The ♡ Heart button is being replaced with a (+) Plus button

[MattSuda]

In March 2023, the ♡ Heart button will start being replaced with a (+) Plus button for saving things to Your Library. Things that have been saved to Your Library will now show a green ✔ Check icon instead of a green Heart icon.

This new experience is now rolling out to the mobile and desktop apps first and will then come to the other apps (watch, TV, etc.) at a later time.

You can check out this Spotify news article for more information:

Save Your Favorite Songs, Podcasts, and More With Spotify’s Plus Button

In this post, we will show you how to use the new experience and answer your questions. You might have already seen this change being discussed in the Community recently.

New Experience:

                                   

Old Experience:

                      

How does the (+) Plus button work?

• The experience will remain similar for you. When you tap the (+) Plus button from the Now Playing View, songs will be saved to your Liked Songs. The only difference is that now you can quickly tap the (+) Plus button again to add the song to your other playlists too! When you tap the button again, you'll also see the other playlists that the song has already been added to with a green ✔ Check icon.

• The experience is the same for Podcast Episodes. You can tap the (+) Plus button to save podcast episodes to Your Episodes, and then tap the button again to add the podcast episode to your other playlists too.

• Once you tap on the (+) Plus button, the icon will change to a green ✔ Check to let you know that the track has been saved.
  
  
• The green ✔ Check icon also shows up next to the songs that are saved to Your Library on Album and Playlist pages. (but not when viewing your own playlists, only other playlists)
  
  When you see a green ✔ Check icon on a song, it means that it has been saved to Your Library. A song added to either (or both) Liked Songs or one of your own playlists counts as being saved to Your Library. Before with the heart button, the green heart icon meant that the song was saved only to your Liked Songs.
  
  If a song has a green ✔ Check icon because is has already been added to one of your playlists, you can still add it to your Liked Songs playlist. Tap on the green ✔ Check icon and select your Liked Songs playlist from the menu and it will be added.

• The (+) Plus button will also still let you save Playlists, Albums, and Audiobooks to Your Library.

• This change will not affect the things you have already saved to Your Library. The songs you've previously saved will remain in Liked Songs. The Playlists, Albums, Podcasts, and Audiobooks you've previously saved will remain in Your Library.

• The "Add to playlist" icon in the options menu will also become a (+) Plus, but the functionality remains the same.

FAQ:

This section will answer your frequently asked questions and will be updated with the latest answers.

Why are the 💚 green heart icons next to songs I've already liked missing? I used to be able to see the songs I've previously liked when viewing songs on Album and Playlist pages.

• The green 💚 Heart icon has been replaced with a green ✔ Check icon
  
  
• The green ✔ Check icon shows up next to the songs that are saved to Your Library on Album and Playlist pages. (but not when viewing your own playlists, only other playlists)
  
  
• When you see a green ✔ Check icon on a song, it means that it has been saved to Your Library. A song added to either (or both) Liked Songs or one of your own playlists counts as being saved to Your Library. Before with the heart button, the green heart icon meant that the song was saved only to your Liked Songs.
  
  
• If you don't yet see the green ✔ Check icon next to songs in track listings (Album and Playlist pages), you should see this once it rolls out to more users.

I want to add a song to a playlist from the Now Playing View, but I don't want to save it to my Liked Songs. Why do I have to save the song to Liked Songs first?

• The (+) Plus button will let you edit the destination of the song you liked. After you have tapped the button from the Now Playing View, you can tap it again to change or add it to more playlists.

• Alternatively, you can still add a song to playlists without saving it to Liked Songs. Go to the options menu by first tapping the "..." icon and then tap on "Add to Playlist" to select the playlist(s) you want to add the song to.

How do I remove a song from Liked Songs or my other playlists now?

How do I remove a podcast episode from Your Episodes or my other playlists now?

• Songs: This same function can now be done by tapping the green ✔ Check button on the Now Playing View or by going to the options menu and tapping on "Add to playlist". After tapping the button or the option in the options menu, uncheck the "Liked Songs" playlist and then tap on the green "Done" button at the bottom. You can also use this menu to remove the song from your other playlists.

• Podcast Episodes: This same function can now be done by tapping the green ✔ Check button on the Now Playing View, on Podcast pages, or by going to the options menu and tapping on "Add to playlist". After tapping the button or the option in the options menu, uncheck the "Your Episodes" playlist and then tap on the green "Done" button at the bottom. You can also use this menu to remove the podcast episode from your other playlists.

What happened to the "Like all songs" menu option on Album pages in the mobile app?

