Spotify is getting a new feature called “Page Match.” This will let you sync your spot in a physical or ebook with an audiobook. All you have to do is just point your camera at a page, and Spotify will do the rest. The app uses computer vision to match text with audio. Additionally, it is also partnering with Bookshop.org. This will let users buy physical books of the audiobook they’re listening to directly through the Spotify app.
Spotify’s Page Match feature makes swapping from real books to audiobooks easy
The Page Match feature is useful if you have some chores to do, but don’t want to stop reading. You just have to snap a pic and jump to the same spot in the audiobook where you left off in the physical book. The Page Match feature is available starting with the English language titles in its 500,000 library.
When you receive the feature, you will find the Page Match button under the title of each audiobook. First, you will have to search for a book on the Spotify app and open the full chapter list. Then, tap the “Scan to listen” button and scan a page of your physical book when you want to move over to the audio version. The Page Match feature should work on any e-readers as well. It seems to be using optical character recognition (OCR) tech to analyze printed text and match it to the audiobook’s timestamp.
Initially available with English-language titles
To switch to a hard copy, tap the “Scan to read” and place a page in front of the camera. However, considering the differences in editions, it will tell you to move forward or backward with a progress bar until it finds the exact sentence. It will highlight the specific lines on the page to start from when you finally land on the right page.
Spotify is also reportedly developing features to make it easier to read physical books in tandem with listening to audiobooks. The company notes that it sees “the future of reading as one that’s personalized, flexible, and built to move fluidly across formats and moments. Page Match is an early example of how Spotify is helping shape that future at scale.”
The Page Match feature is rolling out from today. Besides that, the audiobook recap feature that summarizes the plot so far is expanding to Android this spring.
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