On Wednesday, Audible launched a new “immersion reading” feature that could help readers concentrate on their audiobooks by allowing them to read along with the ebook version. While listening to an audiobook in the Audible app, users can tap the “Read & Listen” button above their book’s cover art to see the text version of what they’re listening to. As the audio plays, the text is highlighted in sync.
The option to read and listen at the same time could help improve reading comprehension for readers who struggle to stay focused on their books. It could also be useful for people who are learning a new language — Audible says the feature will support hundreds of thousands of books at launch, including books in German, Spanish, Italian, and French, as well as English.
Immersion reading is rolling out now to users in the US, “with the UK, Australia and Germany to follow in the coming months.” Users have to own both the audiobook and ebook versions of a book to use the feature. Spotify began testing a similar feature last month called “Page Match,” which allows readers to use their camera to scan the current page they’re on in an ebook or print book and sync it with the matching timestamp in the audiobook.