Chirp Audiobooks Reviews

by ShermanK

Edit of review- the support group took forever to respond. They pleasantly suggested I re-install ChirpAudiobooks and retry (I had but did it again). The exact same thing happened (books stop while playing, have to open app and it’s swirling it thinks it’s playing, it restarts in the wrong place). I reached out again and am waiting again for a response. Poor support. App does not work.
First off- it’s theoretically a great service with reasonably priced books. It would be a usable app if it worked correctly. As another reviewer stated, it just stops working while you’re using it- usually driving- and you have to stop and open ChirpAudiobooks to restart it. Dangerous if not simply annoying. Sometimes it starts back at the beginning of a chapter too.
I have emailed the support twice with no response. I won’t get another book until this is resolved. And can someone reply?

by Bald Guy 2014

You can get discounted books but their titles and authors you’ve never heard of. Not saying they’re bad but all recognizable authors are the same price as audible.I also had a problem with the one book I decided to download for $10 was not a book at all but a short story. Nowhere in the description of the book did it say that it’s a short story. I only noticed after I downloaded it and zoomed in on the thumbnail. So I paid $10 for an hour long short story. That’s a rip off! I also noticed that once you download something and are listening to it there’s no way I’m going back and looking for something else to read through ChirpAudiobooks . The only thing ChirpAudiobooks would do was let me search my library. Doesn’t make sense if you want people to buy books and download them.

by Lwheels14

Sometimes you can find a gem of a title, but not like on Audible. I use both apps because I just want bestsellers sometimes, or new releases, and Audible lets me do that. But Chirp does give me access to books for cheaper that I otherwise wouldn’t spend $35 a title on which is nice.

I will say, though, I don’t know what it is, but the quality is incomparably bad. Chirp regularly sounds like it’s skipping - which is literally impossible. Like every single person reading stutters on the word Chapter. It’s not like I don’t update ChirpAudiobooks , and it’s digital, so it can’t be skipping, but it’s always like that, no matter what. I also regularly hit play and have it bump back an entire 4, 6, 9 minutes and I’m confused and trying to find my place again, which, when I’m in the car, is impossible unless I pull over.

I guess these are annoying things to complain about considering the price, but I just wish it was a little cleaner. I guess for a free app and some random cheap titles though, I shouldn’t complain about any of this.

by Maheater

I loved Chirp until recently when their site became unusable and impossible to browse. Books are miscategorized (like shoving Marcus Aurelius, George Eliot & other much older works under “Historical Fiction” instead of “Classics”.. you’d think people selling books would know the difference.) But worse is they’ve recently added a ton of shorter media that seems to outnumber the actual books. And I don’t mean an occasional novella, I mean a PBS interview with Jerry Seinfeld under “Teen Fiction” for some reason. If you try to sort any category by price low-high, you’ll see nothing but garbage you don’t want (assuming what you do want is an actual book). Really hoping they get their site under control because until now I was buying from them pretty regularly. Now I’m just saving my money & using Libby.

by Macattack 5647867/6275

I listen to a lot of audiobooks on several different apps. I have well over 500 books in my library. Chirp is hands-down the cheapest, although the selection is sometimes not great. Functionally, ChirpAudiobooks is my least favorite. It will randomly take me back to chapters I've already heard, start playing for no reason at times, or sometimes the pause/play button will be disabled for long periods of time. It just turns into a spinning cursor like it's thinking. That's particularly annoying when it turns itself on, and u can't turn it off. Other times it just seems to have randomly lost my place for no reason. I'm not sure I just haven't figured it out yet, or if it's just really buggy.

by Vikib911

I finished a book and went on to another book. Well, first off I tried to download it and it wouldn't download. I tried over wifi and over phone service. Then I moved on and decided to try to listen to it anyway. Well, everything was fine until I got to the end of the track and it said conclusion. I went to chapters and they were all check marked. So at the end of every track, it tells me I've finished the book. So I have to manually select my track each time. To make matters worse, chapter 10 is track 9. So I get confused which track to select. And since they aren't downloaded, if I pick the wrong track it takes me 5 minutes before it starts playing and I realize it's the wrong track. Needless to say, this is very inconvenient. I'd rather pay for audible to have a reliable player. I listen in the car and can't be messing with my phone while I'm driving.

