Audible’s new ‘Read & Listen’ feature syncs your Kindle e-books with audiobooks

Just days after Spotify revealed its move into physical book sales — along with an audiobook feature that syncs listening progress with offline reading — Amazon-owned Audible has introduced a new tool that combines e-books and audiobooks into a single experience.

Announced on Wednesday, Audible’s new “immersion reading” capability inside the Audible app lets people who own both the e-book and audiobook versions of a title — available in their Audible and Kindle libraries — follow the text on screen while the audio narration plays. Users can also move between formats across different devices. In “Read & Listen” mode, the e-book text is highlighted in real time, keeping pace with the narration.

Kindle has long supported a feature that lets readers switch between an Audible audiobook and the matching e-book when both have been purchased. What’s new is that this type of synced experience is arriving directly in the Audible app for the first time. To use it, customers must own both formats, though Audible says buyers who already own the corresponding e-book will be offered discounted audiobook pricing for the matching title.

At launch, the new “Read & Listen” feature will work with hundreds of thousands of titles. Audible says supported languages include English, German, Spanish, Italian, and French. The feature will initially roll out in the U.S., with the U.K., Australia, and Germany expected to gain access over the coming months.

To help users find supported books, Audible will automatically detect which Kindle e-books in a customer’s library have an available audiobook match inside the Audible app.

Of course, plenty of people have already been reading and listening without purchasing two versions of the same book — often by using Alexa to narrate Kindle e-books. But Alexa is not a professional narrator, and the assistant’s flatter delivery can make it easier to lose focus. By offering lower-priced audiobook add-ons for customers who already own the e-book, Amazon appears to be aiming to encourage more cross-format purchases.

Audible also says its research — along with internal data — suggests that combining reading with listening can improve focus and comprehension. The company added that readers who read and listen are its most engaged customers, consuming nearly twice as much content per month as those who only listen to audiobooks.

The feature may be especially useful for students, language learners, and anyone hoping to finish more books faster. It also appeals to people who regularly switch between reading and listening, as well as those who value the performance element of audiobooks — particularly when a favourite actor or voice talent narrates a title. Some readers may also like having a narrator introduce character names aloud, helping with pronunciation without the need to guess — something that can be a real challenge in fantasy novels.

“Audiobooks count as reading,” said Andy Tsao, Audible’s chief product officer, in a statement tied to the rollout. “But now at Audible, you can read with your eyes too. Read & Listen gives book lovers the best of both worlds. Whether you’re learning a new language, studying for school, or lost in a story’s world, you no longer have to choose one format over the other.” Amazon also noted that the new feature will not affect publishers’ royalty payments.