• This same function can now be done by tapping the "Add to playlist" menu option on an album page and then selecting the "Liked Songs" playlist.

What happened to the "Swipe left to Like" gesture to quickly like and unlike songs in the mobile app?

• When you use the "Swipe left to Like" gesture on songs in playlists or in album pages, the song will still be saved to Liked Songs. However, now when you swipe again, the "Add to playlist" menu will open up so you can now quickly add to or remove from Liked Songs and your other playlists all in one step.

Why can I no longer add a song to a playlist more than once using the "Add to playlist" menu in the mobile app? There used to be a popup telling me if a song was already added to a playlist and there was an option to ignore that and add it again.

• Right now the ability to add a song to a playlist more than once using the "Add to playlist" menu in the mobile app is currently not possible. As a workaround you can still add songs to a playlist more than once using the desktop app. In the desktop app, you can drag the song into the playlist, or use the "Add to playlist" option in the right click menu.

Feedback:

Where can I give my feedback about the new (+) Plus button?

• We welcome your feedback about this change. The best way to share your feedback is to comment here in this thread.

[buddenandy]

If everyone who has written on here goes heavy on Twitter they won’t be able to ignore it like they do on here. CUT & PASTE AS BELOW then add you words 

#brokenspotify

@spotify @spotifycares @spotifyUK

even better tag @applemusic in it 

SONGSHIFT is a great app to convert your playlist over to Apple Music 

[infinitebpm]

they’ve got google syndrome it seems 

[crepecon]

STOP FIXING WHAT AIN’T BROKE! And start listening to user feedback!

This change is so awful and completely unnecessary I will likely be looking for alternatives, and I’ve been a regular Spotify Premium user for over a decade now. 

[user-removed]

They told us at the end of february in a community forum post that they will supposedly be bringing back a visual indicator to track list view but they are NOT responding to anyone in that forum. Nobody knows if its true or not. its been two weeks, hundreds of PAYING USERS who are upset and trying to get an answer or timeframe but nobody from Spotify can even be bothered to respond. 

[user-removed]

@spotify @mattsuda why wont anyone update us? My app freakin SUCKS without visual indicator. This app is useless without the ability to know which music you like already.  This is like sharing a closet with 30,000 roommates and not being able to find your own clothes because were not allowed to separate and organize them. Everything is just one giant list of random music that i may or may not like. Can spotify clarify what “soon” means? March? A few months? After you lose 150 subscriptions of the customers you abandoned and pizzed off

[user-removed]

I’m outraged about the new update. Heart has disappeared for the plus sign! On paper it’s a small update. I don’t care if I have to plus it rather than heart it. But what I do absolute hate is that now all the likes songs from an album I gone. I’m a person the only listen to album and rarely listen to playlists. If I find an artist I like I listen to everything and when I go though they entire discography I heart/like the songs I enjoy. That feature is now gone. I cannot se what’s liked or not. When a new album from an artist I like comes out and I add the hole thing as a playlist it auto likes every song! That’s so annoying. So no way to tell what I like and don’t from the new update. I have close to 2000 playlists and the fact that you can add a glance see what you liked and don’t is such a crucial feature. So really hope they bring this back ASAP! 

[Ijhana]

I hate this too and can’t post anything in the thread they are suggesting everywhere. 
Especially when clicking on new Mixtapes or Playlists I wanna make sure this is something I would wanna listen to. When there are many hearts in the lists, I know exactly that this Playlist could be for me as it already contains some of my favorites. Now I don’t even bother listening in..

Also I do like to see which songs I liked in my Weekly and when I click in Playlists of friends it’s also nice to see which favs we have in common. 
Honestly I don’t care if it’s a heart or a plus but it should be visible next to the song. I really hope they fix this. Spotify is no fun at the moment. 

[kateskates]

I have never gotten too upset over most decisions Spotify has rolled out on the platform, but this is a very frustrating one for me. I find it to be too convoluted now to like a song. First, I like the idea of “liking” it- not really well represented by a plus symbol in my opinion. It just gives me the ick. Second, I think it makes it more convoluted when you press on the three dots next to a song, and instead of just pressing one button to automatically add it to liked songs (really loved songs for me- hence the enjoyment of the heart) you have to now press the plus and then choose to add it to liked songs or your other playlists. Just unnecessary and frustrating for me as it adds more to think about when I really just want to focus on the song. I think you should leave it as a heart and not a plus symbol, or at least give the option to customize your experience and choose between those as settings. Anyway this is just my opinion on it, but I truly hope to see some level of ability to choose these things individually in the future! 

