What you need to know
- Spotify is removing the widget on the most recent version of the Android app.
- The move has upset many users who don’t find the notification to be an acceptable replacement.
- Users can vote on the issue to try to bring back the widget in future versions.
For those of you who love the Spotify widget, you’re in for a rude awakening the next time the app updates. That’s because Spotify has chosen to remove the widget from the app. The news comes as a surprise to most users after updating to the latest app, but Spotify has a statement regarding the issue on its community.
We’re here to let you know that we are retiring the Spotify Widget for Android this week.
We always take retiring features in Spotify very seriously. We’re pouring our energy into new ways of creating the best experience for our users.
You can still easily access the same playback features as well as information about what is playing through the Spotify playback notification and device lockscreen.
According to Spotify, the widget has been removed and the functionality has been replaced by the now playing notification. However, if you’ve ever used Spotify before, then you know that notification isn’t all that reliable. After pausing music, it has been known to disappear on you by the time you’re ready to hit play again.
The widget also gave you the ability to start your music at any time without requiring you to open the app. In general, the widget made things easier to enjoy your music with fewer taps.
So far, the move hasn’t won over many users, with the community having 35 pages of enraged replies at this time. The consensus seems to be “why remove a feature without a good reason?” And, I have to say, I agree.
For those of you who will miss the Spotify widget, some are finding success installing an older version of the app to bring it back. Spotify is also offering users a way to give feedback by voting to bring the widget back with this post on its Ideas board on the forum. At this time, the Idea post is a little more than a day old and it already has the most votes.
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Spotify expands to 13 new European markets
Spotify is now available in 92 markets globally.
Source: Joe Maring / Android Central
What you need to know
- Spotify has now rolled out its service to several new European markets, including Russia.
- The company also announced nearly 100 curated playlists for the Russian market, the 17th biggest for streaming music globally.
- Some features like podcasts didn’t make the leap, with Spotify saying the market was “nascent.”
Spotify today announced that it would be expanding to 13 new European markets. These include Albania, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Russia, Serbia, Slovenia, and Ukraine.
Spotify has paid particular attention to the Russian market, curating what it says is almost 100 playlists across popular genres. The country is the 17th largest streaming market in the world, previously served by Apple Music, Boom, Yandex Music, and YouTube Music most prominently according to a 2019 Statista survey. The addition of Spotify to the market is certain to shake up the existing dynamics as the company stands to swoop up 250 million customers from all these markets.
Gustav Gyllenhammar, Spotify VP, Markets and Subscriber Growth said:
Russia has an incredibly rich music culture, and to best serve this market, we’re launching a custom-built experience. Spotify’s arrival in Russia, as well as the additional 12 European countries, is a big step forward in our overall global growth strategy. A fundamental piece of that strategy is staying connected to global culture while allowing room for local adaptation, and we’ve certainly achieved that with these launches. Our team on the ground is working closely with local musicians, labels, and cultural tastemakers to offer a revolutionary and unrivaled fully Russian music experience to be sure that Spotify is going to be loved.
It is of note that while Spotify has been pushing podcasts rather hard, it won’t be launching them in Russia due to a “nascent” market, Reuters reports.
Source: androidcentral.com
