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.

[Jdeanjune]

Personally, I think being able to choose which playlist that song goes to straight from the radio page is great.

However, it’s a bit cumbersome to navigate away from the radio page to find the playlist that song is on and then remove it. Whereas before you could simply click the heart again to remove it from the liked playlist.

There could be an un-save button implemented into the radio feature again. It makes sense to be able to remove that same song from wherever I saved it to with the same button I liked it from, in case I accidentally liked it or decided I didn’t actually like it as much as I thought after the first few seconds.

It also seems a little confusing also to use a minus icon as the “hide from radio list” when the save to playlist symbol is a plus icon. As a user, I would think the minus symbol did the opposite of what the plus symbol does, not another separate action.

[MadamPurpBarry]

If anything. Keep the + how it is, but also keep the heart (and heart bubbles).

It is nice having the playlist accessibility. 

but as I have said before, the heart is a highly enjoyable, highly popular feature. 
      ✨

(+) 💚

like this^ 

Why not have two features right next to each other. 

It seems like there would be room without making the design messy or complicated.

[MadamPurpBarry]

OR ON TOP OF EACH OTHER.

✨

💚

✅

This would be better.

sparkles are bubble hearts.. 

[maxartist23]

Both the iphone and desktop apps are becoming increasingly cumbersome, frustrating, illogical, and confusing to use.
Things are getting worse instead of smoother and better.

I am just baffled by the lengths Spotify is going to, to make the user experience worse!

[maxartist23]

This is confusing NONSENSE:
I just dragged a 3-track album into the left column to add it to my playlists.

Now it says that I have "Liked 3 songs" by this artist - even though I have NOT DONE SO. I merely created a new playlist.

Why is everything so confusing and making zero sense these days, on Spotify?????????

[Whatishappening]

Bring back the heart; It’s literally the heart of Spotify.  Is it just me or does anyone else feel like they continually stride to take our ability to control our music away from us, one step at a time…

[WayneBee]

How am I supposed to see if I favorited a song already???? I hate this new change, I want the separate heart button back. Are you UI designers thick in the head or something? If it's useful on the desktop version to see the friggin heart on the list then it's just as useful on mobile. I really freaking hate modern software that automatically upgrades to new "enhanced" versions all the time. This change is total garbo.

Furthermore you should enable downvotes on this garbage comment system so you can see how many people hate this change.

[dhmusak]

Worst UX change in years! 
My main complaint is to not being able to recognize favorite songs within albums I have listened to or playlists. No clue how removing my likes and visibility on past listening activity is supposed to improve my usage of the app 😬🙈

A case of misinterpreting an A/B test? Seems like something went wrong when all you see is negative reactions and no clear improvement for users … people saying they will change streaming services should be enough feedback to scrap whatever “great test numbers” were collected 😂

[dhmusak]

Upvote here: https://community.spotify.com/t5/Live-Ideas/Mobile-Browse-Bring-back-like-indicator-on-album-playlis...

[lau12]

Please bring back the like button only, It’s an inconvenience to add songs and be asked to add to a playlist I liked it better when you could just add to liked songs and move on. On Apple Watch it’s an inconvenience to remove from likes and the playlist pop up please remove or add a setting to turn off. thank you. 

[Indialaurie]

I have no idea why they decided to make this change. The heart icon was so cute, the plus is simply gross! If they keep making changes like this they’re gonna end up like Apple Music. Change it back!! ❤️❤️❤️❤️

[Notfrey]

I think that the original heart button that you Press to add a song to liked songs, the + icon is not as nice 😭

[whiteyg]

I'd like to add to the overwhelming wrath for changing the "heart" button to a "+" button on the mobile app. This only creates more effort to click the plus sign and then add it to multiple playlists. Spotify already had this option by clicking the ellipses button, which allowed you to add to a playlist, library, view artists, albums, etc. Even worse, previously liked songs are no longer visible outside of the now playing screen. I know Spotify is working on it, but please please fix this issue quickly so users can see what they've already liked in the track lists and album view. The new change renders the liked playlist (I guess it's now a playlist rather than a category), virtually useless. Liked songs are fundamentally different from playlists and should be treated as such.

The "+" button does not work correctly in the "What's New" page. When you click the "+" button it only adds it your library, users do not have the option of adding it to multiple playlists. It makes no sense that the "+" button would function differently on different tabs of the moblie app. More frustrating, users used to be able to click the ellipses button next to the new album or song, which would allow us to add it to a playlist, library, go to artist, album, etc. Now when users click the ellipses, the option to "add to playlist" is no longer available. Nonsense. We have to click on the image of the album/song to go to the album/song itself, then click the ellipses, which then allows users to select the playlist to which we want to add the album/song. Completely baffling.