by Hillobeans44

Probably because we’ve read countless stories or seen movie plots that involve variations on making a deal with the devil to secure an advantage, this story was very familiar from the outset. I’m a cat lover, so that part of the story resonated deeply. The story was at times sweet, and at others thought provoking as we follow the main character on his journey, navigating his choices at each turn. Despite that connection, it seemed to lack the depth and tension that draw the reader completely into another world: I never really felt compelled to root for the protagonist. In part, I think that’s because death is inevitable for all of us; the only unknowns are how and when, and no amount of dealing will stave it off forever. But maybe I’m taking it too seriously. Maybe it wasn’t intended as anything more than a light-hearted tale that would be the perfect complement to a lazy afternoon in a hammock, enjoying an iced drink.

by OCD Notetaker

Yes, there are audiobooks available for cheaper than Audible, but they are older or lesser known books. Popular or recent books are the same cost as Audible, making Audible the better choice because with a subscription I can get a $25 audio book for $15. If you are a random reader and enjoy taking chances on books, Chirp can be the better choice.

I gave one of their daily bargains a chance and the book was fine, but ChirpAudiobooks is a mess. The audio has skipped a few times backtracking a min or two. This I can live with. What really frustrates me is that it rarely starts my listening where I left off. A few times it started me a chapter or two behind, but this last time it started me in such an odd spot I couldn’t even find where I left off! And I had only paused it for maybe 5 min!

I’m glad I tried it, but I won’t do it again.

by Bullittgal

I love Chirp! ChirpAudiobooks is reliable. It remembers my place if I switch between books before finishing one. The deals are unmatched that I have seen by any other audiobook source. If you want audio for the price of an ebook or less, give Chirp a try. The selection continues to get better all the time. I prefer Chirp over Audible, but I still use both. Only drawback is the proprietary format meaning you can’t listen to other books not purchased from Chirp. Same with Audible, but at least the books are still yours to keep with both. Just wish I could get down to only one or two apps for all my audio needs. If I could side load my mp3 books I’d give 5 stars.

by Begryphon

I did not see an app developers website choice. For two days now the download function has not worked for multiple books. It did earlier like a month or so ago. What’s up?

How to choose earlier played track?

Appending: A workaround. If I’m on track 17 and want to go to track 15, choose track one started playing, then chose track 15 and everything is A-OKI’m very very pleased with ChirpAudiobooks. One problem. When I go to sleep listening and then wake up I want to go to a previously played track. When I choose the previous track, ChirpAudiobooks goes to the background. When I bring it to the foreground it’s still on the track I was listening too. Unless you tell me how to do this, I may never find out why she’s mad at him!

by GentleWarrior 1436

What are rich time I was just privileged to spend with a profoundly knowledgeable man of God who lived a generation ago. I just finished the book how to be filled with the Holy Spirit, and was profoundly challenged by the scriptural approach taken by A.W. Tozer. I would recommend this book to any Christian who has been born again but wants to live a more deeply scriptural experience of what God has in mind for all Christians.

If the reader of this is not yet a Christian… I would encourage you to read a wonderful small little book just a few chapters long… Known as the gospel of John. Remember hearing about the four Gospels at the beginning of the new testament “Matthew, Mark, Luke & John?“ Just go to John and read those few chapters and you will meet the person of Jesus Christ.

I read the writings of a profoundly scholarly man who had studied all of the philosophies and all of the religions of the world… Who had come up with what he believed to be the single most important question any human being will ever ask or ask themselves for an answer to. Go to the gospel of John and ask this question “who is Jesus Christ and what am I going to do with Him? God will use that honest inquiry to miraculously change your life for eternity. Guaranteed. Abundant blessings.

by CandiceMcF

I absolutely love Chirp. I love to listen to audiobooks, but at MY pace. I don’t want to be in a subscription plan. Chirp lets you go to their website, listen to samples of the readers, decide which audiobook you want to buy and then it automatically downloads to ChirpAudiobooks . ChirpAudiobooks is awesome. Just so easy to use. I’ve been using them probably for a couple of years. Am listening to “Moonstone” right now. Just downloaded “Washington Square” for a book club. Oh, that reminds me, you can easily see the length of the audiobook as you’re comparing versions. This is a fast way to tell when someone has abridged a version without reading all of the description details.

by 4058ST

I downloaded ChirpAudiobooks , but when I open it I’m directed to sign in. Underneath the sign in there is a spot that says “new to chirp?” I press that and a box pops up that says I need a chirp account before I can sign in, but there doesn’t seem to be any way of setting up this account, and no other pages to go to - help?

