Guide to Develop An Audiobook App Like Audible: Key Features & Cost

Having free time in today’s lifestyle is a luxury but most of us are short on this luxury. This shortage of free time makes it hard for book lovers to go through their books on the shelf. Bibliophiles love to read books but as we have discussed the shortage of time is a problem, audiobooks and voice audiobook player apps have come to their rescue. Audible has created an audiobook revolution.

Audible is a subsidiary of Amazon and is the most talked-about audiobook platform. Apart from audiobooks, it also sells podcasts, magazines, newspapers in the audio format. Audible, at the moment, has a gigantic 450,000 titles and it is growing at a rapid pace. According to a report of a trusted firm, the audiobook is going to grow at 20% which will create a solid business opportunity for the entrepreneurs.

The demand for books is hardly going to go down as there is a large pool of book readers in the market that look for innovativeness. This combination has created a huge demand for audiobooks in the past 2 or 3 years. Since a large number of entrepreneurs are interested in developing an audiobook app like Audible, here we are presenting you with a complete guide that will assist them in embarking upon their journey.

How Does An Audio Book Mobile App Works?

The procedure of an audiobook app is pretty straightforward. There a few steps involved in this process and we will discuss them in the upcoming points.

• You open the app where you register your credentials with the app.
• After the registration, the app will ask about the genres of books that you would like to read such as horror, self-help, history, etc.
• Post selection of genres you will be presented with the main screen upon which all the books are laid in front of you in the audio formats. There is a various section of audiobooks and voice tracks that you can choose from.
• Some of the books are free to listen to, however, you need to buy a subscription to unlock most of the audiobooks.

Industries Adopting Audio Book Apps

More and more industries are using audiobook apps as a platform to make their content reach the public. These industries include Entertainment, E-learning, Tourism, and various others. So in this section, we will have a look at the major industries that are enjoying the benefits that audiobook apps are providing.

Entertainment

Entertainment has seen a major shift in its way of doing business since this culture of the audiobook has been launched. Movie superstars have signed deals with apps like audible to narrate novels and storybooks to their audience. Stories and intriguing written work of top-class writers get to reach the audience that has been looking for something different from the normal and when these stories get narrated by faces that you admire you get instantly hooked by the audio version of any book.

For entertainment purposes, there are various audiobook mobile apps like Audible Suno and Storytel. These apps are good for those who are interested to have some fun or want to listen to a nice story in their free time.

E-Learning

E-learning is another industry that is reaping rewards from the introduction of audiobook apps. Students who find it hard to attain knowledge from reading their coursebook can look to listen to their coursebook through the audiobook app on their app. Educational institutions that have been providing education through various online mediums can make their students study and revise their stuff by listening to the study material by listening through the audiobook option.

For educational purposes, one will find a wide range of audiobook apps with books on different topics. There are even voice book apps for, especially enabled people. Some examples of such apps are Beelinguapp (helps to learn 35 languages with voice notes and audiobooks), Cloudbeats and Smart audiobook does a similar job.

Tourism

The tourism industry is another industry that is reaping major rewards from this boom in audiobook apps. The tourism industry is an integral part of any country’s economy and tourists like to gather as much information as they can about a country they are about to travel. Now, tourists can get to know in-depth about various traveling places by listening about that specific place in form of an audiobook. This innovation is a revelation in the tourism sector as it instigates the process of curiosity in travel lovers about various beautiful places across the globe.

For example, the app Audio Compass works as an audio tour guide and helps you travel and enjoy more than 1200 locations in India, London, Singapore, Istanbul, Oman, and Bhutan. All the users have to do is select a place and the audio guide will help them with the trip. The audioguides can also be downloaded for offline use.

Also Read: How To Developing A Music Streaming App?

Why One Should Invest In The Development Of An Audiobook App Like Audible?

There has been a significant boost in the digitization world and at the moment there is a great requirement of entrepreneurs in the market as the demand from the users is at an all-time high. Innovation is on the lips of every user and if one can provide it to the users then chances of their success become pretty high.

Audiobooks are such innovation has come out on the top in recent times and that is why investors are looking to put a big chunk of their money into this innovation. Popular publishing houses such as Hachette, Penguin Random, Simon & Schuster, HarperCollins have admitted that audiobooks have skyrocketed their profits in the past year or so.

The United States has been the biggest market for audiobooks and three years before it generated sales of $2.5 billion. This number was slightly greater than the number of $2.1 billion that was generated a year before in 2016.

There is a list of reasons that have greatly contributed to the profit that all the publishing houses are attaining and among these reasons reader’s fondness tops the chart. People love to listen to audiobooks because

• Audiobooks are portable and can be listened to anywhere.
• They enjoy being read to.
• People can other stuff while listening to an audiobook

Monetization Strategies That Can Make Money For Your App

Monetization strategies play a key part in making money for your app as investing too much from your pocket will create a lot of stress in your head. So, in this section, we are focusing on some of the most prominent monetization strategies in the market.