Finally, it is likely Spotify will be migrating these changes to interfaces on car touchscreens. It is absolutely a terrible idea. Being able to like songs with one click is essential and so much safer than creating a scenario where we have to click multiple times to add a song to the liked songs. We are not going to be creating playlists while driving, but liking a song seems reasonable and a safe means of categoriz songs while driving for later organization, if need be. Under no circumstances should you eliminate the like button from car interfaces.

Spotify, listen to your users, not to the expectations of unbridled growth and change. Functionality is stability and simplicity.

[OhsnapitsshAwn]

Please, please, please bring back the heart!!! This new “+” feature is not convenient!! The extra step of having to add to “Liked Songs” is inconvenient. The heart feature was simple- one tap and the song went straight to the “Liked Songs” playlist.  I really don’t want to consider stopping my use of Spotify because of this, especially since I have been a user since 2015! The heart feature is easier to use and is a staple of Spotify. 

[filip8211]

I won't go on explaining how much I don't understand the replacement of the like button. But I will say I don't like the new + button.

Having said that, I think there needs to be a visual depiction of which songs are already added in your library. For reference, this is how an album with some songs added/liked was before:

Being able to see which songs you have already liked in an album is helpful in revisiting albums you haven't listened to in a while or don't remember the specific song names by heart. It's also helpful when listening for the first time to remember which songs you want to go back to. 

Finally, the only way to see if a song is already liked/added now is by sliding to add and getting the 'Add to playlist' prompt because it's already added Vs getting the 'Added to liked songs' message. Having a plus sign or a heart to show that they are already added saves a few taps and a few confusing add to playlist menus popping up seemingly out of nowhere.

(I have accidentally tapped songs to be added in playlists and then untapped to unselect the playlists, and then tap Done, multiple times. Which has been increasingly annoying since this problem didnt exist before!).

That's all. Hope other people find this relatable!

[maxartist23]

Everything is incredibly confusing and makes zero sense since the latest update.
I added an album as a new playlist. 
While playing it, each track displays a TICK on each song - even thought I have not LIKED every song.
Where is the PLUS (used to be a HEART)??? 
How can I add this song to my LIKED SONGS?
If I click further, there is no option to do so.

WHAT A MESS.
I simply hate what Spotify is doing, destroying the functionality.
Nothing makes sense at all.

[UXisEveryyhing]

I get it, but Why?

Why couldn’t you make two separate buttons and keep both functionalities? Why did it had to be a compromise? 

You made the liking process more difficult having to press more buttons just to be able to add a song to a playlist. 

How is this better?

[Liluziburp]

The reason I don’t like this change is that, when I’m on an an album, I can’t see which songs I’ve liked, I have to go into my liked songs and search the album to see which songs I’ve liked on it. I listen to a lot of music, and I use likes to keep tabs on all the different albums I’ve gotten through. It’s helpful to be able to open the album and immediately see what songs I like. I’ve spent so much time meticulously listening to albums and liking all the songs that stand out to me, I want to be able to see the likes when I open any given album. Please bring back the heart!! 

[tj7o9wzndra8kdui38nz]

with the recent updates on the Spotify app it’s been more difficult the navigate the app when it comes to liking a song or adding it to a playlist. personally i liked it better when you could just like a song with one tap. then there was a little green button you could list the add to  another playlist. i think that was way easier  then how it is now. also when im viewing a song in a playlist i don’t know which ones i liked unless i go into my “liked songs playlist”, or i click on the 3 dots then click add to playlist then the little menu to pop up. just for it to already be in my liked songs playlist. i think there’s just too many steps. i do think the menu drop is a good when adding songs to different playlists. i just don’t think the liked songs playlist should be a part of that list. 

• i really hope y’all consider this. honestly i’ve hated this for the last couple months. but i love spotify. i won’t be switching to apple music. unless i need to, so pretty please make this happen immediately. 

[badiaasaad]

I am writing to express my disappointment and frustration regarding the recent removal of the heart icon from the Spotify app without any prior notification or explanation to your loyal customers. As a dedicated user of Spotify for several years, I have relied on the heart icon to curate and access a collection of songs that I have carefully added to my list. 

To my dismay, the heart icon has completely disappeared from my account, leaving me unable to access the songs I have collected and enjoyed over the past two years. As a paying customer, I find it illogical and unacceptable that such a significant feature would be removed without any consideration for its impact on users like  my self. 

I am demanding an immediate solution to this problem. I insist that the heart icon be restored to my account, along with the list of songs I have diligently curated. I have been paying a premium fee for my Spotify account, and it is disheartening to feel neglected and left with no access to the music I cherish. 

I kindly request the assistance of someone from your team to address and resolve this issue promptly. I believe it is your responsibility to provide a satisfactory resolution and ensure that loyal customers like myself can continue to enjoy the full benefits of the Spotify service.