# xigxag: Audiobooks, but Better — user reviews > 99 indexed App Store user reviews of xigxag by xigxag ltd, rated 4.10/5 from 15 ratings. - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/xigxag-audiobooks-but-better/id1499273469/reviews - App overview in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/xigxag-audiobooks-but-better/id1499273469.md - Rating breakdown: 5★ 9 · 4★ 3 · 3★ 0 · 2★ 1 · 1★ 2 ## What do users think of xigxag? Overall sentiment: positive **Pros** - 👍 No subscription fee - 💰 Price reduction with more purchases - 📚 Great selection of books - 🎧 High-quality audiobooks - 🌟 Exceptional narrators - 💡 Innovative X-book feature (audio + ebook) - 🤝 Helpful and friendly customer service - 💸 Fairly priced / cheaper than competitors - 💯 Feels ethical / not trying to rip off users - 📱 Easy to use app - 🚀 Quick and easy book downloads - ✨ Personalized support - ✅ Fixed price point for books - 👍 Great bargain finds - 📖 Read more as a result - 💡 Brilliant functionality - ✅ Simple and reliable app - 👍 Great concept for audiobooks - 🤝 Responsive developers - 🤩 Supports ethical practices / B-Corp - 👍 Great value - 🌟 Thoughtfully curated selection - 💯 Supports artists properly - 👍 Great alternative to Audible/Amazon - ✅ Easy to navigate interface - 👍 Intuitive interface - 💡 Ability to switch between audio and ebook - 💯 Supports UK based enterprise - 👍 Pay-as-you-go model - ✅ Control over purchases **Cons** - 🐛 Clunky UI - 🪲 Annoying notifications - 🐛 App can be glitchy - 🐛 Playback speed issues after update - 🐛 App won't open after update - 🐛 Auto-sync for X-books doesn't work well - 🐛 Footnotes hard to flick between - 🐛 Note taking difficult with audio - 🐛 Inconsistent UI navigation - 🐛 App doesn't connect well with Bluetooth headphones - 🐛 Download means download to app, not actual file - 🐛 Catalogue is lacking / can't find desired books - 🐛 Misleading pricing advertised - 🐛 X-book text not always available - 🐛 Limited range compared to Audible - 🐛 No wish list from website - 🐛 Tiny writing / no chapter titles - 🐛 Sleep timer not gradual **Commonly reported bugs** - Playback speed keeps randomly going up to 2x - App won't open after recent update - Auto-sync for X-books not working well - Footnotes are hard to flick between - Note taking is near impossible with audio - UI navigation is inconsistent - App doesn't connect well with Bluetooth headphones - Downloaded books only available within the app, not as standalone files - App is glitchy, titles not loading - Purchased books not showing after reinstall - App crashes or freezes - Sleep timer just stops audio, doesn't taper off **Most requested features** - Dark mode option - Basket to add multiple books for bulk purchase - Easier to get playback speed back to 1x - Allow app to go in portrait mode on iPad - Higher playback speeds (up to 2.5x or 4x) - Sync X-book reading progress more seamlessly with audio progress - Add older titles / bargain bookshelf - Improve UI and user experience - More user-friendly app - Chapter titles - Wish list functionality from website ## Newest reviews (18 of 99) ### 4/5 — Great company; terrible app *2025-08-31, version 2.3.1* A horrible app experience. Tiny writing. No chapter titles. I will persevere because I prefer the ethics of the company but Audible and Kobo have more user friendly apps. (And why can’t you add stuff to your wish list from the website?!) ### 5/5 — I love this app *2025-07-19, version 2.2.13* The good thing about this app is that you get to buy as many or as few books as you like without any contract. Also, the developers are extremely responsive to queries or suggestions. ### 5/5 — Great but *2025-07-17, version 2.2.12* Since the latest update the playback speed keeps randomly going up to 2x please fix! (Also please make it easier to get it back to 1x, the slider is not that accurate) ### 5/5 — Best audiobook app!! *2025-06-12* I've been using xigxag for a few weeks now and can confidently say it's the only audiobook app I will use from now on. I downloaded it primarily because it's the only place I could find to spend national book tokens on audiobooks and that alone is great but I also love that there is no subscription model, allowing you to purchase only what you want to read and you get discounts the more books you buy. I also love the x book feature!! For the books available it makes it even more worth your money as you get an audiobook and ebook all in one. This is great when you want to read as well as listen or alternate between reading and listening depending on your mood. Furthermore the customer service is great, I had an issue with an x book I purchased not showing the text and within a day the issue was resolved (thanks Kelli.) I also appreciate the ethics behind this company such as their stance against AI narration. I never usually write app reviews but I couldn’t recommend xigxag enough! **Developer response:** Wow - what a lovely review! