for me.
but I will be recording on high-quality equipment so I will try to make sure my videos are as
good as possible and then at the end of the summer, then I'll go back to school and everything
will be back to normal.
But I do want to talk to you about my favorite audio book apps.
So the reason I do this is because a lot of people want to just listen to audiobooks,
or want to convert things and they don't know where to get their books and I'm going to
be talking about a lot of ones that are really not too expensive and are a really good deal,
so let's jump right in.
[Music]
At number 5 is Learning Ally.
Learning Ally is an audiobook service created for students with print disabilities basically
people volunteer to read audiobooks out loud and then it's put into a database where you
can download it.
It was a really important place for me because I was able to use it to help me get into college.
without Learning Ally, I'm really not sure where I would be today.
Now, it does cost about a $135 a year for a membership, but I think it was worth it
from me at the time.
The reason I used it so much was because books are actually expensive and with unlimited
downloads, Learning Ally is definitely a great deal.
In addition, though, you do have to prove a print disability, so you can't just use
it just because you want it.
You have to actually have documentation that you have some reason that you need it.
Learning Ally also has a few other interesting facts; including the fact that around 13,000
different schools use it, it's registered to over 200,000 students, and students have
read over 59 million pages, and 900,000 hours using Learning Ally.
I actually stopped using it as much because of two specific reasons.
The first reason was that it only lets you read a two times speed, which is definitely
not fast enough for me.
And the other thing was that I was starting to use it, but then they switched their app.
Their new app was a lot more glitchy and crashed a lot.
Now, I think they may have worked up the stability of the app, but I haven't used it in quite
a while so I don't really know.
Regardless of these problems, Learning Ally definitely is an important app and I felt
like it deserved a place on this list.
Number four: LibriVox
Basically, they take public domain books and LibriVox has volunteers read books and then
process them into audio books – kind of like Learning Ally.
The great thing about LibriVox is that they are entirely free for anyone to use.
You don't have to have a print disability, you don't have to prove anything, and you
don't have to pay anything, which is really nice.
Of course, the drawback is that these are only public domain books so they only apply
to books that are a certain number of years old, but you will be able to find a lot of
the classics and it's not really a bad thing to be limited to the classics.
In addition, LibriVox provide a wide number of formats, so you can listen to it on your
phone, you can listen to it using different apps, and I personally like using Overcast
and LibriVox together, so that I can find podcasts online of the LibriVox recordings.
Number three: Libby.
Libby is a special service that partners with various libraries to get you free audiobooks.
If you have a library membership there's a good chance that your library has partnered
with overdrive – the creators of Libby.
Basically, it's just like going to a library and borrowing a book.
If a book has already taken out, you just get put on a hold list and once the book is
all ready for you and available, you can download it.
The app is very nice and has some great speed shortcuts.
In addition, it's free for anyone who has a library card with the affiliated library.
The main benefit, however, is that the books are actually read by professionals so, while
I'm pretty used to listening to my computer all, the time it's kind of nice to have a
professional person reading the audiobook.
Libby has partnered with more than 30,000 libraries in more than 40 different countries,
so there's definitely a chance that your library is one of them.
The main two drawbacks are that, one, Libby has a more limited selection, and that, two,
you have to wait often for your books to come in.
But it's still definitely something that I use a lot.
Number two, Hoopla.
Like Libby, Hoopla also partners with libraries, so you need to see if you have a library card
that works for them.
The difference between Hoopla and Libby is that, while Libby requires you to request
books, Hoopla allows you to have four borrows of any books in their library each month.
In addition, it seems to me that the Hoopla library is slightly more extensive.
The Hoopla app is also very good, but it doesn't let you go past 2x speed, so I like the Libby
app a little bit better.
Now before we get on to my number one, I want to add a few honorable mentions.
cloudLibrary is like Libby, but sometimes works with other libraries that Libby doesn't
support.
I don't like the app as much because of the interface, but I still feel that I should
mention it.
Another option is that Universities often scan books for students with print disabilities.
You'll want to check with your office of disability or university library for this and even if
you're at a high school or a middle school, they may also do this as well for you.
In addition, there's also audible.
Now, I know a lot of people are gonna be shocked that this is not the number one on this list,
but the problem is that audible is just too expensive to me.
I really love reading, and paying $229 for twenty four audiobooks a year just is not
worth it to me.
Maybe I'm biased because of my number one choice, but I don't feel like paying that
much.
At number one, is Bookshare.
In my mind, Bookshare is the gold standard of audiobook services.
More than four hundred and twenty-five thousand people in seventy countries have access to
Bookshare's collection of six hundred thousand titles.
Basically, Bookshare is a repository of text files for people.
Bookshare provides books in various formats including: ePub, Daisy, synthesized speech,
HTML, and I believe they do a bunch of things for Braille as well.
Basically, if you want us to use a specific format you can probably find a way to convert
it with Bookshare.
In addition, it is completely free for students that provide print disabilities that severely
inhibit or prevent them from traditionally reading materials; for example, if you have
dyslexia.
Even if you're not a student, as long as you provide a print disability that matches their
specifications, it's only $50 a year.
To me, this is entirely worth it when you realize that some books are worth more than
$50.
All the books on Bookshare are completely free to download once you actually have a
membership, so that way you can listen to virtually unlimited resources.
Just one thing to note, if you have a Bookshare, account please be careful that you follow
their legal rights.
Don't share your books with other people.
It's damaging to the publishers and it hurts the cause of people who are using Bookshare
for legitimate reasons.
Bookshare is the main tool that I actually use in college to get books and, without it,
I'm not sure what I would do.
Well, that's all for this video.
I hope you found it helpful.
Don't forget to leave a comment below and let me know if you have any specific other
suggestions for audio book apps.
I know that these were kind of niche for certain people, but if you do have other but apps
that you think are helpful, definitely let me know.
In addition, if you want to scan a book or you have a book, rather, and you want it to
be an audiobook and have access to, say, Bookshare you can always cut it open and scan it, which
I've made a video on how to do, so that shouldn't be too big of a barrier for you as well.
Don't forget to Like, and subscribe, and share this video with anyone who you think might
need it.
I hope you have a great week and I'll see you next time.
[Music]
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