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This article was published on August 18, 2014

Amazon’s Whispersync for Voice hits the UK to help you switch between reading and listening to ebooks


Amazon’s Whispersync for Voice hits the UK to help you switch between reading and listening to ebooks
Paul Sawers
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Paul Sawers

Paul Sawers was a reporter with The Next Web in various roles from May 2011 to November 2014. Follow Paul on Twitter: @psawers or check h Paul Sawers was a reporter with The Next Web in various roles from May 2011 to November 2014. Follow Paul on Twitter: @psawers or check him out on Google+.

Amazon’s Whispersync for Voice has been open for business in the US for a while already, and now it’s available in the UK too, its second launch market.

To recap, Whispersync for Voice lets users switch between reading ebooks and listening to audio books without losing their place, thanks to Audible integration, the audio entertainment company acquired by Amazon back in 2008. There are around 25,000 professionally narrated audiobooks available on Audible in the UK.

Until recently, US readers using the Android and iOS Kindle apps have been required to install the separate Audible app to make the switch between reading and listening. But following an update back in June, Amazon brought Audible into the main Kindle mobile realm, meaning you could switch immediately with a single tap.

To add this feature to your Kindle books, you can do so using Matchmaker, which scans your ebook library to see which ones have an audio incarnation on Audible. It’s not free, however, with upgrades starting from £0.99.

Screenshot 2014-08-18 11.07.04

This tight Kindle-Audible integration is included for the UK launch too, meaning you don’t have to leave your ebook to start listening when you’re on the move.

You can read more about Whispersync for Voice here.

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