How to Buy an Audiobook on an iPhone

To buy an audiobook on an iPhone, open the Books app, tap Audiobooks at the bottom of the screen, tap a title, and tap Buy. The charge goes to the payment method on your Apple Account, and the audiobook is saved to your Library in the same app.

This guide covers Apple Books, the audiobook store built into the iPhone. It follows the Buy books and audiobooks and Listen to audiobooks pages in Apple’s iPhone User Guide. Audiobooks were once sold in the iTunes Store app; on a current iPhone they are bought and played in Books.

What You Need Before You Buy

• The Books app. It comes with the iPhone. If you removed it, Apple says you can find Apple Books in the App Store.
• An Apple Account with a payment method. Apple Account is the current name for an Apple ID. All Books purchases use the payment method associated with that account.
• A supported country or region. Apple Books is not available everywhere, and the Availability of Apple Media Services page shows what each region can buy.
• An internet connection. Wi-Fi is the safer choice for the download, because audiobook files are large and cellular data can cost extra.

The Books app itself is free and has no subscription. According to Apple, audiobooks are priced one at a time, and some titles are free.

How to Buy an Audiobook in the Books App

Before you tap Buy: a purchase is charged right away, and a refund is something you have to request from Apple, not something you can count on. Listen to the preview and check the price first.

1. Open the Books app. A row of tabs appears along the bottom of the screen.
2. Tap Audiobooks to browse the audiobook store. To look for something specific, tap Search and type a title, author, series, or genre.
3. Optional: tap Sections at the top of the screen to jump to categories such as Top Charts, or to genres such as Biographies & Memoirs.
4. Tap a cover. The audiobook page opens with the details, and from here you can listen to a preview or mark the title as Want to Read to save it for later.
5. Tap Buy or the price button. For a free title the button says Get instead.

6. Confirm the purchase if your iPhone asks you to, for example with Face ID, Touch ID, or your Apple Account password.

In search results, books and audiobooks can appear together. Make sure the page you open is the audiobook, not the ebook, before you buy.

Confirm the Purchase and Start Listening

Tap Library in the Books app. Purchases are saved there and sorted into collections automatically, including one named Audiobooks. Tap the cover to start playing.

While the audiobook plays, you can use these controls:

• Skip forward or back: tap the rounded arrows next to the Pause button. To change the number of seconds, go to Settings > Apps > Books and use Skip Forward or Skip Back below Audiobooks.
• Change the speed: tap 1x in the lower-left corner and drag the dial. Touch and hold the speed to reset it to 1x.
• Jump to a chapter: open the chapter list and tap a chapter. Some audiobooks call chapters tracks, or have none.
• Set a sleep timer: tap the Sleep button and choose how long to play.
• Play on another device: tap the AirPlay button and pick a HomePod, Apple TV, or Bluetooth speaker.
• Shrink the player: swipe down to switch to the mini-player and keep browsing. To close it, touch and hold the mini-player, then tap Close Audio Player.

You also get an email receipt from Apple for paid purchases. To review past charges later, check your iPhone purchase history.

Control Downloads and Cellular Data

When Wi-Fi is not available, audiobooks play over your carrier’s cellular network, which may result in additional fees. To decide how downloads behave on cellular data:

1. Open Settings and tap Apps, then Books. On iOS 17 and earlier there is no Apps menu, so look for Books in the main Settings list.
2. Turn on Automatic Downloads if you want purchases to download without asking.
3. Tap Downloads and choose Always Allow, Ask If Over 200 MB, or Always Ask.

Always Ask is the cautious choice on a limited data plan. Apple also states that audiobooks you buy can be downloaded permanently to a compatible iPhone, iPad, Mac, or PC, and that downloaded content works without an internet connection.

Redownload an Audiobook You Already Bought

If a purchase is missing from your Library, or you removed the download to save space, you do not need to buy it again. Apple’s Redownload books and audiobooks page gives this path:

1. Open Books and tap Home at the bottom of the screen.
2. Tap the Account button or your photo in the top corner.
3. Under My Purchases, tap Audiobooks. With Family Sharing, you can tap a family member’s name to see their purchases.
4. Tap Not on this iPhone, then tap All Audiobooks.
5. Find the title and tap the Download button.

Undo a Purchase or Free Up Space

Refunds. There is no cancel button inside Books. Some purchases might be eligible for a refund, and eligibility can vary by country or region. To ask, sign in at reportaproblem.apple.com, choose I’d like to, pick Request a refund, select a reason, choose the audiobook, and submit. Allow 24 to 48 hours for an update, and keep in mind that a pending charge cannot be refunded until it finishes processing. The details are on Apple’s Request a refund page.

Storage. To remove the file but keep the purchase, find the audiobook in Books, tap the More button below the cover, tap Remove, and choose Remove Download. The same menu offers Hide, which takes the title out of your library and collections; to bring it back, tap Home, tap your account icon, then tap Manage Hidden Purchases.

Books can also clear downloads on its own: tap Library, open the More menu, tap Remove Downloads, then Automatically When Finished.

Podcast episodes work in a similar way in Apple’s Podcasts app. Read how to delete podcast episodes and downloads there.

Books from Audible are handled in the Audible app instead. For those, follow the steps to remove Audible books from your iPhone.

For other kinds of content, see the complete guide to deleting items on iPhone. To keep a growing library tidy, you can also create a collection in the Books app.

Troubleshooting

Problem	What to check
No Audiobooks tab, or no Buy button	Apple Books or audiobooks may not be offered in your country or region. Check Apple’s availability page linked above.
Payment is declined	Open Settings, tap your name, then Payment & Shipping, and update or replace the payment method.
A message says there is a billing problem with a previous purchase, or verification is required	This message means an earlier order is unpaid. In Payment & Shipping, tap Fix Payment Information; new purchases stay blocked until the balance is paid.
The audiobook is not in Library	Confirm the iPhone uses the Apple Account that made the purchase, then follow the redownload steps above. Also check Manage Hidden Purchases.
The download does not start away from Wi-Fi	Review Settings > Apps > Books > Downloads, or connect to Wi-Fi.
The Books app is missing	Search for it on the iPhone. If it was removed, download Apple Books from the App Store.

A child in a Family Sharing group may see a request sent to a parent instead of a completed purchase. That is Ask to Buy, and the family organizer or a parent or guardian has to approve the request before the title downloads.

Frequently Asked Questions

Next Step

Once the audiobook is in your Library, set the download option that suits your data plan and try the sleep timer and speed dial during the first chapter. Using Audible too? See how big an Audible file is on an iPhone.