If you are a Spotify user and you want to upgrade your account, there are some things you can do to increase your listening experience. Some of these features include downloading songs and podcasts, saving them for offline use, and having access to the Friend activity sidebar.
Free tier
Spotify has announced a series of improvements to its free tier. Among them, users will now be able to play any song on demand. In addition, there will be greater recommendations when building playlists.
There’s also a new way to play music from a variety of sources. Users can now share their favorites on social media. They can also create collaborative playlists with friends. The company has also added ad-supported Hulu access to the Premium plan.
If you’re not yet a subscriber, you can start testing the free tier for three months. You’ll be able to listen to 750 tracks, and you’ll have access to a few more curated playlists. These will give you a better idea of what you’ll get with the premium version.
You’ll still be able to skip songs, though you’ll have a harder time doing so than on the previous version. Plus, you’ll get fewer ads. This is part of the company’s attempt to get more people to upgrade to the premium tier.
With the new features, Spotify is trying to fight Apple Music’s growing momentum. It’s also aiming to improve growth figures.
As for data, Spotify is now offering a low-data mode. It cuts data consumption by up to 75 percent. However, it still supports only lossy file formats. So, if you’re using a lot of data, you might want to reconsider.
For Premium users, Spotify now allows you to share your music with friends. Group Sessions allow you to host live listening parties. Another feature, Duo Mix playlists, lets you mix favorite songs of other users into your own.
If you’re considering signing up for the free tier, make sure you have a steady Internet connection. You’ll also have to wait a couple of weeks for new content to roll out. Also, there’s no way to download songs if you’re offline.
But if you’re ready to pay, you’ll be able to enjoy high-quality audio and unlimited skipping. You’ll have access to all of the music that’s been produced by Spotify, including exclusive content. And you’ll be able to stream music from your desktop or phone, even when you’re not online.
Save songs for offline listening
The ability to save songs for offline listening is one of the most useful features of Spotify. It is especially handy for users who are traveling and have limited data. By enabling this feature, users can enjoy their favorite tunes on a long flight or on the go without racking up a massive mobile data bill.
Spotify is often on the top of our lists of the best music streaming services. However, while its free service has standard sound quality, it does have limitations. As a result, Premium subscribers are able to download playlists and albums for offline listening.
Not only can Premium subscribers play their songs in the background while they’re away from their mobile data connection, but they can also use offline mode to avoid accidentally draining their data plan. This feature isn’t available in other music apps. That’s why it’s a must-have for any user who regularly travels.
The best part is that you can check your music’s storage from the Spotify app. You can also delete your cached files.
To activate the best feature of all, you need to make sure that you have a Premium account. If you don’t, you can only download playlists for offline listening.
The ability to save songs for offline listening is a useful tool for anyone who frequently travels or travels for business. Spotify lets you save songs, albums, and even playlists to a temporary file, so you don’t have to worry about missing out on your favorites.
However, to fully utilize the feature, you need to ensure that you are logged into your Spotify account. In addition, you’ll need to be able to access Wi-Fi. Using cellular data for this purpose will void your downloads.
There are plenty of other features that you can take advantage of, including setting a custom 320 kbps bit rate. This allows you to customize the quality of your streams, whether it’s for headphones, a car stereo, or a PC. While this may not sound like much, it can mean the difference between having a great listening experience and an unusable soundtrack.
Friend activity sidebar
After a recent update, you’ll notice that Spotify has added a new Community tab. This page is similar to the Friend Activity sidebar in the desktop version of the app. If you have a smartphone, you’ll have to wait until a future software update to take advantage of this.
As the name implies, it’s a social function that allows you to interact with your friends. You can also follow individuals and your friends’ friends. The Community tab isn’t a full blown Friend Activity sidebar, but it does show off a few other things.
In addition to the Community tab, Spotify has added a number of other new features. Among them is a Friend Activity sidebar, which will let you see what your friends are listening to and who’s following them.
It’s also a great way to keep track of your music library and find new tracks to listen to. Plus, you can now share playlists with your Facebook friends and start private sessions with them.
The Community tab and Friend Activity sidebar are only available to desktop users, though. To access the Friend Activity sidebar, you need to enable the “See what your friends are playing” and “Display” options.
While the Community tab and Friend Activity sidebar are new to the mobile app, the company is planning on bringing these and other features to its smartphone applications in the near future. Aside from the new features, you can still follow your friends’ friends and find out what they’re listening to with the help of Facebook’s social media feature.
If you’re feeling really tech-savvy, you can even use the Community tab to follow your favorite musicians on Twitter. But, in all honesty, you should really be using the Spotify mobile app to do this. There are many other reasons to make the switch.
And while the Friend Activity sidebar is a nice touch, it’s not a necessary one. In fact, you can actually do this on your desktop without having to upgrade your device. Just be sure to download the latest version of the app and log out when you’re done.
Download tracks and podcasts
If you are a Spotify Premium subscriber, you can download tracks and podcasts for offline listening. This is useful for when you travel, are on long drives in areas with spotty mobile service, or just want to listen to music on a device without an Internet connection.
You can use this feature to download your favorite tracks, songs, and podcasts. In order to do this, you must first create an account on Spotify. Once you have created your account, you will need to confirm your email address. The subscription is free, though if you opt for Premium, you can download up to 10,000 tracks on five devices.
The next step is to create your own playlist. You can name your playlist and select a genre, if you like.
Next, open the Spotify app on your mobile device. It may take a few seconds. After that, go to the menu bar and click on Preferences. At the bottom of the page, you will see a section called Offline Mode. Tap on this to enable it.
After doing that, you’ll be able to play the downloaded track or podcast in the Spotify app. However, you will not be able to listen to the content on your desktop.
If you’re not a Premium subscriber, you can still download a few episodes of a podcast. These podcasts are DRM-encrypted, but they can be converted to MP3 files. They can also be played in any other format. Luckily, there are a few ways to do this.
To do this, you can either copy the URL of the podcast you want to download, or use an RSS downloader. Alternatively, you can search for the podcast on a web browser and copy the URL.
Once you’ve done that, you can save it to your device. When you do, you’ll see a green arrow next to the downloaded content.
Finally, you’ll need to set the quality and sample rate. These settings will affect how much space the download takes up. The higher the quality, the more space the music will consume. For example, a song downloaded in Very High quality can use up to 2.4 MB per minute.
