Spotify Presses the Reset Button on its Free Mobile App

Spotify has overhauled the costless version of its mobile app, adding a personalized expect based on music preferences, a new data saver mode, and—most importantly—a lot more control over what can be played.

Free users at present get a Selection and Play option of 15 "self-driving" playlists—including Daily Mixes, Discover Weekly, and Release Radar—where they can play songs in whatever guild with unlimited skips.

Outside these automatically generated playlists, which total upward to 750 tracks or 40 hours of music, free users still only get a shuffle play choice in the rest of the app. They can still create playlists from Spotify's catalog of 35 meg songs, merely but those 15 personalized playlists accept total song control and unlimited skips. For a fully customized, advertisement-gratis experience, they'll still demand to pay for Spotify Premium.

The revamped version of Spotify's app volition roll out to its 90 meg free tier users worldwide on Android and iOS in the adjacent several weeks, Gustav Soderstrom, Spotify's Main Research & Development Officer, said at a Tuesday launch issue in New York City.

Data Saver style, meanwhile, is an opt-in feature that tin exist toggled on in Spotify app's settings. It proactively caches songs on a device based on listening in club to reduce music streaming data costs for users with information caps. In testing, Soderstrom said the feature reduced data usage costs by upwards to 75 percent.

Babar Zafar, Spotify'southward VP of Product Development, said the Spotify app will optimize how much of a phone'due south space is used as its streams music. Data Saver mode will, for example, suit things like what images and multimedia show up. Unlimited data users who aren't worried about data caps can merely non utilise information technology to brand sure Spotify isn't caching song information on their devices.

The gratuitous app itself has undergone a full redesign. Gone are elements like the Radio tab; in its place is a streamlined library tab of artists, songs, and playlists populated with personalized recommendations. Premium users will likewise encounter this redesign.

When y'all kickoff open the updated app, you'll be prompted to cull a pick of favorite artists (kind of like Apple Music); the new app home screen is then customized based on your preferences.

Spotify mobile app redesign (2018)

The other big change is to playlists. With what Zafar described every bit assisted playlisting, yous'll get contextual recommendations in the simplified app as y'all create playlists. Do a search in the Spotify mobile app, and you'll at present meet a dynamic preview of the song pop up that you tin add to a custom playlist. As you save songs, Spotify will start suggesting more recommendations.

"The free experience on Spotify is becoming a lot more like Spotify Premium with much more control and much improve personalization to observe the correct music," said Zafar.

About Rob Marvin

Rob Marvin

Rob Marvin is PCMag's Associate Features Editor. He writes features, news, and trend stories on all fashion of emerging technologies. Beats include: startups, business and venture capital, blockchain and cryptocurrencies, AI, augmented and virtual reality, IoT and automation, legal cannabis tech, social media, streaming, security, mobile commerce, K&A, and entertainment. Rob was previously Banana Editor and Associate Editor in PCMag'south Business department. Prior to that, he served as an editor at SD Times. He graduated from Syracuse Academy'southward S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. Yous can also find his business and tech coverage on Entrepreneur and Flim-flam Business. Rob is besides an unabashed nerd who does occasional entertainment writing for …