For many years now, I’ve been an Audible member, listening to audiobooks in my car. I’m also a dedicated Kindle reader, reading (mostly) on my Android. So I was pretty excited to test out the new Amazon feature that automatically syncs audiobooks with Kindle books, so that I can pick up wherever I was, no matter whether I was reading or listening!
The rub is that one still needs to buy both versions, but it seems that Amazon (which now owns Audible) is offering a considerable discount on the audiobook if you buy the Kindle book first. For example, after buying the Kindle format of The Round House, I was offered the Audible version for just $3.95. Now, paying TWICE for the same book doesn’t make any sense, but the convenience of reading/listening to one book in both my car and my bed: PRICELESS!
Amazon calls this feature Whispersync for Voice. And you will need the free Audible app (iPhone, Android, Kindle Fire) and a free Kindle app or Kindle reader.
Before this announcement, Kindle already had Text-to-Speech. But this was simply a clever parlor trick, and not an enjoyable way to listen to books. If this is what you think of when you think of audiobooks, you really need to try a professional audiobook narrated by actors.
Switch between reading and listening with Whispersync for Voice.
As far as my test run went, it worked exactly as I expected. Keep in mind you need to have Internet access (such as WiFi or cellular) in order for the apps to record/retrieve your last “page.” In the Audible app, I needed to click the sync icon before starting to listen. But this might have been because I was quickly switching between the two. Perhaps if I had more than a few seconds between the two, it would have sync’ed on its own.
Best of all, you can try Whispersync for Voice for FREE with the free Kindle/audiobooks listed here.
The Whispersync for Voice library is currently about 20,000 titles, but I assume this will grow over time.
Anyone else excited by this new Kindle feature?