As Spotify expands to more global markets, the music streaming service is also refining the user experience. As of today, it is launching a much-needed redesign for its desktop and web player to match the feel of its frequently updated mobile app. While aesthetic changes – including a cleaner homepage, organized sidebar and filters to help organize your library – are welcome, the real highlights for heavy users include new playlist tools and a download button that allows you to save songs and podcasts to play offline (the latter reserved for paying members).
If you like to compile your favorite tracks and podcasts, updates may end up pushing you to the desktop player instead of the mobile app. When creating a playlist, you can now use an integrated search bar to search for music and podcasts. You can also write descriptions, upload images, and drag and drop tracks to existing playlists. The new controls basically make it easy to build a playlist on the desktop or in the web player and offer more ways to express yourself, which should appeal to users who like to share playlists with friends and the public.
Spotify
Meanwhile, the design changes include a home page that lines up with the mobile app, with a mix of Spotify’s recommended playlists and their heavy rotation; a simplified sidebar – complete with a “search” tool – an enhanced “Library” with new filters to help you rate your music and podcasts; and updated profile pages that add your top artists and tracks. Additional adjustments include the ability to edit your queue and view “recently played” content in the desktop application.
For a company that revolutionized the way we access music, Spotify admits that its desktop and web product was inferior to its mobile app. “We feel [the] the experience had not continued and it was time to change, ”said the company in its announcement today.
Perhaps, with more people listening at home instead of at work, the company was forced to pay attention to its desktop and web players. Whatever the reason for the changes, it appears that Spotify has a new recognition of the importance of its non-mobile applications: “We believe in the future of both platforms,” said Spotify, adding “we want to make sure that it can continue to meet the needs of our users now and in the future. ”