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More than eight years after the debut of iBooks, in January of 2010, Apple is revamping its e-book reading app. When iOS launches this fall, iBooks will be replaced by Apple Books.
The app, which Apple previewed at its Worldwide Developers Conference this month, will feature a Reading Now tab, designed to give users quick access to books they're enjoying and a reading wishlist (a digital "to be read" pile of sorts); it will also utilize a book recommendation function.
Most notably, Apple Books will feature an Audiobooks tab. Audiobook sales have soared in recent years across the industry, so the company's decision to give users an easy way to manage their audio collections is a smart one. iBooks first introduced audiobook functionality in 2015, but required users to sort their files to isolate audiobooks in iBooks libraries; prior to 2015, audiobooks could be found in iTunes.
Featuring audiobooks in a specific space is a clear indicator that Apple has taken note of audio's success. And it should--the Association of American Publishers recently reported that net audiobook revenues from publishers in its network increased 29.5% in 2017 over 2016. A recent Pew Research Center survey found that while 14% of US adults had listened to an audiobook in the past twelve months in 2016, 18% had in 2018; for e-books, these numbers were 28% and 26% respectively.
