Need some help with this new Android app. Why is it so bad compared to the old one?

[vincentp83]

All right.  I have Premium and have been using an old (I guess) version on my Galaxy Nexus for a long time.  Dark gray background, simple, list of songs, easy searching, switching, filtering, etc.  I hadn't updated in a while as it was working great for me.

Now I finally update to this new white version, and it's terrible.  Where did all of my features go?  I can't find a filter option (used to be right at the top of your library).  It now takes 3 clicks to star a song where it used to take one.  The songs are arranged by playlist only.  If I go to "Starred", they're in the order I added them.  I can no longer seem to order them by song name.  I used to just pull up my library of starred songs, throw them on shuffle and let them play.  I can still do it, but now if I want to switch to a specific song I can't find the freakin thing, nor can I really scroll through my list looking for a song, since they're in order by date added.  Is there any way to change this?  I can't find any sorting or filtering options.

I don't understand this "update".  Why make things more difficult and take features away?  So much of what was good about the app for me is now gone, yet there's still no lock screen controls or anything new that would warrant such a drastic change.  I don't want to listen to their radio; I have all of two rap songs starred out of over 500 and it immediately starts playing rap, nor do I want to download the songs.  I just want a nice simple streaming app as it was prior to this update.  I'm sure I can find an old version somewhere, but I feel like I'm an idiot or missing something obvious.  I've been messing with this new version for a few days now and just can't do what I used to do.  The ordering of my songs is driving me up the wall.  I need to at least find a way to re-sort alphabetically, but I've looked all over the app and can't locate such an option.  It's also not listing the local songs that are on my phone which used to just be included in my library.

Anyone know how to change the sorting?  Is filtering still available?  Is the old version avilable for download somewhere so I can return to having a functional app?

[licenced]

The new app was a complete rewrite and they unfortunately left out some key features that we used to have - check out this 50 page thread for a list of the majority http://community.spotify.com/t5/Mobile-Android/quot-Official-quot-new-application-release-missing-fe...

There are a few posts around with links to the old version if you want to revert

[vincentp83]

Thanks for the reply.  Unfortunately I've tried re-installing the old versions that are available (including several different versions from a thread that had more than one) and for some reason they won't work at all now.  All of the old versions crash when I try to log in and/or play songs, and they aren't even showing my full library anymore.  Strange, because the old version I had as of a week or so ago was working perfectly fine.

I tried clearing the data/cache when possible, but apparently they're just non-functional.  I guess I'll have to cancel my subscription and find another music service since this new version is completely unusable for me.

[neo-x]

I felt the same way before. I got my problems sorted by using 3rd party software. Sure if you can't use the new app without the features, canceling the subscription is the way to go. Even tho, I don't think there is a better service than Spotify around.

The old versions should work on 4.0.4 devices, but there can be some limitations. For me, .180 older version works fine. Currently using the newest version tho still not happy about how it turned out.

If you feel you want to debug the issues, you could try to backup the device, factory reset, just install Spotify older version, see if it works.

If not, then just restore the full backup back to the device and no harm done. Just make sure the backups are usable and functioning.

I myself usually take a backup (now-a-days) with My Backup Pro of the system + data + all to the SD card, possibly remove the SD card and then do some testings, or just swap the SD card to a empty one for the time of testing, and then swapping back the card that holds the backups.

Ofc, this is just me.

Make the choice that works best for you.

My 2 cents.