Music fans have been calling on Spotify to bring the Friend Activity sidebar from the desktop version to mobile for what feels like a lifetime, and now it finally looks like they’re about to get their wish.
Until now, the feature, which lets you see what your Spotify friends or Facebook contacts are currently streaming, has inexplicably never been available on the mobile versions of the app for Android or iOS.
But now it looks like this functionality is finally available for music fans on the go.
Originally “discovered” by Hashtag inventor and tech icon Chris MessinaLooks like the streaming service is testing a new Spotify “Community” tab for mobile that seems to offer basically the same experience as the Friend Activity, showing what songs your Facebook friends and contacts are streaming in real-time, as well as which playlists. they’ve been updated recently.
Prepare? Here’s my secret! Spotify has a new Community Hub to see what your friends are listening to live and which playlists they’ve recently updated. But I have no idea who Andrew Orona is. 😂 Want access? SuperFollow me and I’ll tell you how! 😝#NewSpotify #SocialAudio pic.twitter.com/hmlA52CVEjJune 1, 2022
Interestingly, the staging area can be accessed by anyone with an iOS device. If you like to go for walks and you have an iPhone or iPad, just type “spotify:community” in Safari’s address bar.
Spotify’s rise was largely shaped by the way it fitted in well with emerging social media platforms at the time, such as Facebook, which encouraged sharing and editing playlists. This meant that Spotify was The streaming service to get, because you couldn’t hear what was being shared everywhere otherwise. It was their biggest triumph, and it’s what rivals like Tidal on their launch failed to copy, leaving them far behind in popularity.
The addition of this new Community feature to mobile apps, along with the recent addition of “Blends” – a tool that lets you create new playlists with friends based on their musical tastes – shows something of a return to the first goals of Spotify to inspire music discovery through your friends’ listening habits.
Let’s just hope Spotify moves with the times and allows the Community to connect with other social networks besides the now painfully old-fashioned Facebook, otherwise all we’re likely to be exposed to is your uncle’s boomer Britpop mix instead. of some new bangers.
A return to great social features might be just what Spotify needs, at a time when it doesn’t feel like such a good value compared to its rivals these days.