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Thank you for taking the time to recommend us. We really appreciate it. 💜 ### 5/5 — Great audio books *2025-04-01, version 2.2.10* Has a great selection of quality audio books. Really great team would recommend to anyone! ### 5/5 — Great app *2025-02-17, version 2.2.7* Brilliant app. Feels much better value than the subscription model alternative… ### 5/5 — Fantastic in every way besides one *2024-11-27* This apps is awesome, the service itself if great, for someone like me that wants to own their audio books rather than rent them via other services. One small thing that’s missing and that’s a basket to add multiple books and buy in bulk. For me I’m looking to buy the Terry Pratchett discworld collection (there’s a total of 41 of those.) and having to buy them individually would be a nightmare. I understand that with the decrease in pricing every 6 audiobook might cause issues but maybe a limit to have 5 books max in a basket would be handy. Either way it’s not a deal breaker and I’ll be collecting the books slowly, just a thought is all. **Developer response:** Hi there 👋 Thanks for the note and sorry for our delayed response. As you may know, Apple force us to use their (rather limited) payment system for in-app payments, which is why you can only buy one book at time in the app. We're working on multi-purchase on our website as we speak, so watch this space! We appreciate you taking the time to write a review. 💜 ### 5/5 — Excellent app *2024-08-20* I really love this app and that I am not tied to a subscription. I wish they had a bigger catalogue but I’m not going to blame them, I hate that so many good audiobooks are audible exclusives. I hope more people move to this ethical and much better app instead. I love that it’s a B corp and I think the x book idea is genius. You should definitely give it a try. **Developer response:** Awww. Thanks for this! We expect to double our catalog over the coming months and fewer and fewer books are being produced exclusively. We're also trying to get more books made into audiobooks! We appreciate the xigxag love. 💜 ### 4/5 — Great app. However. *2024-03-31, version 2.1.27* Dark mode, please. (Unless I am not seeing it in the settings) ### 5/5 — Brilliant! *2024-01-21, version 2.1.25* This app is fantastic! Much easier to negotiate than audible .. great books and the more you purchase the more money you save! A vast range of great titles .. can’t recommend enough.. ### 5/5 — Marvellous *2024-01-12, version 2.1.24* Great audio app ### 5/5 — Honest audiobooks *2024-01-10, version 2.1.24* Such a great app with honest, open and affordable approach to audiobook purchasing and keeping, so happy with Xig Xag ### 5/5 — Really fab *2024-01-06, version 2.1.24* Great app! Excellent morals and super books ### 4/5 — ?? *2024-01-05* Can’t find any Alice oseman books. **Developer response:** Hi there - thank you for the review and sorry for the trouble. Here you go: https://xigxag.co.uk/book_author/alice-oseman/ There may be geographic rights limitations in your geography, which is possibly why you can't see them. ### 4/5 — Great service - Functional app *2024-01-02* Very much support what this brand stands for in an increasingly cost driven consumer market. There is a diverse library of books available, and the option to listen to books while also reading is fantastic. Not 5 stars just yet as I feel the app requires some polish to make it more enjoyable to use. Although so far have found it functional! **Developer response:** Hi there - thanks for the review and sorry for our exceptionally delayed response. We'd love to hear what else you'd like to see and/or what you'd like to see improved. You can always let us know at hello@xigxag.co.uk! 