Thank you for the response! I signed up through the website & already bought 2 books at excellent prices. I like listening to the books while I walk my dog & it saves a lot of time, as well. No problems with downloads or other glitches - really enjoying ChirpAudiobooks !

by The Jwire

After getting tired of the lack of deals from audible and the inability to easily find or sort books on sale I was alerted to ChirpAudiobooks via bookbub.
ChirpAudiobooks works just as easy as audible but doesn’t require a membership. Once you buy a book you can download it via ChirpAudiobooks . The sound quality is just as good as the Apple Books or audible which I have used frequently. So no worries here.
The best part of chirp is the daily deal email which has several deals each day. Many exclusive to chirp also. Whereas Apple really only posts a new sale per week or occasional sales and audible only has a book on sale per day or no way to find sales, chirp puts all the sales into several sections and has a nice selection on sale.
With sales I’ve been able to get several books off my wishlist for under $5 and discover books that looked interesting.
My only complaint so far would be the site could mark a series more clearly. If book 3 is on sale it would be nice to know it’s not a standalone book or what order it is.
Highly recommend

by AuApex

I'm someone who has always struggled with reading due to ADHD. Whether I'm having to reread the same sentence 15 times just for it to register or totally losing track of what the book is even about half way through it's always been very tough. Once I found the chirp books app this all changed. I've been able to find affordable books that I enjoy, and having them narrated to me has been the secret key for it to register with me. The UI is simple and easy to use and the audio quality is great. 5/5 from me.

P.s. you can really save some cash with ChirpAudiobooks. They have regular deals where you can buy popular books for $5< - I've found all my favorite reads on there so far.

by Juder234

I had always gotten my audio books from the library. I had a Sony Walkman disc player that I dragged around the house and outside in order to listen to the books. I had a Tune Belt that it went onto, but lots of times it would fall out of the pouch when I bent over while gardening! When the library closed due to Covid, I found Chirp. Love the daily deals. I haven’t paid more the $4.99 for a book and most of the time a lot less. I love the convenience of being able to stick my phone in a pocket and still be able to work around the house or yard. The library is now “open” for pick up, but I haven’t gone back yet. Chirp is very affordable as long as you stick with the daily deals.

by Esky From LA

I started reading the karma book by Sadhguru and found myself crying out loud in excitement every few pages which is why I ordered the digits version. I started listening the content of the book and Sadhguru families voice over took me. With joy, excitement and a lot of crying I finish listening. This book is the absolute must read/listen for anyone who is interested in self transformation. As for me, I know that if I had not met Sadhguru and have gone through his Yoga programs, life would have pass me by, how tragic that could have been....... i can’t even imagine. I am so deeply indebted to Sadhguru for leading me to my new joyful amazing life.

Thank you, Chrip for this wonderful quality audio. It was extremely easy to download and listen.

by Lysis Brooke

Who has time to pay $16 for an Audible audiobook that you can only get once a month, whether you use audiobooks that frequently or not? Certainly not me. That’s why I love Chirp Books. They do all the hard work for me, and send me severely discounted audiobooks in my preferred genres. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a price north of $6, with most being closer to $3 or $4. And as someone who’s on a budget, Chirp Books is a great something to have alongside my library card. The user interface can be a bit tricky to navigate between the play page and the chapter breakdowns/additional info, so I’d love to see that strengthened in the next update. (But that’s by no means a deal breaker.) The audiobooks are of great quality, you have your playback speeds and sleep timers if you want to use those.
AND. YOU CAN BUY THE AUDIOBOOKS DIRECTLY FROM YOUR PHONE. Be it the daily emails they send or from browsing ChirpAudiobooks , they make it SO easy to buy ChirpAudiobooks . I actually got my dad hooked on audiobooks thanks to Chirp Books. A definite fan!

