Best Methods to Listen to Audible on Amazon Alexa

Audible audiobooks allow you to "read" a whole book while doing other things. If you happen to own an Amazon Echo at the same time, things would become much easier as it allows you to listen to those Audible books on Alexa using just your voice. With the smart Amazon Alexa, the built-in voice assistant of Echo, you can freely control the playback of any Audible audiobook merely via voice commands. Here are two simple ways to use Audible and Amazon Echo to listen to Audible on Alexa.

Part 1. Audile on Amazon Alexa App - Minimum Requirements

To listen to Audible on Amazon Alexa, here're some minimum requirements to prepare your Audible account, Alexa and Audible app, Amazon Echo device well.

1. Ensure the Audible and Amazon account are combined.

Audible users choose to combine their Audible and Amazon accounts for reasons, one of which is to use Audible on Amazon Alexa app.

Step 1. You should sign in to your Audible account on the desktop site to access the "Sign in with a username" button. From here use your Audible username to sign in.

Step 2. Hover your mouse over Hi, (Username) at the top-right.

Step 3. Click Account Details > Merge now to follow to enter the information required (your Audible password, your Amazon information, a payment method).

Once Finished, you've officially combined your Audible and Amazon account. In the step that follows, you can use your Amazon credentials to sign in.

2. Ensure the Amazon Alexa app and Audible app are up-to-date.

To play Audible on Amazon echo, the Amazon Alexa app is essential. You'll also need to make sure you are using the latest version of the Audible app on your device to have the Alexa support.

Step 1. From the Home screen of the iOS or Android device, open the app store or Google Play app.

Step 2. Go to Search.

Step 3. Enter "Amazon Alexa"/"Audible" and search for it.

Step 4. Download or update both the Amazon Alexa and Audible apps.

3. Ensure the Bluetooth is enabled on your iOS or Android device.

You can also enable Bluetooth on your iOS or Android device for an easier setup experience.

Part 2. How to Set Up Amazon Echo on the Amazon Alexa App

You can now start to set up your Echo from the start or head to the Devices setting in the Alexa app.

For users:

Step 1. From the Home screen of the device, open the Alexa app.

Step 2. Tap Devices > Plus (+) > Add Device > Amazon Echo > Echo, Echo Dot, Echo Plus and more under the ECHO SMART SPEAKERS. Or tap Devices > Plus (+) > Add Devices > (Amazon echo) under the AVAILABLE DEVICES.

Step 3. Turn on your Echo, waif for the blue light turns orange.

Step 4. Tap Yes, and follow the instructions to complete setup.

For starters:

Step 1. From the Home screen of the device, open the Alexa app, and sign in to the app with your Amazon credentials.

Step 2. Review and agree to Amazon's Conditions of Use. Tap Yes, and the Amazon Alexa will ask if you want to set up a device.

Step 3. Tap Yes, and Alexa will start to search for your device. Make sure your Echo is nearby.

Step 4. Select "Echo, Echo Dot, Echo Plus and more" under the ECHO SMART SPEAKERS section.

Step 5. Make sure your Echo us plugged in the Setup mode: Plug in your Echo device into an outlet. In about a minute, Alexa will display an orange light and let you know to complete setup in the Alexa app.

Step 6. Tap Yes, and select your Amazon Echo under the AVAIALABLE DEVICES section.

Step 7. Select your Wi-Fi network.

Now your Echo is now connected. Tap CONTINUE, and follow the prompts in the Alexa app to finish setting up your device. You can also select Skip when the option appears to configure these language, croups and voice settings later.

If your device is not discovered, here are a few tips from Amazon's Alexa:

1. If you have a 1st or 2nd generation Echo device, enter Manual Setup.

2. Make sure you stay within 3 metres of your Echo device.

3. Check that your device is plugged in.

4. If you don't see an orange light, learn how to enter setup mode.

Part 3. How to Listen to Audible on Amazon Alexa App [Online]

Alexa-enabled device owners can make use of the Amazon Alexa app to listen to Audible audiobooks from the device online. With the Amazon Alexa app, it's available to view and manage all titles.