1. Promotion of Authors

There is a large number of new and talented authors in the market that go unrecognized. You can reach an agreement with these authors to showcase them on your platform in return for a certain amount of payment. This creates a win-win situation for both the parties as the authors get to come in the eye of the readers and you get a source of capital to run your application.

2. Selling Audiobooks

As you can find out by the title, in this method audiobooks are directly sold to interested customers. There is no middle-party involved in this transaction. However, one downside of this method is that it can only attract those customers who are interested in some specific amount of audiobooks.

3. Advertisements

Users interested in enjoying the free titles can include ads within the free audiobooks. Another method of increasing the ad-revenue generated by your app is showing in-app promotions of various audiobooks and other relatable products.

4. Subscriptions

Subscriptions are another source of revenue for your app. Through subscriptions, you permit the users to read a certain amount of books monthly or annually. The subscription model works in two distinctive ways, one being in which you allow the customers to read a limited amount of books during a month. In the second method, you charge the customer a certain amount of money and after that, you permit the customer to read as many amounts of books as he can.

Top Audiobook Mobile Applications

Since audiobooks got popularised, a large number of entrepreneurs jumped into these industries and as an effect of that, a large number of audiobook apps have assembled in the market. However, not all audiobook apps are being able to attract customers, this task has been performed ably only by a certain amount of audiobook apps. These popularised audiobook apps will be the theme of this point, so let us dive straight into it.

1. Google Play Books

Audiobooks were introduced to Play Store by Google in January of 2018. Over time, this app has become the focal point of a wide variety of digital content such as e-books, comic books, textbooks, and audiobooks.

The content that you access through the Google Play Books android apps is in sync with all the devices that you have connected to your Google account. This sync feature works smoothly in audiobooks too. For example, one can start listening to a book through the browser on his laptop and then carry on from the last bookmark on your Android or ios device.

The audiobook that you start listening to gets downloaded to your device and because of this extraordinary feature, you can listen to that audiobook even in offline mode without the need for mobile internet.

2. Audible

Audible is the most popular, largest, and advanced audiobook service across the globe. Audible offers a bunch of exclusive titles, book series, and audio shows. Audible places a lot of emphasis on customer’s preferred ways of getting the content. One can buy the audiobooks through the traditional way of buying a subscription is another way of getting in touch with the content at $14.95 per month. If you buy the subscription then you get to download one book for free and get 30% off on the available audiobooks.

The audible app is free of cost and also ad-free. Apart from that, it syncs all the audiobooks in your account with all the connected devices. Through Audible you can listen to all the downloaded audiobooks in offline mode. Audible offers high-quality sound without any interruptions along with allowing you to manage the narration speed and also move forward and backward quickly. The audible app offers extended access to an Audible store with advanced recommendation tools which helps out in exploring Audible’s original shows, comedy, and other quality audio channels.

3. Kobo Books

If you are already using Kobo for e-books and looking for a platform for audiobooks then you don’t need to go anywhere else as Kobo is a great source of audiobooks too. Kobo added the option of audiobooks in their e-bookstore in September of 2017. Kobo is pretty similar to Google Play Books. It turns to a book reader or an audiobook player with a mutual library and access to the store.

The overall design of the audiobook player is quite captivating supported by a nice slider that helps the user to navigate through a book with just a touch. Kobo allows its users to browse the store for audiobook deals. It includes an option of signing up for a $10/month audiobook subscription service which is similar to audible.

4. Apple Books

Looking at the growth of audiobook lovers across the globe, Apple decided to jump on the gravy train in recent years. Audiobooks on Apple have gained people’s attention as they are pretty smooth in functionality.

To browse audiobooks you would be required to open the Apple Books app and you will have to follow that by tapping at the bottom of the screen. If you are looking to go through the latest featured audiobooks then you would have to browse sections at the top of the screen to explore all the genres.

Click on the great narrator’s option to go through books of your preferred narrator, celebrity narrators, or full-case dramatizations. When your search for your favorite audiobook is over you can listen to the sample of that book by tapping on the preview option. In case you want to buy that audiobook you can click on the price option.

5. Scribd

Scribd has always on the scene when it came to e-books, however, in the past year or so, it has established itself as one of the topmost priorities when it comes to a platform for audiobook lovers. The presentation design of Scribd is super catchy which provides a feeling of novelty to the users who for surety have visited all the trending audiobook platforms.

A particular audiobook on Scribd is assisted with all necessary details such as the overall rating provided by the previous users. The writer and narrator of the book are mentioned at top of every audiobook that anyone decides to listen to. One can start listening to the audiobook at a particular or can save it to listen to it later. Scribd audiobook is available on both Android and ios platform.

