Spotify does audiobooks now. Yes, even for South Africans. That tidbit might’ve gotten buried under the news that the streamer would raise local prices again back in November. It joined the new R180/m ‘Platinum’ tier, which finally gave South African subscribers access to… twelve hours of audiobooks per month. Still, even with so few hours under your belt, there’s no denying that the app’s latest feature, called Page Match, is a clever one.
Spotify’s going by the book
The feature hasn’t reached the masses yet, but that may soon change. Android Authority spotted several mentions of a new feature called ‘Page Match’ in the Spotify app, version 9.1.18.282. The idea is to allow listeners to seamlessly transition between their audiobook and a physical book. The kind printed on paper. But an e-book will work, too.
Using OCR (optical character recognition), Spotify’s Page Match can use your smartphone’s camera to scan and read the text of a physical book (or e-book), and take you to the correct timestamp in the audiobook version. The feature is still described as a ‘beta feature’ in the code. Interestingly, it also seems to work in reverse.
Read More: Spotify finally makes it easier to bring your music along for the ride
By Spotify’s own description, Page Match can “match your progress from the book page to the audiobook — and back again.” Judging by the last string of associated code, which can be viewed on Authority Authority, the feature lets listeners know exactly which page to return to in their physical copy when they stop listening.
Interestingly, it appears the feature may be reserved for owners of a particular book, and not simply the streamer’s customers who are streaming from the library. If you don’t own the book, Spotify will likely prompt you to purchase it to unlock the feature fully. We’re holding onto hope that these are outdated references that’ll be properly ironed out by the time Spotify is ready to debut the feature.