by A2d2withfriends

My sister told me about Chirp and it’s improved my life considerably. I listen to books before bed, in my car (blue tooth) and on walks. My “library” is loaded w/books I have bought for 99 cents to $2.99 because there are great deals (always changing) offered regularly. There is a range of more costly books but I prefer the bargain offerings. The books do not expire! I’m listening to Langston Hughes autobiography right now, as well as a collection of 50 short stories. I discovered Gods, Wasps and Stranglers, a fascinating book about fig trees. There’s a Flannery O’Connor, a Kafka book and many others waiting for me to listen to on my shelves. There are mysteries, funny books....I am encouraged to get out and take walks so I can listen to these books! For real. Try it!!

by Iamneja

I am a big time audiobook (Audible) user. I got ChirpAudiobooks and the prices are incredible and the books are too. I “was” not a fan of Anderson Cooper (a suggested book). When my guy would turn on something with him in it for some reason I would be rubbed the wrong way. Shame on me for judging this man when I had no right. And this all changed when I got his book with his mom and listened to it. I couldn’t quit. I had several emotions felt listening to this and to me this is what makes a great book. And I love to read/listen to the life stories. Try this. It works great for me. No issues. Thanks Chirp and all the “people” that mark it happen.

by Q_F_

There are books on ChirpAudiobooks that are cheap but if you believe that it’s a better alternative to audible then think again.

The selection of books is very poor. A lot of good well known books cannot be bought for ChirpAudiobooks. My library has a free audiobook app that has a terrible selection but it’s bette than this.

Then it says all books are like $3? What a lie. There are books on here more expensive than it would cost to get on audible.

Also some of these good reviews are saying that you can just buy books from ChirpAudiobooks which is not true at all. On top of that, audible just started to allow that feature.

This is just based on me looking through the selection of the books and opening ChirpAudiobooks once. I haven’t even tried out the player which everyone says is terrible.

In conclusion, if you want discount books, you’re gonna get discount books and I guess that’s okay with some people. If you want good options and good books, don’t cancel your audible subscription anytime soon.

by Chuck01612

...and I love the readers. There are two things which prevent me from granting five stars:
The readings stop for no apparent reason and don’t start up again without opening ChirpAudiobooks , selecting the book, opening it and hitting the play button. Aggravating if your on a walk, Monumentally aggravating if your driving! In order to continue listening I have to pull over in a safe spot, go through the above procedure to start listening again, then drive off. PLEASE FIX THIS!
I have several books in my library, many with similar titles. I am old, and often don’t recall the books I have already read. Can you figure a way to delete a book, or better, mark it as read? That would be great.

Thanks

by Somedaveg

The Chirp store is great. I’ve become a little addicted to my daily audiobook deal emails. That said, ChirpAudiobooks is buggy and missing features.
- Playback at anything other than 1:1 speed seems to really confuse it. It’ll randomly stop playing, loose your spot, and generally not work well. I like to listen at 1.5x so this is really annoying.
- At the start of a track the audio often repeats the first few seconds. It’s not a big deal, but does take you out of the experience.
- There’s no way to manually mark a book as completed or unmark it. Not great if you listen across devices or finish a book but it has filler at the end you don’t want to listen to.
- Other smaller bugs keep appearing and in general the quality of ChirpAudiobooks just seems like it needs some work.

The most frustrating thing is that bugs like the problems with faster playback have been reported by me and other for months and don’t seem to be getting fixed. I’m worried as I invest a lot of money in the Chirp store that ChirpAudiobooks will stagnate and never improve.

by Ms401

I’ve been using it for a few days now and have experienced several issues.
1) it sometimes fails to advance to the next track and I have to select the next track to continue playback. Thankfully it does not happen every time.
2) it occasionally opens a blank screen when I try to start playback. Again I had to choose the track to get it to play.
3) It does not pause when I press the button on my Apple (wired) earbuds, Bluetooth headphones, or car stereo.
4) it does pause when another app such as Runkeeper produces audio however it does not resume afterward, instead the pause/play icon becomes a “waiting” spinner. I have to kill ChirpAudiobooks and restart it to continue playing.
5) when the progress bar is on screen and the track ends, playback may continue but the track # does not increment and the progress bar does not reset.

