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Revert the terrible new user interface on Desktops ASAP

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Revert the terrible new user interface on Desktops ASAP

Dear fellow Spotify users,

 

I am absolutely livid about the new user interface that Spotify has recently implemented. Not only does it look visually unappealing, but it also lacks crucial features that we have all come to rely on, such as personalized recommendations.

It's a disgrace that Spotify has chosen to prioritize "aesthetics" over functionality. The new interface is cluttered and confusing, making it harder for users to navigate and find the music they want to listen to. It's as if Spotify didn't bother to test their new interface with actual users before releasing it to the public.

But what really grinds my gears is the absence of personalized recommendations. How am I supposed to discover new artists and songs if Spotify doesn't recommend them to me based on my listening history? This was one of the features that made Spotify stand out from the competition, and now it's gone.

I don't know about you, but I rely on Spotify to get me through my day. Whether I'm at work, at the gym, or just relaxing at home, music is a crucial part of my life. And now Spotify has made it harder for me to enjoy my music with this terrible new interface.

I urge all of you to join me in expressing our dissatisfaction with this new update. We need to let Spotify know that we won't stand for a user interface that is both ugly and lacking in features. We deserve better, and we need to demand it.

55 Replies

It's so messy now. I've been on Spotify since the day it launched in my country in 2012, I pay for it, I love using it. I have over 1000 playlists because of the way I like to organise/bookmark my music and I feel like I can't find anything anymore. It's all so tiny and crammed into the side bar. Why? What was wrong with the previous version?

It's unreal. I've never seen a program get so much worse so quickly. Why is this new mobile interface, that BY THE WAY kind of sucks ass on my phone too, being implemented on desktop? it creates confusion mixing albums and artists in with my carefully curated and QUITE EXTENSIVE collection of playlists, which I can no longer re-order like I used to be able to. You tell me I'm expected to only be able to put four things at the top of my list and MY LIKED SONGS ARE COUNTED AS A PLAYLIST??? this is an absolutely ridiculous regression in usability, basic functionality and also CPU performance, as it is now almost impressively laggy.

I am ANGRY about this one, folks.

If it ain't broke don't fix it, amirite?

I appreciate seeing more curated playlists to mix things up, but the lost of the daily mixes really hurts. There is also genre playlist groups showing up on my home screen that I just don't care at all for and only serve to irritate me because they're taking up valuable space. At least let me remove the genre's I don't want to see.

In another thread, a user has the solution for the stupid library-in-the-left-problem. With Shift+Alt+4 you can put it in the right screen.

exactly! i thought spotify was supposed to make the listening experience better, not worse. i hate everything about all those new updates. + the new ui is the most inconvenient thing ever. my laptop is normal sized but i guess it would've been **bleep** to have a smaller screen. spotify needs to stop trying new stuff until they find an actual good change to do. and it should stick to being a music streaming service only, not a social media.

I'm not a fan of this change... really...


Here is a solution - install an older version, they have them on their website, look for 'spotify old versions'. I installed the one from February 20th, version 1.2.5.1006 and it has the old layout. Spread the word, people are hating the new layout and Spotify needs to listen.

You are absolutely right! The new UI looks like an absolute mess and the fact that now you can only view your library as a list further proves this! My biggers concern about all this was the rounded corners they had implemented. It didn't look good on Windows 11 or on YouTube and it looks TERRIBLE here! I haven't used spotify since this update and i'm thinking about  canceling my subscription. I don't know why Spotify is so obsessed about "fixing" thing that weren't meant to be fixed

Same here! When i opened it i thought Spotify was glitched. I can barely find my stuff in my library now

Im trying to downgrade Spotify to an older ver.

I genuinely don't understand what issues some managers at Spotify have. Can any one of them explain why do we need complete redesigns so often? Brands that are not obsessed with latest CSS frameworks go unchanged for years. They settle on something that works and it stays that way because users get used to the way things look and where things are and don't want or like change. But no, Spotify managers just need to justify their salaries and show their higher ups that they're actually doing something "worthwhile".

 

Literally no-one asked for any UI changes. No-one. Same as before when the UI was good and usable (remember when we had stars and all offline songs didn't automatically get added to "liked" songs and completely ruin your favorites?). Someone at Spotify just couldn't leave it be, they had to show they're still worth keeping and decided that they should make the desktop app look like a social media site with massive rounded corners, large paddings and lots and lots of images. The actual usability was pushed into the background because that VP wants to see change, right? And what better way to prove that you've done something than to make the UI look completely different. It doesn't matter that users will be unhappy. What matters is that the VP is happy. 

 

Now I need to find a way to revert to the latest acceptable update and block any future updates so that I don't have to look at this POS design anymore. Or just need to find a way to migrate my library to Google or Apple and leave Spotify after years of using it. You're doing a great job at pushing your users away. Keep it up.

 

Edit:

Here's the last version before they ruined it that works: https://spotify.en.uptodown.com/windows/download/84505417

 

All the subsequent ones download the app from the internet (hence the installer size is much smaller) so you'll always be getting the latest and "greatest". The link I posted has the previous semi-decent UI.

I couldn't care less about how it looks (round corners etc) if it has the same functionality, which it doesn't right now. It's confusing and not intuitive. Is this the digital equivalent of supermarkets reorganising their shelves every 6 months so people are forced to spend more time looking for things? "If we make everything super hard to navigate she might accidentally click on Drake"

I really want the design reverted to the old desktop settings. I'm a big playlister and switching between albums to add songs to playlists is a horrible experience now. Give me my old Spotify app back!

Guys, we should write and give them feedback on this new, terrible update on every channel possible.

Not only here on this community but on twitter, facebook or email as well - https://support.spotify.com/us/article/contact-us/

This issue is bigger than just an update or the UI...this is about Spotify (rather, some product manager or engineer) thinking that it's OK to experiment and push out their **** irrelevant "ideas" or "features" to us, the paying users.

 

Either create a separate "power users" product for us and keep it stable and full featured, or stop pushing **** updates to the regular app. I don't want some silly PM or engineer testing out their **** ideas on us.

The user experience has been completely ruined and Spotify support does not care AT ALL. Will be closing my account if they do not fix this soon.

UI has**bleep** for years now, getting worse with every update. They don't care or listen to the feedback. Need to appeal to the tiktok zoomers at all costs

I would also point out this thread: https://community.spotify.com/t5/Desktop-Windows/Stopping-Auto-update/td-p/4785101 were you can stop any future updates to the app

HATE IT HATE IT HATE IT - Spotify have fallen for the fallacy of scale. Just because it worked (it didn't) on mobile doesn't mean it works for desktop. Desktop is about using the available screen real-estate to view larger data sets. The new library interface SUCKS so bad - chunky waste of space, tons of extra clicks. Filters are not needed, please revert to previous UI.

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