💜 ### 5/5 — Brilliant *2023-12-26, version 2.1.24* Best app ever. People are so helpful Will never go back to the others. ### 4/5 — Early days but good so far *2023-12-17, version 2.1.24* More ethical than audible (or so I’m told) and enjoyed all my selections so far, though range not as extensive and still getting used to how to find new titles. ### 5/5 — How they broke Britian *2023-12-06, version 2.1.24* Great book makes you wonder how did this happen? The book tells us how 🙁 ## Most critical reviews (10 lowest-rated) ### 1/5 — Misleading *2024-10-26* Misleading. I checked to see that once I had purchased books, I would be able to download them, which it assured I could. What this means is Download onto the app to play offline, not actually download. My Children do not use smart devices, and xigxag assumes that all children have these. Now I have two books that I have purchased that can only be listened to off my phone, which defeats the object entirely. Half the point in an audiobook these days is to get away from screentime, not to encourage it! Very disappointed in the books I've now purchased that are totally useless to me. **Developer response:** Thanks for the review and we were terribly sorry to disappoint. We have a lot to explain in not a lot of space on our website and I'm sorry we confused you. We recommend checking out our helpful info on our website if you're unsure of anything: https://xigxag.co.uk/helpful-info/. And, you can always get in touch with a real human at support@xigxag.co.uk. We were happy to refund this purchase immediately once you got in touch. We're a small company and constrained by what the big publishers allow us to do with their authors' content. In this case, they require us to control access to their books in the xigxag app. That said, we have developed a limited feature stream-only solution on our website, which you can find at https://player.xigxag.co.uk/player. ### 1/5 — scam *2023-05-24* I saw the ad on TikTok and it said it had the audio for Nick and Charlie but I got on here and searched up and they didn’t even have the book. Do you not download this? It’s a scam. ### 1/5 — Recent Update, Now Won’t Open *2022-12-14, version 2.0.11* After the recent update the app now won’t open on my old iPhone even though it’s running 12.1.1. As I only use that phone as a radio and audio book player this is very disappointing. ### 1/5 — Not that good *2022-06-13* You have to pay for everything! Even to listen to it **Developer response:** Hi 👋 sorry if you were expecting free books. We believe that authors and narrators should be fairly compensated for their work. You can always listen to a sample before you buy, just go to the book's info page, then tap "More" in the bottom right corner, then "Play a sample". 💜 ### 2/5 — Catalog is lacking, couldn’t find anything on my reading list *2023-11-05* Pricing and app seems great but there’s unfortunately just not much I want to read available on the platform. **Developer response:** Hi there. We're really sorry to hear that you didn't find anything you were looking for. We're focused primarily on the UK market and haven't made the progress we would like to have made with US publishers. US publishers seem to ring fence US content so they can charge a premium for it and they resist innovations like our x-book. That said, we are always working to add more (global) content to the platform and hope to have more for you soon! 💜 ### 2/5 — Spare *2023-01-23, version 2.0.13* Found the book to be boring and repetitive and started to skip pages. So much complaint by the author. ### 3/5 — Clunky UI and annoying notifications *2024-09-22* A great idea, especially for ADHDers, but the execution just isn't there yet. This app is terrible to navigate. If you can get an x-book, the auto-sync doesn't work well - I assume that's due to things like the footnotes. Footnotes are hard to flick between as there's no easy way to go between the main text and the note. You also have to remember what was said when you get to the footnote as you're unable to check easily. Note taking is near impossible with audio as you cannot pinpoint where you want the clip to start. Obviously not a must have but something I was very excited for as a consumer of audiobooks. The notifications have me feeling frustrated as a slow reader. I don't need reminding that my books exist and I certainly don't need one asking me to tell the community that I didn't enjoy the book. I'm still reading, thanks! I've not had a chance to get back into it. If I was more self conscious about my reading I might have given up altogether, thankfully I'm just frustrated! **Developer response:** Hi there. I'm sorry you didn't have the best first experience. We are working on making improvements to our e-reader experience to solve some of the challenges you identify.   