Aside for these issues it would be nice to see the amount of time remaining in a book; can do it for the chapters/tracks but not the overall book as far as I can find.

by Salisbury75

I really like this site. Decent books, great prices and ease of use. I can’t afford Audible so I was excited to find Chirp. I just have a few suggestions about how to get that fifth star. I need to be able to “put away” books I’ve read. As more books are added the list becomes very crowded. The sort option doesn’t work well and is unclear as to what exactly is being listed. I realize apps are always being updated and improved and I look forward to Chirp being made better and better. It’s a life saver for book lovers who need to hear their books.

by Connie D2

I’m new to Chirp but not new to ebook and audiobook apps. This one's great! It does exactly what I want it to – it keeps my library at my fingertips and has superb playback quality. It even has some bells and whistles, like a sleep timer and very nuanced speed settings, but these don’t overwhelm you so it’s very intuitive and easy to use. Just proves an app doesn’t have to be complicated to be ideal.

Aside from ChirpAudiobooks , the membership is very good as well. It’s free, so you aren’t constantly badgered to upgrade in order to get discounts – they’re just part of the (very nice) package!

Reading is my favorite pastime, so ChirpAudiobooks is a welcome addition to my toolbox.

by KeriCullen

I’m floored and excited! I’ve just downloaded ChirpAudiobooks . Listened to samples of each audio I was interested in. I purchased them with one click. Some, for as low as $0.99! I’m a huge BookBub fan already. I’ve been introduced to tons of titles I may not have even heard of otherwise. Now, I get to do the same with audiobooks. This seriously cannot be beat. You don’t don’t pay anything other than the marked down price of the audio you want. You get to keep what you buy rather than dealing with the pressure of a timeline to listen to it. I am just, seriously, so excited. I’m so glad BookBub and Chirp are a thing! You’ve got a fangirl in me.

by Pammers_

This has been a gold mine. Seriously a great service! They email me suggestions and books that have deals, always at fantastic prices, much cheaper than audible, and ChirpAudiobooks is easy to use! All of my purchases are on my bookshelf, ChirpAudiobooks remembers where I left off, and it offers 15 second skips forward or back for if I get distracted at some points and miss a key point. This newest update messed up my app a little to the point where I can access my bookshelf, but I can still get my books online. I’m hoping they resolve the issue soon. Highly recommend ChirpAudiobooks/service!

by Campfire 381

Love audiobooks, have 600+ that I purchased from Audible. Was looking for a cheaper alternative and found this gem. They have good books, many of which I have already read so I know they are quality books and narration. Yes, bookmarks would be nice, currently screen shot to mark my place. When I get a new book I immediately download then delete when I complete book. You can click on “downloaded” so only books you haven’t listened to will appear. All your books will still be available on cloud.

by Cathryn Vazquez

First, I really like this program force cost of many books. I love the people reading the books to the listeners. That said, I am experiencing so many glitches with ChirpAudiobooks that I am almost ready to delete it. Trouble downloading books, now cutting off every 45 seconds or so. At this time, I don’t recommend ChirpAudiobooks. If they get these issues fixed, I will gladly change my rating to 5 stars

The developers have gotten back with me on this and it seems the issues have been resolved.

by BuffaloNic

I am a big fan of ChirpAudiobooks. It allows me to buy audiobooks at a fraction of their normal cost. Of course, I like to get them using the Libby app for free from my library, but they’re not always available and sometimes there’s a long wait time.

When I recently had a problem with the sleep timer not working, I got in touch with them and they responded within a day. I deleted ChirpAudiobooks and reinstalled it which fixed the issue immediately.

by Saddlemtngal

Listening to audiobooks while multitasking is one of my favorite things to do. ChirpAudiobooks is simply wonderful. The prices and selection are great and ChirpAudiobooks is sound. I’ve had a few problems from time to time, but they are continuing to make improvements. It’s certainly comparable to Audible and I don’t have to worry about how many books I can get each month, or how many credits I have, etc. I just choose a book & purchase it. There are genre selections to choose from if you wish, numerous ways to display your lists and a great sleep timer as well.

Thank you Chirp for providing us with another option for audio books!