Google Play Books & Audiobooks

Description of App

All the books you love. On the page or out loud. Anywhere you are.

Dive into a world of stories with Google Play Books! Explore millions of ebooks, audiobooks, comics, and manga — all in one app.

Key Features:
• Your library, anywhere: Enjoy books on your phone, tablet, computer, or even in your car with CarPlay. Plus, you can download books to read offline.

• Organize with shelves: Personalize your digital library with custom shelves to categorize your books by genre, author, or any theme you’d like.

• Audio immersion: Enjoy a vast library of audiobooks with customizable playback speed, sleep timers, and bookmarking to enhance your listening experience.

• Smart notes: Jot down notes while you read that sync with your Google Drive and can be shared for easy collaboration.

• Kid–friendly reading tools: Let kids explore word definitions or listen to books aloud. Note: Reading tools are available in English only.

• Immersive comics: Experience Bubble Zoom for a specialized comic and manga reading experience.

• Hands–free reading: Control your audiobook with your voice using Siri.

• Read your way: Customize your reading experience by adjusting the font, text size, brightness, and more.

• Book insights: Get more out of your book with recaps and insights – right from your page. Note: Book insights is available in select English language titles.

Millions of stories await on Google Play Books! Download now and start reading.

Version

1.4.2

Free or Paid

Free

Device(s) App Was Tested On

iPhone

iOS Version

Accessibility Comments

The app works well with Voiceover, but you will be doing a lot of page turning. Use 3-finger left swipe to go forward and right to go back. This seems backwards to me but is in keeping with VO functionallity elswhere in IOS.

VoiceOver Performance

VoiceOver reads all page elements.

Button Labeling

All buttons are clearly labeled.

Usability

The app is fully accessible with VoiceOver, but the interface could be easier to navigate and use.

Other Comments

Google Play support responded to the original VO problem report on this app and fixed the issue. They may be open to further suggestions, but be aware that the first line of support may not even understand your questions. It took some persistance to get through to someone who understood and acknowledged the problem.

App Store Link

https://apps.apple.com/app/id400989007

Developer's Website

https://play.google.com

Options

Comments

VoiceOver fix in 1.3.1

Version 1.3.1 has just been released, and the release notes state that the VoiceOver bug has been fixed.

I've not used this app myself, but am assuming that the bug in question is the one mentioned above, which made it impossible to turn pages when using VoiceOver. If so, hurrah!

Confirmed

Yes, it is now possible to turn pages by using the 3-finger swipe left or right. Unfortunately they did not add the continuous reading functionallity that I suggested, but you can now read with it if you can put up with the need to constantly turn pages and get bac to the top of the screen. I will be thanking Google Support and making the second suggestion again.

Version 1.4.2

V1.4.2.6055 lists changes for Voiceover as part of the update, but I can't tell what they are. I commend them for continuing to work on it, but I'm still waiting for continuous reading. That's the one thing that would make the app truly useful.

One more thing I should add

I didn't think to comment on this because the Android app has the same quirk, but I should save you the frustration. The page chooser at the bottom will not adjust by single page numbers. You will jump tens of pages at a time, perhaps more depending on the size of the book. Ignore it unless you really want to jump around by large chunks.