Spotify ditch Android Widget

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Dingbatt

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#255754 27-Aug-2019 17:57

Wasn’t sure whether this was better here or in the Streaming forum (mods move it if more appropriate).

I was wondering where my Spotify widget / Mini player had gone on my Android devices. Apparently Spotify decided it wasn’t needed anymore so they removed it from the app with the most recent update.

Despite 15000+ people (subscribers) requesting the feature be returned Spotify have said “Nup”.

I’m not impressed because it is probably my most used widget.

“We’ve arranged a society based on science and technology, in which nobody understands anything about science technology. Carl Sagan 1996

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#2306974 27-Aug-2019 19:36

Reason is that you can drag down notifications area and controls can be access there during playback. Meaning it is now accessible on any screen.

jonathan18

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#2306981 27-Aug-2019 20:00

Yeah, I'm one of those 15000+ who have voiced their displeasure at its removal; after Podcast Addict, the Spotify widget was my most-used. (And widgets are one of the reasons why I'd never move to iOS - my home screens on my phone solely consist of them!)

I don't want to have to drag down the notifications area to get to the controls - and that's also only useful once music is actually playing (unlike the widget, where one can actually initiate play).

And what I don't get is the arrogance of Spotify making the decision for users that this is an acceptable alternative; what was wrong with retaining it, allowing those of us want to use a widget to do so?

1eStar

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#2307077 27-Aug-2019 22:36

Do you have to use the latest version of the app? If the previous version of the app has what you want then stick with it?

dfnt

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#2307080 27-Aug-2019 22:47

Spotify don’t really care about UX

You just need to look at their forums to see how many long standing issues there are which never get fixed or implemented

mattwnz

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#2307096 27-Aug-2019 23:54

What about switching to something like google play music instead? When companies don't listen to customers, it is often best to vote with your feet. That still has a widget, and it appears it also allows access to youtube music, although that doesn't seem to have a widget. It does seem widgets are on the way out though, because many are not that good nor improved for years and some have disappeared.

dafman

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#2307117 28-Aug-2019 07:54

I was considering switching from Google Play music to Spotify as part of de-googling my life. But a widget is a must-have, so I'll stay with GPM for the meanwhile.

ShinyChrome

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#2307120 28-Aug-2019 08:26

dfnt: Spotify don’t really care about UX

You just need to look at their forums to see how many long standing issues there are which never get fixed or implemented

Ain't that the damn truth. It seems every version they are moving things around just because they can. One version the Settings button is in the my My Library tab, then its moved to the Home tab with no warning.

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jonathan18

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#2307122 28-Aug-2019 08:46

Like so many of these services, it's often quite difficult and time-consuming to extricate oneself from Spotify and switch to an alternative - and companies thrive on the inertia that comes with this... But, yeah, if it's not too much of a hassle (which it would be for us, given a family account with four different users) that's not a bad thing to do. I closed down my Facebook account post-Chch mosque attacks and haven't looked back! That said, I should put my money where my mouth is and go investigate alternatives.

Reminds me of an interview I listened to this morning with a NYT tech journalist who went six weeks avoiding any interactions with the 'big six' tech companies - of those, she said it was only Apple that it was relatively easy to do so. One interesting point is that it wasn't just a matter of avoiding the obvious public aspect of the company - as an example, it was easy enough to not order things from Amazon, but the predominance of AWS meant that blocking any content served via them removed a huge chunk of digital access (eg, no Netflix as that was served via AWS).

Here's a link to the interview if interested: https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/2018710558/going-cold-turkey-on-big-tech-kashmir-hill

Stu

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#2307124 28-Aug-2019 08:50

Yet another annoying app update from Spotify? No surprises there, really.
Could be a finance issue. I believe Spotify are losing money, partly (at least) due to the ?misuse? of their family plan, which in itself is another Spotify head scratcher. Spotify stipulate that all family members must live at the same address, which is fine (and undoubtedly abused). However, if you should move house, you can't update your address! It's so bad in fact, that their advice for if you need to update your address, is to cancel your account and start a new one!

It’s not possible to change the address registered on an existing Premium for Family plan.

If you move, or enter the wrong details, you need to create a new account (make sure you cancel the plan on your old account and sign out everywhere beforehand), then subscribe to Premium for Family on that new account.

We've found GPM is glitchy on a number of devices. Thinking about switching to Deezer, although I'm sure it will have it's own set of issues.

People often mistake me for an adult because of my age.

Keep calm, and carry on posting.

