Android Auto is still a bit new, although it feels like we’ve been saying this all year, it’s still true. We have a limited number of apps available for Android Auto right now, but there are more and more coming each week. The latest addition is Audible, which is a great addition to Android Auto. It’s great to be able to listen to your favorite audio books while driving, especially if you’re stuck in traffic a lot on your way to or from work, or just on a long road trip driving across the country.
Audible is here, with Android Auto support, but it is in Beta right now. Which means you’ll have to join the Google Group then opt in to become a tester to be able to use this feature, unfortunately. But that’s easy to get through and set up. However, since this is a beta, we must warn you that you may encounter some bugs and issues with these beta builds of Audible. But that is the nature of it being a beta version of the app.
When it comes to the functionality of Audible in the car, there’s not much to see here, which isn’t actually a bad thing. Your books in your account will appear in the app in the slide-out menu, however they will only appear if they are downloaded and physically on the phone that is plugged into the car. So if it’s not downloaded, you can’t listen to it. Controls are pretty minimal, you have play/pause as well as the ability to rewind or skip 30 seconds. In the overflow menu you have options to bookmark sections as well as skip and rewind to different chapters in the book. It’s a pretty minimal app, as far as the interface goes, and that’s not really a bad thing, when you think about it.
If you haven’t signed up for Audible already, you can sign up today and get a free 30-day trial and see if you like the service before ponying up the extra cash. Speaking of extra cash, it’s going to cost you $14.95/month for 1 book a month, or $22.95/month for 2 books a month. Of course you can cancel at any time. Audible has gotten some rave reviews from just about everyone that has used it, so definitely worth giving it a try.
