Reviews for LibriVox Audio Books

I have been using this app off and on for many years (ad supported version) I love it, and will continue to use it. I do have a strange issue surrounding how the app reacts on some downloaded chapters. Seemingly isolated issue. So it doesn't "pick up" where I left off precisely every time. Which when that happens I opt to jump through the chapter until I find my place. Sometimes when that happens it will automatically start the chapter at the beginning not allowing me to start where I left off.

It's great that the audios are no charge - appreciate there is such a service. I'm currently listening to a book from the 1800s and no other service seemed to have it. The audio quality is as good as you'd hear anywhere. The one small issue is that I can't figure out how to advance from one chapter to the next, without me having to reopen the book. When a chapter finishes, it doesn't automatically keep going, making it a nuisance when driving. Other than this, it's a quality service.

I had this before but it quit working so I had to reinstall and I did lose my purchased books. But I'd had them awhile and had listened several times so I count it as though I'd passed them on. I still rate this 5 stars. It's free, there's a good selection, and even the ads are far from intrusive. Some times the narrator's aren't the greatest but at least they did their readings so how can I complain?

While I appreciate all the content, I do wish the "sorting and showing" algorithm could be tweaked so that I could exclude or better sort all the "radio drama" episodes and/or poetry anthologies when I'm searching for a book to listen too. Also, I don't really care for the advertisers you've allowed to purchase ads on your platform. Their commercials are pretty sleazy.

This app provides access to thousands of public domain books read by volunteers. I greatly appreciate all the time and effort invested by the staff and volunteers. Quality varies, but I have enjoyed what I listened to just as much as more professional recordings. And in one title actually found the chirping birds in the background to add to the experience. It was a book of children's poetry and at first I thought it a sound effect, lol. I have read several rave reviews about different narrators while browsing for books, which seems to indicate others are finding many enjoyable listens as well. Unfortunately, I have had no luck browsing titles past that first day. I get no images or slivers of an image, and many times links won't work. I will type something in the search box, but it doesn't register that I have clicked the "search" button. I suspect my device isn't compatible? It is a Nook HD. It is getting to be too old for many things it seems, but I can't afford a new device. So, will just have to give up what apps don't work well and hope to find ones I can still use that fill the void somewhat.

Although the books are old, there's a very large selection and several categories. I like sci fi and ghost/horror stories. I listen to it every night to help me sleep, and while driving. May be worth downloading your favorite books. I listened to books on s long distance trip and was surprised by how much data I used. So if you have limited data, I'd download books on your wifi. I just use the free version. But you can get a paid plan or buy newer books. You'd enjoy this app.

I love this app. keep in mind you're getting older books, but the selection is amazing! Remember all those classics you said you were going to read someday? the hardest part is picking only one. The search options work pretty well, -- by author, genre, subject, title, etc. I am frequently without wifi, so having the option to download is something I really enjoy

I used to love this app until it stopped supporting the dozen or more audio books I purchased through the app. I downloaded the audio books like the app instructed me to & I can't find the books anywhere. That's probably $100 or more in audio books I've lost & apparently LibriVox doesn't answer emails anymore so I guess I'm out of luck. I almost never use the app anymore. Between losing my purchased books & other changes that have been made it's not worth it anymore.

Great app. I've found some fun books over the past few years I otherwise wouldn't have read. I've had success getting a good reader by reading book reviews and searching for alternate versions of the same book. I didn't mind the ads much, but I recently paid $3 for the ad-free version of the app because I like to support work in the public domain (and having no ads has been kind of nice, too).

Librivox the website is 5+ stars. But there's just no need for this app. It's not very good, not very smooth, not very glitch free, and the loud annoying ads are infuriating (especially since the material you're listening to is in the public domain!!). Don't use this app. Just download the mp3s from the Librivox site and then use one of the other excellent free audiobook apps.

It's probably one of the best free audiobook readers if you don't have a library card. It has a large selection of books with a bunch of different readers. There's only banner ads or the occasional 1 ad between chapters; but, it never gives more than the 1 ad between chapters. All the books are in the public domain, so the selection is technically limited. But there are thousands of stories to enjoy. I recommend this app to everyone who is looking for audiobooks, because this app is amazing.

Very nice audio-only book reader. Ads are a little annoying, but the $2.99 price for the no-ads version is a great value. Only offers books already in the public domain, and the reader and recording quality varies between books (and sometimes between sections of a book). Librivox has a decent selection of non-English-language book readings, and I find hearing a variety of voices, accents, and reading styles and speed helps with my language learning efforts. Recommended!

I love this app when it works. Unfortunately, I continue to experience glitches over and over again. For awhile it was working perfectly. Now it's back to having issues with the player - certain chapters are supposed to be 20 minutes long, but are then suddenly 56 minutes long. At other times, I suddenly can't skip forward or backward. It often tries to reset to a specific chapter/time stamp when I'm attempting to navigate. I see others have similar issues and am hoping we get an update soon!

This is a nice interface in some ways, and the adverts are not intrusive. However, the ability to navigate forward or backward within any text is severely limited and sometimes maddening. The time elapsedb on the time bar is often wildly out of sinc with the actual recording. The app sometimes jumps chapters for reasons I still haven't figured out. After a few weeks, I'm looking for a better alternative.

If you enjoy classic literature, librivox is great. I have recently become invested in regency era novels (Jane Austen era) and I use librivox to listen to them. I paid to remove the ads. it was a small one time fee and totally worth it for how many great audiobooks are on the app. no issues with the app. everything works well.

I've used librivox for years and enjoyed it and would have given it a 4.5 rating. Lately several of the functions have quit working. Additionally, and most importantly, there are now adds that are absolutely NOT family friendly. 5/6/25 This is an updated rating. Almost all of the family unfriendly adds are gone so I added 2 stars. I appreciate all the work that is done in the app and, of course, all the work the readers put into the recordings for us.

Ads play over the audio and you cannot stop them. You can pause the audio, force close the app, and clear all librivox notifications, but nothing stops the ad from playing. Why are ads still able to play when the app isn't even open? Edit to add: the ads continue to play even over other audio apps (pocketcasts, libby). Thank you for fixing this.

An update. better over time. I do really appreciate this app. go to sleep listening to. ll the Scribl titles have long dead spots and the time stamps are wrong. I can fast forward, and end up hearing parts from earlier. Also, some weird things like starting at the same spot when it should have advanced, or shutting off when I lock the phone screen. At least it is cheap, but it is also frustrating. At the end of each chapter is 40 minutes of "dead space" unless I manually advance the chapter.

edit: I'm very disappointed in how the audio ads have changed. they have increased in frequency and they are SO loud compared to the book audio. I had an ad between each chapter. it really affects immersion, and is uncomfortably loud. I have to change my rating because it that. Lots of old classics! I may have to narrate a book or two myself to help expand their library. I've had many hours of books listened to with librivox!

I've been listening to Librivox since the 00's, love it. The app is ok. The search is not the best. I find that trying a lot of keywords is the best. So, instead of searching for history, using a country name like Poland or Serbia yields better results than Eastern European history. But it's a free collaborative effort, and there's a lot of material most people would never encounter exceptin this format. I would suggest buying the app if you use it. The ads are invasive.