Audible for Android App- Learn on the Fly

I have to say- I love my Android phone. Sure, it doesn't have the best user interface, but that is changing. I bought it with integration and productivity in mind, and I love to listen to podcasts and audio books on it.  Recently, I found a gem of an app- the Audible.com beta app. Why is this significant? Because in the name of streamlining the learning process, listening to books is the next evolutionary step in content consumption. With audio books, you can simply consume more. I know that there are other audio book apps in the iPhone App Store, but there's really one name in audio books right now, and that's Audible, so I don't know why anyone would go anywhere else.

Image from: Android and Me

Now, this app is in Beta, so it's not totally ready for prime time yet, but it's close enough in my estimation. You can download the app for your Android (off Market) here: http://groups.google.com/group/audible-for-android-beta?msg=subscribe

I'll tell you 5 reasons you'll love it:

1. Streaming: It streams books, duh. Okay, it's not real streaming, but it does start playing audio as soon as you start downloading.
And you can download and then "remove from device" at your heart's content." That way you can save room on your device. For students who are forced to learn dry, heavy content this could be a Godsend. How often have you had to slog through a textbook wondering, "does this come in audio format? Ugh!"  Let's hope they start making more textbooks in audio format.

2. Syncing: It synced up all of my previous purchases on Audible.com. I've been a member for a few months, and it remembered my purchases so I can listen to any of them at any time- on the go. This is great for folks like me who don't like having to sync my iPod up to my computer before I go anywhere that I'm going to listen. Just make it available to me. And make it easy.

3. No iTunes: No offense to Apple, but iTunes is not in the cloud. You don't need iTunes or some other forced download media player to play your books like other book apps, or, as also found on Barnes and Noble.com.

4. No more burnin' CDs! The app downloads them to your Android, and if you have a car with an AUX jack (like my Prius) you can listen to your books on some sweet speakers.

5. Take notes: there's a neat feature that lets you take a note during a particular point in the book. Take as many as you like- then at a later time, you can check your notes and it will take you back to that exact point in the book. This is super for students who are doing research and want to use a quote. If you use APA style to cite, you're definitely not going to use page numbers (which is okay by me), so this helps solve that problem of citing audio formats. There's also a button (not working yet) that will let you "share" that note through Twitter or other social media outlet. I'm sure this feature is disabled until it's finally released, but I wonder if Audible will also share the snippet of the audio as well. That would be very cool.

Anyhow- I like my apps simple and intuitive, plus I like apps that streamline my productivity. For a life-long learner like myself, having an Audible app goes perfectly next to my Google Listen app (review coming soon). Listen on!

This was cross-posted at the Tech and Learning Advisors blog.