Spotify is rolling out some new updates for book lovers, expanding audiobook listening features and allowing users to buy physical publications through the platform. Readers in the US and UK can now purchase printed books via a new integration with Bookshop.org on the Android Spotify app, with support for iOS users expected to arrive next week.
The partnership was announced in February, with Bookshop.org founder and CEO Andy Hunter saying at the time that “Spotify is bringing in more readers, and I’m all for anything that grows the size of the pie.” This, alongside other updates announced today, aim to make it easier to jump into your next novel or pick up where you left off, even while switching between audio and physical mediums.
Page Match, a feature that uses your device’s camera to sync your reading spot in a physical or ebook with an audiobook, is expanding to more than 30 additional languages, including French, German, and Swedish. The AI-powered audiobook recap feature that summarizes what you’ve already listened to is also now available on Android, following its iOS launch in November.
Today’s updates also expand Audiobook Charts to Germany, showing which books are trending on the platform. A new dedicated chart for kids and family-friendly audiobooks is also launching in the US and UK.
“These updates demonstrate our continued ambition to make reading fit into modern life,” said Owen Smith, Spotify’s Global Head of Audiobooks. “Whether it’s discovering a book the same way you’d find a song or podcast on Spotify, picking up the audiobook on your commute, using Page Match to switch to a physical copy at home, or jumping back in with a Recap, we’re making it easier for people to engage with books while supporting growth for authors and publishers along the way.”