That said, you can turn off Buzz notifications at any time in My xigxag > Settings > Notifications and turn off push notifications on your iPhone by going to Settings > Notifications, selecting xigxag and deselecting "Allow Notifications". You can also edit a quote or note once you've captured it by going to My xigxag > My Quotebook, selecting the quote, then selecting 'Edit'. We really don't want anyone to feel bad about reading and we're sorry that our app affected you in this way. We built xigxag to allow more people to enjoy more books with the most accessible book platform ever imagined. We hope some of this solves your frustration with us, with more solutions to come. 💜 Thanks for sticking with it. ### 3/5 — App is very glitchy *2023-02-17* First downloaded the app and couldn’t load any titles. Support suggested uninstalling and reinstalling. Did that and the app worked for a day. I’ve come to pick up where I left of and again, nothing is loading and it appears as if I haven’t purchased any books at all when I have. Uninstalled and reinstalled and still glitching. Not happy to have seemingly wasted £8.99 (don’t advertise books as £7.99 when they’re not). **Developer response:** Hi there. We're sorry to hear that you had an unpleasant experience with us. In the future if you have any trouble, you can always get support from a real human by contacting us at support@xigxag.co.uk.  In the UK, all our books are £7.99 or less. If you have any trouble with pricing, please let us know! Thank you! 🫶 ### 3/5 — Misleading *2023-02-15, version 2.0.16* Disappointed that despite the website advertising all books in the app for £7.99 or less, they all seem to be £8.99 except for the very small section of £3.99 books. ### 3/5 — Expectations Shattered *2022-12-01* First let me say the app works well, the book choices are superb and the fact that it can be used without a subscription is excellent. Unfortunately I downloaded the app with the expectation that I could purchase both text and audio for any book. This is not the case. Not one of the books I was keen to purchase comes with text. NONE! I’m not looking for obscure authors, I am a Terry Pratchett fan and wanted to have access to his novels on the go. I already own a collection of his work but they are all hardback volumes which are too cumbersome to take on every bus/train/plain ride. Moreover some are signed copies and therefore precious to me. The adverts for the app extolled the ability to switch between text and audio in Xigxag’s xbooks, unfortunately what I have just purchased for 7:99, in my haste to get my hands on my first Pratchett book, is ‘audio only’. For a moment I thought I had clicked the wrong button; that there was an option to purchase audio only but no, audio is all I could buy. This is not what I signed on for and that first book may end up being the last I get from Xigxag. With so many Terry Pratchett books available I may have to bite the bullet and subscribe to Audible, at least until I have acquired all the books I want. At least then I could get what I hoped to get with Xigxag; both text and audio. Right now I’m getting only half of what I desire. Feeling very disappointed. ## Most praised reviews (10 highest-rated) ### 5/5 — Best app on my phone *2026-05-25* Let me tell you about this app! Out of all of the apps on my phone it is the one that has changed my life the most. If I could only keep one app it would be this. This app has an amazing selection. It is rare that I can’t find the book I want on it. The audiobooks are of the highest quality with exceptional narrators. There is NO subscription fee. You pay for what you buy. Thats it. Not to mention that the more books you buy the cheaper they become! I have bought so many books on this platform and I have rarely been disappointed (and where I have it was a fault of the book, not the app). Customer service is always helpful and friendly and I have told so many people about this app. It honestly feels like it’s not there to rip people off to make a profit. It feels like it’s one of those rare things that are actually there to improve people’s lives and help, not just look for ways to fleece them. I can’t tell you the sheer hours of pleasure this app has bought me. I’m a busy at home mum and I do not have time to sit and read, but I can stick on my headphones and listen to a book whilst I’m doing my cleaning, cooking, errands etc. The pleasure it brings me is insane. I might look like I’m peeling potatoes, but in reality my heart is in my mouth entering some gothic haunted house (or whatever the genre). I am just so thankful this app exists and yes it does weirdly mean a lot to me and I’m not going to apologise for that! ### 5/5 — Excellent *2026-04-24* Easy to use app with a great variety of books. Download of books is quick and easy, and it is a great way to get new releases for a reasonable (or