← Guides 20 October 2026 · Aloud

Does listening to an audiobook count as reading?

It’s one of the most argued questions among book lovers. Some people feel an audiobook is a shortcut, while others have listened to a hundred books and never doubted it. The honest answer is that for most books and most purposes, listening counts. There are a few places where reading on the page still does better, and knowing them helps you choose.

What’s the same

Reading and listening share most of the work that matters. You follow a plot, keep track of characters, picture the scenes, and think about the ideas. Research comparing the two for narrative books has generally found that people understand and remember them similarly when they’re paying attention. Decoding words on a page is only one part of reading, and for adult readers it isn’t the hard part.

Books also began as spoken things. Homer was recited. Dickens read his novels to packed halls. Many older books have a rhythm that comes alive when you hear them.

Where listening falls short

There are real differences, and they’re worth being honest about.

• It’s harder to go back. On a page you glance up a paragraph without thinking. With audio you have to rewind, so it’s easy to let a missed sentence go.
• Attention drifts more easily. Listening is often done while doing something else. If the other task needs thought, the book loses.
• Some books need eyes. Tables, maps, diagrams and heavy footnotes don’t translate well to sound.
• Spelling and names. You may finish a Russian novel without knowing how anyone’s name is spelled.

Where listening does better

Listening has its own advantages too:

• It fits time you’d otherwise lose, like commuting, walking or cooking.
• A voice carries rhythm and dialogue, which helps with older or more formal prose.
• It helps people who find print hard, including readers with dyslexia or tired eyes.
• It can rescue a stalled book. A novel you gave up on at page forty can move along nicely as audio.

How to listen so it sticks

• Pick the right moment. Walking, driving on a familiar route and housework suit listening. Writing emails doesn’t.
• Rewind when you drift. Going back thirty seconds is better than pushing on and losing the thread.
• Follow along sometimes. Reading the text while you hear it helps with tricky passages and with learning a language. Reading along to learn English.
• Talk about it. Telling someone what happened in the last chapter fixes it in your memory.
• Bookmark lines you like, then look at them on screen later.

Does it count for a reading goal?

A reading goal is your own, and the point is usually to spend more time with books. Most people who track their reading count audiobooks. If you’d rather keep them separate, note which ones you listened to. Ways to read more books in a busy week.

Listening and reading in Aloud

Aloud is an iPhone and iPad app that reads books aloud, and it’s built for people who like to both listen and look. I make Aloud, so weigh that. You can follow the words as they’re read, change the speed at any point, and bookmark passages to find again.

It has free classics from Project Gutenberg and more than 20,000 LibriVox recordings read by volunteers. You can also open a DRM-free EPUB or PDF of your own from Files, and the first one is free. Aloud works offline once a book is on your phone, and your books are never uploaded.

Common questions