Code has been found for a technology that will enable you to carry on a novel in audiobook form, even if you've been previously reading a physical book.
Spotify seemingly plans to make it easier to switch from books, eBooks and audiobooks, then back again – all without losing your place in the text.
Spotify is reportedly working on a technology to allow you to continue an audiobook from where you left off, even if you were previously reading a physical edition.
It should also work if you were enjoying an eBook version, as the tech will use your phone's camera to recognise the page you are on and automatically cue the audiobook to that point.
According to Android Authority, the new feature will be called Page Match and has been discovered in code amongst Spotify's own "onboarding strings". There are multiple references and it is alleged to use OCR (optical character recognition) to scan the text of a page to figure out where you are in the book.
There's also potential for the audio streaming service to work in reverse – by telling you what page you've got to when listening, so you can immediately jump to the relevant page number in the physical or electronic edition.
The site also says that you will have to unlock the audiobook in the app first, either through a purchase or via Premium membership, before it will recognise the physical version. However, it's claimed to be coming to the US, UK, Canada, Europe and Australia, among other countries that support the brand's audiobook service.
Hasn't Amazon already got a version of this already?
The idea of being able to listen to an audiobook from where you left off is not new for eBooks – Amazon does it already, with Audible linking with Kindle versions. However, the Spotify system looks to be the first to allow physical book owners to enjoy similar functionality.
It's worth noting though that this is an unannounced feature – with the code seemingly only in beta for now. It could even be a test that fails to release, although considering how useful it could be, it'd be massively surprising if we don't see it added to Spotify somewhere down the line.