[kealanirvine]

Okay, but can we please see what songs we’ve liked when looking through playlists/albums? It’s frustrating that the only indicator is the downloaded symbol. I have playlists downloaded that contain songs other than my liked songs, which makes it hard to distinguish between the two. I’m an avid song liker and I think we would all appreciate having at least a replacement for the heart. Your team needs to do better at fixing only what is broken. Spotify hearts were an integral part of the app and almost iconic to the platform. You guys changing things willy-nilly upsets your dedicated users and confuses the casual users. If you’re not going to give us the hearts back, please provide us with an adequate replacement as soon as possible. This new plus button thing feels half-baked and is not providing the same user-friendly experience.

[GGbungles]

I fully agree!! Bring them back!

[ReenieVision23]

Hi Spotify, my app recently updated from the like or heart system to the plus system. My perspective is that the plus system is less user friendly with limited functionality. Under the heart system you could easily add the same song to a playlist multiple times. Now under the plus system this is not an option. You run the risk of mistakenly removing the song from prior existing lists. When you attempt to add a song again that previously exists in a playlist a dialogue opens with all your playlists checked. Even if you deselect options in the dialogue the system to only show the playlist you wish to add the song to for a second time it does not result in two instances of the song appearing in a single playlist. I have spent time with support and apparently this is an issue  that has no answer in the current test of the plus system. It is important to help spread artists  music as well as personal enjoyment . Please provide guidance or a fix .

[oilyeyelids]

I made an account here just to make this comment. I hate to be a Karen but the new update is frustrating. The heart was simple and just allowed me to add to my liked songs and if I needed to then I could go and sort directly into a playlist. My liked playlist is kinda just a lump of every single song I like so I can go and sort it later it serves me no other purpose so I preferred the heart for that reason. With the new update I cannot even tell which songs I have liked which is really upsetting because it made it easier to go through and like a whole album then sort later if needed. It’s just so inconvenient and I’ve already just stopped liking songs cuz it’s annoying me sm. In conclusion please change it back I can’t be the only one if I am im a karen I think LOL.

[spotnoah12334]

We need to be able to see what songs are liked when looking at a list of songs. This is detrimental to the app. There is no other streaming service where you cannot tell if you liked a song or not when looking at a list of songs.

Why do we need to see liked songs?

1. We can find new music by clicking on songs we haven't liked.

2. I can see if I didn't like a song that I actually like.

3. It helps us find out if there are more songs to an album (like noticing if we didn't like songs from a deluxe album)

4. We have to constantly check to see if a song is liked.

(As another user mentioned) 5. We can compare what songs we like with other people and see how similar or dissimilar our music taste is. 

[havenhillm5]

BRING BACK THE HEART ❤️ 

[red_robin]

To remove a song you don’t like anymore now takes three clicks! Used to be one. This is ridiculous. 

(This was my main reason to switch from Apple Music to Spotify years back. In Apple Music it takes 2 clicks. Are you telling me to go back to Apple Music?)

[vaajy]

To add more to your list.

5. We can see on other lists what they like and how identical is music taste based on liked tracks.

[Baumy1311]

Really bad think to have taken the heart in the playlists of liked titles, we could quickly see our favorite titles !!!

Zero, zero, zéadvise you to take Deezer, this feature is present.

I don't understand why Spotify removed the heart, so handy !!!

[DISCOmunication]

After reading the blog post I feel so relieved the ability to see liked songs in albums and playlists will be back, I don't really mind if it's a heart or something else.

Being able to see liked songs is invaluable. When you listen to lots and lots of music, you can't always remember the names. When I listen to a new playlist and can see already liked songs, this tells me the playlist is good and there's a high chance the rest of the not-yet-liked songs to be just as good -- it acts like a taste compatibility indicator for me and I might check the curator's other playlists as well. When exploring new music, I want new stuff I haven't listened to before, so being able to see which have and which haven't been previously liked is of utmost importance.

[Dudemanwhat]

I want the heart back. It was my most adored feature of Spotify. When I’m listening to an album, I never “love” every song on it. There might be 3 or 4 songs that stand out that I really do “love”. Having the heart next to those songs makes it easy to jump to them whenever I open that album up. I might add those songs to multiple playlists so the “+” symbol does not serve the same purpose. Total downgrade in my opinion. And I had to make this account to comment and waste my time to say so. Bring back the heart! 

[yojaredigital]

It's like product designers are incapable of quitting when something works fine. Gotta keep "innovating." There was nothing wrong with the Like button. It was not confusing. Please stop.