Spotify is subtly changing how music recommendations work for users of its Premium streaming tier.
There are a few small visual changes in the app to signify the new update and enhance navigation. However, the most significant updates are happening behind the scenes to improve the app’s ‘Search’ and ‘Artist Radio’ functionalities.
Visually, the app has changed in a few ways. Spotify has removed the ‘Radio’ and ‘Browse buttons from the menu bar. Now there’s only ‘Home,’ ‘Search’ and ‘Libary.’ The features are all still there, but the radio and browse functionality are inside Spotify’s search tab.
Hitting the search menu button shows users a page that looks similar to the old Browse page, but the icon art is changed slightly and has a more aggressive pop of colour. At the top of the page is the search bar, and tapping the search menu icon twice opens it straight away.
Underneath the search bar are four recommended genres, while below that are other genres and the more general ‘Charts,’ ‘Podcasts,’ ‘Radio,’ ‘Discover’ and ‘New Releases’ headings. Choosing a genre presents the user with the option to start a radio station based on that genre. There are a bunch of recommended genre playlists, top artists and new releases for music in that genre too.
The older version of Spotify for Andoird is on the left, and the new update is on the right.
Besides redesigning the search page, Spotify has also personalized the search tool as well. Searching for an artist now shows the artist first, followed by playlists that they’re featured in and a radio station built around their music. As you scroll past this, the rest of the search window is the same as it was before.
The streaming giant regularly updates artist’s radio stations with new music now, plus they’re endless and downloadable too.
The update is rolling out for iOS and Android, and as far as I can tell it’s a server-side update since I haven’t updated Spotify in two days and I got the update on Android today.
There’s no word on if the desktop version of the app will be getting any aspects of the new design, but Spotify did launch an app for Google’s Wear OS smartwatches, so it seems to be in a software release mode.
Source: Spotify
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