diff --git a/R/readArray.R b/R/readArray.R
index 9aeb7c0..4cf4e7f 100644
--- a/R/readArray.R
+++ b/R/readArray.R
@@ -1,8 +1,10 @@
 #' Read a dense array from disk
 #'
 #' Read a dense high-dimensional array from its on-disk representation.
+#' This is usually not directly called by users, but is instead called by dispatch in \code{\link{readObject}}.
 #'
 #' @param path String containing a path to a directory, itself created by the \code{\link{saveObject}} method for a dense array.
+#' @param metadata Named list of metadata for this object, see \code{\link{readObject}} for more details.
 #' @param array.output.type String specifying the output type for this function.
 #' This can be \code{"array"} or \code{"ReloadedArray"} (the default).
 #' @param ... Further arguments, ignored.
@@ -28,14 +30,14 @@
 #'
 #' dir <- tempfile()
 #' saveObject(arr, dir)
-#' readArray(dir)
+#' readObject(dir)
 #' 
 #' @export
 #' @aliases
 #' loadArray
 #' @importFrom HDF5Array HDF5Array
 #' @importFrom DelayedArray type<-
-readArray <- function(path, array.output.type=NULL, ...) {
+readArray <- function(path, metadata, array.output.type=NULL, ...) {
     fpath <- file.path(path, "array.h5")
 
     details <- local({
diff --git a/R/readSparseMatrix.R b/R/readSparseMatrix.R
index bc5da1f..c62f746 100644
--- a/R/readSparseMatrix.R
+++ b/R/readSparseMatrix.R
@@ -1,8 +1,10 @@
 #' Read a sparse matrix from disk
 #'
 #' Read a sparse matrix from its on-disk representation.
+#' This is usually not directly called by users, but is instead called by dispatch in \code{\link{readObject}}.
 #'
 #' @param path String containing a path to a directory, itself created by the \code{\link{saveObject}} method for a spars matrix.
+#' @param metadata Named list of metadata for this object, see \code{\link{readObject}} for more details.
 #' @param sparsematrix.output.type String specifying the output type for this function.
 #' This can be \code{"CsparseMatrix"}, \code{"SVT_SparseMatrix"} or \code{"ReloadedArray"} (the default).
 #' @param ... Further arguments, ignored.
@@ -23,12 +25,12 @@
 #' rownames(mat) <- paste0("GENE_", seq_len(nrow(mat)))
 #' dir <- tempfile()
 #' saveObject(mat, dir)
-#' readSparseMatrix(dir)
+#' readObject(dir)
 #' 
 #' @export
 #' @importFrom HDF5Array H5SparseMatrixSeed
 #' @importFrom DelayedArray type<-
-readSparseMatrix <- function(path, sparsematrix.output.type=NULL, ...) {
+readSparseMatrix <- function(path, metadata, sparsematrix.output.type=NULL, ...) {
     fpath <- file.path(path, "matrix.h5")
     name <- "compressed_sparse_matrix"
 
diff --git a/R/saveArray.R b/R/saveArray.R
index 45e57a6..0928ec6 100644
--- a/R/saveArray.R
+++ b/R/saveArray.R
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ NULL
     }
 
     save_names(ghandle, x, transpose=TRUE)
-    write(name, file=file.path(path, "OBJECT"))
+    saveObjectFile(path, name, list(dense_array=list(version="1.0")))
     invisible(NULL)
 }
 
diff --git a/R/saveSparseMatrix.R b/R/saveSparseMatrix.R
index b65b1af..f068135 100644
--- a/R/saveSparseMatrix.R
+++ b/R/saveSparseMatrix.R
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ NULL
     }
 
     save_names(ghandle, x)
-    write(name, file=file.path(path, "OBJECT"))
+    saveObjectFile(path, name, list(compressed_sparse_matrix=list(version="1.0")))
     invisible(NULL)
 }
 
diff --git a/man/readArray.Rd b/man/readArray.Rd
index d5027c5..0340afe 100644
--- a/man/readArray.Rd
+++ b/man/readArray.Rd
@@ -5,11 +5,13 @@
 \alias{loadArray}
 \title{Read a dense array from disk}
 \usage{
-readArray(path, array.output.type = NULL, ...)
+readArray(path, metadata, array.output.type = NULL, ...)
 }
 \arguments{
 \item{path}{String containing a path to a directory, itself created by the \code{\link{saveObject}} method for a dense array.}
 
+\item{metadata}{Named list of metadata for this object, see \code{\link{readObject}} for more details.}
+
 \item{array.output.type}{String specifying the output type for this function.
 This can be \code{"array"} or \code{"ReloadedArray"} (the default).}
 
@@ -20,6 +22,7 @@ A multi-dimensional array-like object.
 }
 \description{
 Read a dense high-dimensional array from its on-disk representation.
+This is usually not directly called by users, but is instead called by dispatch in \code{\link{readObject}}.
 }
 \details{
 By default, a file-backed \linkS4class{ReloadedArray} is returned to save memory and to preserve the provenance of the object.
@@ -35,7 +38,7 @@ dimnames(arr) <- list(
 
 dir <- tempfile()
 saveObject(arr, dir)
-readArray(dir)
+readObject(dir)
 
 }
 \seealso{
diff --git a/man/readSparseMatrix.Rd b/man/readSparseMatrix.Rd
index 756e454..20f2064 100644
--- a/man/readSparseMatrix.Rd
+++ b/man/readSparseMatrix.Rd
@@ -4,11 +4,13 @@
 \alias{readSparseMatrix}
 \title{Read a sparse matrix from disk}
 \usage{
-readSparseMatrix(path, sparsematrix.output.type = NULL, ...)
+readSparseMatrix(path, metadata, sparsematrix.output.type = NULL, ...)
 }
 \arguments{
 \item{path}{String containing a path to a directory, itself created by the \code{\link{saveObject}} method for a spars matrix.}
 
+\item{metadata}{Named list of metadata for this object, see \code{\link{readObject}} for more details.}
+
 \item{sparsematrix.output.type}{String specifying the output type for this function.
 This can be \code{"CsparseMatrix"}, \code{"SVT_SparseMatrix"} or \code{"ReloadedArray"} (the default).}
 
@@ -19,6 +21,7 @@ A sparse \linkS4class{DelayedMatrix} object.
 }
 \description{
 Read a sparse matrix from its on-disk representation.
+This is usually not directly called by users, but is instead called by dispatch in \code{\link{readObject}}.
 }
 \details{
 By default, a file-backed \linkS4class{ReloadedArray} is returned to save memory and to preserve the provenance of the object.
@@ -29,7 +32,7 @@ mat <- Matrix::rsparsematrix(100, 200, density=0.2)
 rownames(mat) <- paste0("GENE_", seq_len(nrow(mat)))
 dir <- tempfile()
 saveObject(mat, dir)
-readSparseMatrix(dir)
+readObject(dir)
 
 }
 \seealso{