How to link Audible to the Amazon Alexa app:

For users:

Step 1. From the Home screen of the device, open the Alexa app.

Step 2. Tap Play > Settings (Gear) > Link New Service. You can also select Link Music Services under the Activity from the Home page of the Alex app.

Step 3. Make sure the Audible account that's combined with Amazon account is signed in to the Audible app. Scroll to Audible under the music & podcast services list.

Step 4. Follow the on-screen instructions.

For starters:

Step 1. From the Home screen of the device, open the Alexa app.

Step 2. Choose Play. If you hasn't link to the Audible service, tap Link Services.

Step 3. Ensure you are sign in to the Audible app with your Amazon credentials. Select Audible under LINK NEW ACCOUNT.

Step 4. Follow the on-screen instruction to link the Audible to your Alexa app.

How to access Audible on the Amazon Alexa app:

In general, Alexa can read most of your books with the exception of comics and graphic novels on any Echo device. And you can easily play Audible on Echo as long as you're logged into your Amazon Audible account on Echo. Let's go through the whole process and start listening to Audible audiobooks.

Step 1. From the Home screen of the device, open the Alexa app.

Step 2. Choose Play to access Music & Books.

Step 3. Wait until the Alexa app loads the entire Audible Library for you. After a few moments, a list of all the Audible audiobooks you own will show.

Step 4. Tap on the title you'd like to listen.

Step 5. Your Alexa will begin playback of your title.

How to control Audible playback with the Alexa Echo:

You can now control your Audible playback with your Echo hands free with voice commands or access the Audible Player of the app.

Option 1: Control the Audible Playback with Voice Commands

There are some basic voice commands you can give to Alexa and ask it to pause, stop, go forward or back while listening to Audible books on Amazon Echo:

"Alexa, read [the book title]."

"Alexa, play [title of a book] from Audible."

"Alexa, next chapter."

"Alexa, set a 20-minute sleep timer."

"Alexa, pause."

"Alexa, go forward."

...

Option 2: Control the Audible Playback on the Audible Player

While listening to a title via your Alexa device, in addition to voice commands, you can control playback of your title from the Player screen of the Alexa app.

Tap the audiobook card on the bottom of the screen to go to the Player screen. You can control the playing of audiobook from the Player screen.

There are some options on the Player screen you can use:

Adjust volume: Adjust the volume of the audiobook.

Play/Pause: You use them to start to play or pause audiobooks.

Jump ahead/back 30 seconds: You find the part you want to listen to by using these buttons. You can also rewind or fast forward with the timeline.

Chapter Navigation: You can use this button to change the chapter of the audiobook

Part 4. How to Download Alexa-Comaptible Files for Offline Listening

The alternative way to play Audible on Amazon Echo is uploading the audiobooks to Amazon Music account with the help of Audible to Echo converter software. This solution is highly recommended for Audible users who want to make a backup of their audiobooks on different devices and platforms.

In fact, all Audible books are protected so that only a few selected devices are allowed to play the audiobooks. If you want to transfer and share them on any other MP3 player or mobile device, you should get rid of the protection from those Audible audiobooks firstly. To get it done, ViWizard Audible AAX Converter is a great assistant that could help a lot.

It's a smart and unique Audible audiobook converter that can easily convert the audios from AA/AAX to MP3, AAC, WAV, FLAC, M4A, M4B in 100% lossless quality with 100X faster speed. After that, you'll be able to upload the converted Audible audiobooks to Amazon Music account for listening on Alexa with voice commands.

How to convert Audible titles for the Amazon Alexa app:

This is the complete tutorial of converting Audible audiobooks to unprotected formats by using ViWizard Audible AA/AAX Converter.

Step 1Add Audible Audiobooks

After launching ViWizard Audible Converter, click the Add Files button to add the book files from your Audible to the software. You can also drag and drop the Audible audiobooks into the converter directly.

