Android Widget Removal

[Staff]

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.

To access the playback controls on Android simply swipe down while you are using Spotify to access the controls.

If you’re interested in learning more about how the app evolves, check out our article about testing and why features change.

We’re also welcome to feedback from our users. The best way to give us feedback to is to write an Idea in our Idea Exchange. 

Thanks!

[Eneffex]

I hope the PM and ux designer that approved this have a long hard look at what they're doing with their lives

[Stepen88]

Bring back the widget! It's my primary way of using spotify! 😡

[gb79a]

I've started a topic - be interesting to know if subscribers are cancelling their Premium as a result of this backward-step?

https://community.spotify.com/t5/Subscriptions/Android-widget-removal-has-it-resulted-in-you-unsubsc...

[Unicarn]

I am very disappointed with seeing the widget removed. I used it everyday and it is very useful. It is much easier and more convenient for not only me but to others, as you can see from all the people commenting on this topic. Please bring it back, there is no good reason at all as to why it was removed in the first place and it is only making people upset. Thank you. 

[Stepen88]

Bring back the widget! 

[gb79a]

Comical - this thread is marked as 'Solved'!

[ninjatech]

Another paying customer that uses that widget daily. Will downgrade for now, and if/when the old version gets locked out, I'll switch to a different service.

Your user testing methods are flawed. The widget is an excellent way to interact with Spotify when the phone is mounted in a car and the app is closed. Not everyone has a car with smart music features.

[pedroborges]

Who was the genius that tought to remove one of the most used feature was going to be a good idea?
Now from one click I need to give several just to play a music

[shannonamen]

Terrible move, I see no reason to remove this function. 

[Rickydhouse]

I used the widget every single day from my main home screen. I have paid hundreds of dollars over the years for this service and have never seriously considered canceling, even with a free Tidal account through my service provider. The decision to drop the widget is something that just seems so counterintuitive. It couldn’t have required that much work to keep it around. It now requires several more clicks to get to my music and the drop down menu doesn’t always work. I popped the Tidal widget down at the bottom where my Spotify one used to be. Looks pretty good. We’ll see if I get used to it and just cancel the Spotify Family Account. It seems pretty user friendly and the widget is a huge plus.

[Salzberger]

This is ridiculous. What the **bleep** actually gets done at Spotify HQ? In 3 or so years of using Spotify I can't remember one new feature, or at least one that increases usability, despite seeing plenty of requests for new features on the forums (Playlist bookmarks? Shuffle all playlists? Combination of all daily mixes?). I can however list multiple features that have been removed for no reason. Keep giving us less for the same price. 

[Danielgr7]

Really wonder who had the bright idea of removing the widget. Let's make the app harder to use, I'm sure this will be great. 

[gd0086]

Why?

[Garyclark82]

What's wrong with you people? I'm all for improvement but this is a massive step backwards

[Zantek]

We’re here to let you know that this decision is utterly stupid, I mean this is a paid service, we pay you to use your app, dont make such sudden changes without first consulting it with your PAYING USER BASE. Fire the guy who made the decision to remove the widget and get someone with a little more common sense.

[user-removed]

Too little, too late. You've 100% lost my trust and support with this change. I've been waiting for years for the simple option to keep the screen on/unlocked while playing and charging (something every other media playing app that I have supports). I've seen confusing and obtuse UI changes. But this change pushed me over the edge, and I've cancelled my account. There are plenty of other options for music streaming.

[Brunsworks]

Fire your UX designers. Unsubscribing right now.

[djbignut]

What dimension did I just walk into ? You took away a feature and then made your users vote on it as a new feature ? You should change it to a BUG. If you haven't realized it yet, this is extremely embarrassing for you, and likewise insulting to your users, for not fully understanding what your users want/need. For the record - some of your users put the widget on their home screen. The widget allows us one button to go previous, play/pause, and/or next. Your "notification strategy" doubles that effort. You have literally forced me to push twice as many buttons to perform the same actions I executed a week ago. Thanks? If you needed your backlog restocked, there must be better ways ..

[Tremzoff]

So, first you remove a feature (without asking/vote afaik) which is crucial for a lot of people and then you "generously" offer a vote to bring back exactly that feature you took away? Besides being really inconvenient for me personally I really don't like how this was handled. If the widget isn't going to be back soon I'll seriously consider another music service. 

[Soze666]

This is ridiculous, the widget was great! I can't see any upside in removing it.