even cheap!) price. The customer service team are really friendly and super helpful, you really get personalised support if required. Much cheaper than audible, and I would highly recommend for audiobook fans ### 5/5 — Best App on my phone *2026-03-09* I absolutely love this App. I have used lots of different reading Apps but this is by far my favourite. I love that I don’t have to subscribe and that the books have a fixed price point that get cheaper the more you purchase. They have a great selection and are fairly priced with some great bargain finds too. I find I read a lot more as a result of having this app. ### 5/5 — Fantastic! *2026-02-18, version 2.3.4* Brilliant functionality and no silly monthly subscription. Cheap books too! A real winner. ### 5/5 — Excellent audiobook app *2026-02-06, version 2.3.4* I have been using this app for over 2 years, and love it! The prices get lower as you buy more. The App is simple to use and reliable. ### 5/5 — What audiobooks were meant to be *2025-12-14, version 2.3.2* I love xigxag. I have very much enjoyed the books I have come across on the app. The books are wonderful, the narrations in my experience have been outstanding, and to cap it all the concept of the X-book is just what you might have hoped Amazon, with Kindle and Audible together, would have done: many of the books on the platform are “X-books”, which means that they include both audiobook and e-book. You can listen to them for a while, pick up reading the story where you left off, and then switch back to narration once again. This is particularly good for me as I like to listen to an audiobook while going about daily tasks, but also like to read in bed without disturbing my wife. The price of an individual book starts out reasonable, and if you buy more than five a year they just get cheaper. I never feel ripped off, I never feel I have to buy a book to avoid wasting a “credit”, money does not get taken from me every month whether I am using the app or not. If I buy as many as a subscription model would force me to it works much cheaper, and I remain in control. I don’t mind spending money on things I’m using, but I can’t help feeling ripped off more and more these days as everybody wants to lock you into a subscription model - it’s just like the old gym membership scam where they make half their money from people who are not even using the service. Xigxag instead just offers great products at a reasonable price. ### 5/5 — The Best way to Aufiobook *2025-11-16* This app has been awaited for years! A non subscription model for audiobooks that doesn’t force you to choose a book a month but lets you choose at your own pace. And the more you choose, the cheaper the price. Very pleased to have discovered this brilliant app - highly recommended to audio readers of all ages. ### 5/5 — Best audio! *2025-10-27, version 2.3.1* Really impressed. Xigxag is simple to use, cost effective and high quality. My children especially enjoy the x-books. The subscription free yet growing discount for listening to more books is a great model. Highly recommended ### 5/5 — Easily rivals the big smile *2025-09-27* I was so happy to find an audiobook app that isn’t evil. There are a few tweaks needed to bring it to exactly the same functionality as Audible but I am happy to live with these. (Eg the sleep timer just stops the audio rather than tapering off gradually.) There is an innovative extra that goes beyond Audible - their X book format which is an ebook along with the audio book and so the text can be followed whilst listening to it at no extra cost. Hurrah! There are again a few tweaks which would make it even more accessible for some disabled users but I really like that many of the books are available in this format. There isn’t a payment that has to be made each month either - so no need to worry about how to finish one book before buying another one. **Developer response:** Thank you for the lovely review! Please note you can choose whether the audio tapers or stops with the sleep timer. Go to My xigxag / Settings / Preferences and make sure the 'Sleep auto fade volume' is toggled right (you should see green). And, we appreciate your feedback on the x-book...we're looking to make more accessibility improvements to the listen-and-read experience soon. 💜 ### 5/5 — I love this app *2025-08-12, version 2.2.14* The good thing about this app is that you get to buy as many or as few books as you like without any contract. Also, the developers are extremely responsive to queries or suggestions. --- *Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-09-02.*