Step 2Set Output Format

Switch to the Format panel at the bottom left to set the output profile of the audio files. To keep the 100% lossless quality, you should choose the Lossless output format. Otherwise, you can select MP3, AAC, M4A, WAV, etc. as you like. In the Format Settings window, you can also adjust other parameters like codec, channel, sample rate, bit rate, etc.

Step 3Convert Audible Audiobooks

Now, click the Convert button and the program will start to convert your Audible books to common formats at up to 100X faster speed. To locate the converted audio files, you should simply click the Converted icon at the top center.

Part 5. How to Upload Audible Files to Amazon Alexa [Offline]

Now with the Alexa-compatible files on the computer device, you can upload the files to use with the Amazon Alex. PLEX is the most popular media server available to play your music files on your Echo. You can choose to use a media server device that can be used to run Plex Media Server, such as a desktop computer (running Windows, MacOS, or Linux), a NAS box or an Nvidia Shield TV pro box.

How to upload Audible Files to Plex Media Server:

Step 1. Sign up for a free Plex account, which is required to use the service with Alexa.

Step 2. You can use a browser to go to https://www.plex.tv/media-server-downloads/ to download the Plex Media Server depending on the device.

Step 3. Click here to learn how to set up your Plex Media Server and create a Music Library for the Amazon-compatible files, such as .mp3 files.

Step 4. Visit https://www.plex.tv/ to launch Plex from your phone, tablet, or computer.

Step 5. Go to Settings. Go to the Remote Access page > Enable Remote Access.

Step 6. Once done, install the Plex skill for Alexa. You can click here to download the Plex skill from the official website. Or pick up the device to open the Alex app to search for "Plex" under the Skills section.

Step 7. Sign in to your Plex account that you uses with the Plex Server app. Tap Authorize.

Step 8. With your Echo, say "Alexa, ask Plex to change my server". Now you can use Plex to play the Audible files on the Amazon Echo. You can use these voice commands:

"Alexa, ask Plex to play music by [artist name]."

"Alexa, tell Plex to play the album [album name]."

"Alexa, ask Plex to play the song [song name]."

"Alexa, ask Plex what I should listen to."

"Alexa, tell Plex to play some music."

"Alexa, ask Plex to throw down some phat bests."

...

Extra Tip: Alexa on Amazon Alexa App - Features

You may be familiar with Audible. But if it is the first time to listen to Audible on Alexa, you may need some help. In this part, I will introduce some helpful suggestions and tips for you to use Audible on the Echo device with Alexa. For example, you can sync audiobooks across Echo and Audible on your phone so that you will arrive at the right place for audiobooks. And you can merge the Amazon account and Amazon account when you have trouble playing Audible audiobooks on Alexa.

Some Features of Playing Audible on Alexa

You can access most Audible features when you are playing Audible on Alexa. But some features are not supported by Alexa.

What Audible on Alexa can do:

Whispersync for Voice: This is a feature that enables you to continue listening on any device that supports this feature. And you can exchange between listening to audiobooks and reading eBooks if you purchase both of them.

Purchasing with a credit: You can buy audiobooks with a credit.

Narration Speed: You can change the speed of the narration of audiobooks.

Listen to Podcasts: You can choose to listen to podcasts on Alexa.

What Audible on Alexa cannot do:

When you need to listen to Audible on the Echo device with Alexa, you cannot access these two features: Clips & bookmarks and Stats & badges..

Final Words

To listen to Audible on Amazon Echo, some people will choose to directly connect Audible to Alexa. But if you are an Audible audiobook enthusiast, a 3rd-party software like ViWizard Audible AA/AAX Converter is a nice option to help you convert the Audible books to common formats and back up the Audible books at the same time. Then you can own the books completely and play them on any device.

Disclaimer: Converting Audible audiobooks is solely encouraged for personal backup purpose. Any commercial use of the converted Audible books is strictly forbidden.