Most audiobook apps do one thing: they play audio. You press play, you listen, you stop. If you want to take notes, you open a separate app. If you want to set a reading goal, you use a spreadsheet or Goodreads. If you want to see the text while you listen, you buy the ebook as well.
It does not have to be that way. A good audiobook app should help you get more from your books, not just play them. Here is what to look for, and what xigxag now offers. Browsing and buying is best on our website, but for the full listening experience (including everything below), download the app.
Take notes and highlight passages while you listen
One of the most common frustrations with audiobooks is that you hear something brilliant and have no way to capture it. With a printed book you would underline it or fold the corner of the page. With most audiobook apps, your only option is to pause, open your notes app, and try to remember what was said.
On xigxag, x-books solve this. The x-book® format shows you the text on screen as you listen. You can highlight a passage, take a note, and come back to it later, all without leaving the app. You can also search within the book to find a specific word or phrase, which is something you simply cannot do with audio alone.
An increasing proportion of audiobooks on xigxag come with the full x-book® experience. Look for the x-book® ribbon on the cover image, or use the search filter to show x-books only.
Read along as you listen
The x-book format does more than just support note-taking. It gives you the full text and illustrations synchronised with the human narration, so you can follow along word by word. You can look up unfamiliar words without leaving the app. You can save and share quotes directly from the book.
This is not a transcript bolted onto an audiobook. It is the actual published text, matched to the audio so that what you hear and what you see are always in sync. If pure listening does not quite hold your attention, or you want to hear and read at the same time, the x-book is for you. We have written more about how this works for language learners and readers with dyslexia.
Set a reading challenge and track your progress
Reading challenges are popular for a reason. Setting a goal (ten books this year, twenty, fifty) gives you something to aim for, and tracking your progress keeps you motivated. Until now, most audiobook listeners have had to track this outside their app, on Goodreads or in a notebook.
xigxag has just launched ‘My Stats,’ which builds this directly into the app. You can set yourself a yearly reading challenge and watch your progress as you go. ‘My Stats’ also tracks your listening streaks, total hours listened, and books finished. You can see your reading habit building over time.
Organise your audiobook library
If you have been buying audiobooks for a while, your library can get unwieldy. A long list of titles in the order you bought them is not much use when you are trying to find something specific or group books by mood, genre, or reading status.
xigxag has redesigned ‘My Books‘ to give you proper control over your library. Lists now live inside ‘My Books,’ so everything you have saved, bought, and organised is in one place. You can sort and arrange your library the way that makes sense to you.
Accessibility that works
Audiobooks are already one of the most accessible ways to enjoy books. They remove the need to decode printed text, which makes a real difference for people with dyslexia, visual impairments, or conditions that make sustained reading difficult.
xigxag’s latest update includes accessibility improvements across the app, making it easier for everyone to navigate, browse, and listen. Combined with the x-book format (adjustable text size, synchronised audio and text, word lookup), xigxag is designed to be usable by as many people as possible.
Professional human narration as standard
Features matter, but so does the thing you are actually listening to. xigxag’s catalogue is built around professional human narration. A skilled narrator brings tone, pacing, emotion, and character to a book in ways that generated audio simply cannot match. We have written about why human narration matters and why we think it always will.
Try it
xigxag is free to download, with no subscription and no commitment. You buy audiobooks one at a time, you own what you buy, and prices start at £8.99. The Listen for Less section always has titles from £3.99.