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jonathan18

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#2307131 28-Aug-2019 09:11

... and I've just done some looking into GPM, but came across the potential issue that Google will apparently (on a date yet unannounced) be closing GPM, with YouTube Music the 'future'. So, I thought, perhaps I should simply go straight to YouTube music... but their family plan requires all users to be over 13 - which rules out any Google 'kid's account'.

What a mess...

chevrolux

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#2307135 28-Aug-2019 09:16

I don't really get the thought process of why the widget is better than the notifications bar controls.

Surely it's easier to just pull down the top, than swipe to the page you have the widget on - unless it's home screen I guess? I would say I predominately use the lock screen controls the most anyway, otherwise, it would certainly be the notifications bar.

I started with the widget way back when i thought it was great having thousands of icons on my phone, but then realised I barely touched it.

...just my personal thoughts out loud. Perhaps there is something amazing about the widget i missed?

Dratsab

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#2307137 28-Aug-2019 09:25

chevrolux: I don't really get the thought process of why the widget is better than the notifications bar controls.

Surely it's easier to just pull down the top, than swipe to the page you have the widget on - unless it's home screen I guess? I would say I predominately use the lock screen controls the most anyway, otherwise, it would certainly be the notifications bar.

I started with the widget way back when i thought it was great having thousands of icons on my phone, but then realised I barely touched it.

...just my personal thoughts out loud. Perhaps there is something amazing about the widget i missed?

I'm similar to you, I've never used the widget either. I've got the Spotify icon on one of my three home pages - unsure what, if anything, I'm missing :-)

kinginvercargill

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#2311011 5-Sep-2019 10:56

For those on here that are still upset about it, its coming back by popular demand

Spotify says it’s bringing back a popular Android home screen playback widget it had quietly phased out last month. The user outcry was strong enough to convince the company to bring it back, and a Spotify manager confirmed in the community forums that the widget would be arriving in a future update.

The company first explained the reasoning for removing the widget in a short blog post, citing that users could access the same playback features on the lock screen and by swiping down on the notification bar. But people who used the widget every day weren’t happy, and some say they were even compelled to switch their subscriptions to competing streaming services, which all offer home screen widget options. “My entire family cancelled their Spotify subscription and we moved to Tidal. We won’t come back until this company starts taking customer opinions more seriously,” one commenter wrote.

Now, Spotify says the widget will return with some visual and performance improvements in an upcoming release.

Source: The Verge

Dingbatt

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#2311058 5-Sep-2019 11:53

Yay.

“We’ve arranged a society based on science and technology, in which nobody understands anything about science technology. Carl Sagan 1996

landcruiserguy

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#2313597 9-Sep-2019 14:42

If you buy you tube red then you get add free you tube, GPM and when they dies they will transition you onto You Tube music. For $20 for a family plan it's good value for money. The kids must be over 13 requirement is a US federal law requirement so I just did what everyone does - lied about their age when I signed them up.

On the topic of widgets GPM has one. It fills the important use case of starting the music when it's not already playing. It is however, as slow as balls. I persisted for years before giving up. You click it and then nothing happens, then you start to doubt yourself so you click the play button on the widget again. Then your music starts and immediately stops again. It's faster to have the app on your home screen, open that and then start the music. I still have the random play widget (the one that looks like a dice) so I use that when I just want something random to start.

If anyone knows how to make this widget faster of if they have updated it please let me know. I will also add that GPM doesn't like being blocked by add blockers and firewalls so you have to white list it or watch your battery die while it try to connect to it's tracking server.

On ditching the big tech companies. The world is starting to wake up to bookface. It's both a huge privacy concern and (like most other social media) a waste of time so ditch that crap. In an effort to degoogle my life I have moved to Edge Dev (Chromium Edge) and I don't see a down side. Less google trackers, all the chrome plugins work and it's got the Windows 10 backgrounds on the new tab page. Who would have thought that MS turned out to be less evil than Google...

E-mail is the big one because Gmail is a great app and a truly convenient service. At some future date I am going to pay for Protonmail and try and move to that.

My policy is that if the big tech companies are going to steal my data and make money off it then they have to pay me. It's not my job to make their products better. The supermaker pays me for my data by giving me pretend discounts when I swipe my shopper card for example. If they don't I am going to block their tracking and ditch their services. I am happy to pay for the services I use if I get privacy and an add free experience.

Setting up a PiHole on your home network so that everything on all devices runs through a DNS blocker is a fun project that everyone should do.

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