Spotify Rolls Out Redesigned App With On-Demand Playlists For Free Users

Spotify is expected to announce an update to its mobile app next week that will revamp its free tier music streaming service. Now it appears as though the update has already started rolling out to some users.

The updated and redesigned Spotify app seems to be already available to select users, The Verge reported Tuesday. The user interface of the Spotify app has been redesigned to offer users quicker access to playlists which allow them to play songs on demand. The update appears to be rolling out to some users on both iOS and Android devices.

The biggest change the update brings is letting Spotify free users on mobile play certain playlists on demand. One such playlist, titled “Gold Edition,” lets users pick which tracks to listen to instead of being restricted to shuffling, according to 9To5Mac. If a playlist is only available in shuffle mode, the redesigned app will have a blue shuffle icon present just beneath the title of the playlist.

There’s no confirmation yet if these changes are what Spotify is planning to announce next week, but it does look like it. If Spotify makes this feature available to its free tier users, then those users would be gaining a feature that used to be exclusive to Premium subscribers. Previously, free users were only allowed to listen to playlists in shuffle mode.

The Spotify update also changes the way individual songs are shown while being played. The playlist art is now shown in full-screen while users are playing a song. As for the other parts of the app, most of them have been redesigned as well. The search page, for example, now features colored boxes for playlists. Meanwhile, playlists that are only available in shuffle mode now have a short list of artists and songs included in them.

The bottom navigation bar has also been changed. The Browse button has been removed and its contents have simply been merged into the Search page. The Button for the Radio page has also been removed and it seems like it’s nowhere to be seen in the app. Lastly, there’s a new “Premium” button in the navigation bar, which seems to be a shortcut for users in the free tier to upgrade easily to a paid subscription.

It was previously reported that Spotify has been testing voice control features for its mobile app. Unfortunately, that feature is not yet available on this updated version of the Spotify app.

Spotify is most likely rolling out this redesign early to some users to test it out before it’s made available to everyone. The Swedish company should shed more light on the redesign and changes in its free tier during its press event on April 24 in New York City.