iBooks gets audiobooks, iBooks Author content for iPhone in iOS 8.4

By Joseph Keller
last updated

As part of the iOS 8.4 update, which brought Apple's new Music app and streaming service, Apple has also added a number of improvements to its iBooks app. One of these changes means that iBooks is now the destination for your audiobooks. You can find, download, and listen to audiobooks from the app. Previously, audiobooks were found as a part of the Music app.

iBooks on iOS 8.4 also adds support for iBooks Author-created books, and Made for iBooks content, on the iPhone. Check out below for the full list of iBooks changes in iOS 8.4:

  • Browse, listen, and download audiobooks from inside iBooks
  • Enjoy the all-new Now Playing feature, designed specifically for audiobooks
  • Books that are Made for ibooks now work on iPhone in addition to iPad
  • Find and pre-order books in a series right from your library
  • Improves accessibility of widgets, glossary and navigation in books made with iBooks Author
  • New default Chinese font
  • New setting to turn off Auto-Night theme in your library
  • Resolves an issue that may have prevented Hide Purchases from working
  • Resolves an issue that may have prevented downloading books from iCloud

To take advantage of these new features, be sure to download iOS 8.4.

Joseph Keller
Joseph Keller

Joseph Keller is the former Editor in Chief of iMore. An Apple user for almost 20 years, he spends his time learning the ins and outs of iOS and macOS, always finding ways of getting the most out of his iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and Mac.

3 Comments
  • After struggling to find useful information about audiobooks in iOS 8.4 I took the plunge anyway. My thoughts for other heavy audiobook users (on iPhone): It's true iBooks now has a dedicated audiobooks section, but this is only accessible from the drop down at the top of the screen (the same method to show PDFs only, for example). One cannot modify the buttons at the bottom of the app as in the old Music app, so it is always a two-touch process for me. Yes, I suppose I could always look at All Books, but I am also a heavy consumer of ebooks and prefer them separate. You are now able to set the skip forward/back times independently up to 60 seconds, which is nice. However, I think the settings would have been better served to have a higher maximum rather than a multitude of 15 second increments. Of greatest impact to me is the fact that home sharing no longer allows me to stream audiobooks from my pre-Yosemite iMac. I realize that the writing has been on the wall about this, but it still saddens me. While I generally try to stay within the apple ecosystem, it doesn't seem to be a great fit for those that have a large number of our own audiobooks. I haven't really explored alternatives yet. Lest this be seen as entirely negative, iPhone support for Made for iBooks is HUGE. I wish Apple had launched iBooks Author with it years ago.
  • Real questions for me are bookmark support and will Audible audiobooks still work? Do they stay in the Music app or get moved over to ibooks too or is Apple going to use this opportunity to eliminate the competition?
  • I have a new iPod Touch 6Gen and cannot seem to synchronize Audiobook playback position between Mac, iPad and iPod. Is this possible for Audiobooks using OS 10.10.5 and IOS 8.4.1?