General Features To Add In An Online Audiobook Service App

• Register and create a profile
• An audiobook store with a user library management system built-in
• A web platform from which users can access their audiobook library
• Download audiobook and podcasts for offline usage
• Customize the look and design of the app
• Customize volume and other aspects of sound with an equalizer
• Search and filter through various choices of audiobooks
• Contact customer support
• Give Reviews and Ratings
• Social integration for sharing audiobook with friends
• Support for downloadable audiobook formats
• Support for connecting audiobook app to smart speakers

User Panel Features

• Sign up/sign in
• Play/pause the audiobook
• Background play audio podcasts
• Save audiobook for listening later

Admin Panel Features

• Manage subscriptions
• Add/delete audiobooks
• Manage advertisements
• Manage the extra content

Advanced Features To Be Included In Audiobook Mobile App

General features are the basic necessity of any app but advanced features need to be included in any app development to take the working of any app to a whole another level. There is a long list of advanced features that can be easily implemented in an audiobook app, however, to keep the section subtle we are having a look at the most essential features that one can think of.

Social Sign Up

Signing up with the audiobook app is the first and foremost step that you will have to get done with. Registering with the app can be done either through the traditional method of providing your details or by signing up with your social media credentials. Both ways are super easy and make you’re a known member of the app.

Push Notifications

Push notifications will provide you with all the timely reminders regarding the latest updates of the app in the form of new book launches, an important announcement regarding a specific book that the user was looking for. Discounts and special offers on the books are also made to reach the users through the medium of push notifications.

Voice Assistance

Users want their task to become as easy as possible and voice assistance plays its part perfectly in this quest. Users don’t like to type that much on their web searches and looking up this adding a voice assistant to your app will lure in more and more users. Through voice assistance, users can speak on the mic about their specific needs and it will be processed ahead.

Multiple Payment Options

Flexibility in payment options is the need of the hour as users from all across the globe tend to use these apps and modes of payment are different in a different part of the world. So, if you will provide flexibility in the mode of payments then you will be making a lot of customers stay on your app for a long time. Various mode of payments includes credit/debit cards, UPI, net banking PayPal, etc.

Search Recommendation

Search recommendation needs to be integrated into the app as the searching process for any book pretty easy. If the customer is looking to find some book that he doesn’t know the full name then typing a part of the name should be enough for the system to recognize the book and display search recommendation on that basis. Search recommendation is quite beneficial for a user who is new to the environment.

CMS Integration

Integrating Content Management System helps you to manage the web content while allowing multiple contributors to create, publish, and edit. Content in CMS is generally stored in a database and displayed in a presentation layer based on a set of templates.

CRM Integration

CRM stands for Customer Relationship Management. CRM solutions are applications that assist the company to manage interactions with their already existing and potential customers. During this process, the company gets to understand the choices and demands in a detailed manner. This in turn improves the relationship of the company with its customers.

Real-time Analytics

Real-time analytics is a great tool to have in your app as it includes technologies and processes that manage, measure, and analyze the important data that specific company stores in its database. Real-time analytics can easily handle massive amounts of data with impressive speed and low response times.

Team Structure Required To Develop An Voice Audiobook Player App

A team of individuals with all the needed skills performs the task of developing an audiobook app. In this section, we will have a look at all the app development experts that are required in designing an audiobook app.

For Developing An App With Basic Features

• UX and UI designer
• Developers
• Quality Assurance Engineer

For Developing An App With Advanced Features

• 2-3 Team Managers
• 3 UI/UX Designer
• 2-3 Quality Analysts
• 8-10 Developers
• 1 Project Manager

Technology Stack for Developing An Audiobook App

• Application and Data: jQuery, React, Java, Bootstrap, Amazon EC2, Amazon S3, and Amazon
• Payment: Stripe, PayPal, Square, PayGate, PayFort, Braintree
• Backend and DevOps: Logback, Amazon S3, Dyn DNS, Symantec SSL, LiveJournal, Neustar UltraDNS, FoxProxy
• Analytics: Adobe Analytics, Adobe Target, Google Analytics
• Marketing: Facebook Login, Amazon Advertising, Extole, Login with Amazon, Rockerbox
• Plug-ins and SDKs: Adobe Reader Mobile SDK, SkyePUB SDK, epuBear, KITABOO SDK, Integrating audiobooks using AudioEngine

Cost Of An Audiobook App Development

The cost of developing a mobile app like an audiobook app depends on multiple factors such as the level of complexity of the app, features, and functionalities that need to be added to the app, the number of third-party plugins, and the country in which you are developing your app in.

As you are looking to develop an audiobook like Audible, you need to have to consider some added factors such as the cost of hosting the app, the cost of publishing the app on the app store, and the cost of maintaining and updating the app.

The country that you choose to develop your app in plays a major role in determining the overall cost of the app. Like in the U.S., the app developers charge a whopping $90-$110 for an hour and if we compare this amount to India then it drops drastically as Indian developers charge only $20-$70 for an hour.

After doing all the approximations, we conclude that an audiobook with basic features will cost you around $10,000-$12,000 per hour.

Wrapping Up

There are lot & lot of people who love reading books and absorb a high number of perspectives in their mind, however, lack of time in their already occupied life makes it hard for them to pursue what they have interest in. Audiobooks provide a great option to them in gaining the knowledge they are looking to take in by listening to the book they want to read. The books industry is moving tremendously towards audiobooks and you at any point in time had an idea of developing an audiobook app business then it is just the right time to cash in on the momentum.