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.

[kbknigon]

Checking back in, 7 months after my original post. Still struggling to tolerate this reductive “feature.” Perhaps instead of laying off your staff y’all could generate some savings by no longer developing design features that actively remove functionality from the app.

[TheSwordMasterNL]

Hi everyone 

Since yesterday i dont see the songs that i liked anymore first i did now i dont anymore and its really annoying i hope this really gets fixed very soon i cant use Spotify like this i have been making a Japanese playlist for 4 years now and i am always trying to find new songs to listen to and to add to that playlist but now thanks to that new update i cant see the songs that i liked with a heart icon anymore its gone and it pisses me off i hope they fix this really soon the sooner the better i hope this week that they will fix it ok thx **bleep**!!!!!

[helenew]

What happened to all the songs I had marked with a ❤️?? In that way I was able to mark and see all the songs that i like the most in each playlist..! 

Now you have, all of a sudden, removed all the marks of my favourite sonfs in all my playlists and I feel completely lost!!! I am so sad and angry that you have "messed" with my personal playlists!!!

I don't know where my favourite songs are anymore on my playlists... and I am so frustrated!! So sad....

[bloom11c]

To easily see if I like a song now I set my liked songs to be downloaded.  Thus if a song has the downloaded symbol I know I like it and it is not just in a playlist.

[snikoyo]

Everybody thinks that the removal of the heart  was made by an incompetent UX team. I don't think it was only incompetence. It's to discourage users to add songs to playlists because it gets too difficult and tiring. Instead they want us to all just follow the algorithm and give Spotify more control over our listening habits.

I've seen this pattern in other apps before, YouTube and Pinterest are two examples. It explains the terrible UX of the Spotify start page. The worse the UX, the more powerful the algorithmic feed because it's the only thing you can consume without a hassle.

Meanwhile, the search for jazz and classical songs is a big mess. Why are my recent queries not saved like in basically all other apps? Because Spotify does not want users actively searching content. We should all just lean back and enjoy what some biased algorithm presents us. 

(It's so biased, I can listen to African music for days and it still won't recommend African music. If I listen to Cape Verde music, it will recommend only Portuguese music. That's not the same!)

[ggbbuuh]

Bring back the HEART button or at least make the previously liked songs in playlist and albums visible with a heart symbol just like it used to be

[justinmusic17]

This decision was clearly not tested with a diverse set customer group study based on all the negative feedback. It's a usability nightmare.

My recommendation: bring back the green Like heart, and long-press to add/remove from playlists. That way you keep the quick and simple Like/Unlike functionality, while also offering the new functionality. Or even better, make it a heart with a little plus symbol to signify it's multi-purpose. Regardless, the heart needs to return. It's a universal sign for Like in the music and e-commerce and social media world. And it's way too many unnecessary clicks now for as basic yet important function.

[helenew]

You are so right,, justinmusic17!!

Sendt fra Outlook for Android<>

[demiiboy64]

I absolutely hate this change, there's no new functionality added and the UI is even less intuitive now.

[Edwin71]

@demiiboy64

Wow, that is very short-sighted. There are so many things I don't like about Spotify's apps and software, but with this change it is now easier than ever to add a track to multiple playlists, to doublecheck in which playlists a track was already added and to quickly delete a track from one or more playlists. So quite some new functionality was added! Heavy playlist users (like me) are very happy with these new possibilities.

Admittedly the UX has some rough edges (like why do we need to tap the "Done" button after making changes to playlists, that shouldn't be necessary AND the heart icon is currently missing in playlists, but that should be coming back in a future update) . And, as I already mentioned in another comment, the new playlist functionality doesn't work predictable (or "as expected") in all situations.

Basically, one tap on the plus icon still adds a track to your liked songs (=to the liked songs playlist), just like before. Many people don't seem to understand that.

Personally I would have loved that Spotify finally understood that liking songs is not the same as adding songs to playlists. These are 2 different things and deserve separate controls in the UI.

[RAPSTER77]

Although I dislike this retro-grade there is a slight new functionality.

Double-click the + (it turns to a tick in a green circle) and you can select the playlists you want to add the song to.

Here's a thing, you can add it to a playlist and the tick shows (green circle) in the playing status but, if it's not added to the 'Liked songs' library the heart (desktop currently still has this) does not show. So, you can have a whole bunch of songs added to a playlist not liked but they have a green tick. Well, as I'm playing this playlist I already know it's in the playlist so I don't need a tick to tell me it's in the playlist. Under the old scheme the heart  (now a tick) would tell me that I have liked this song and therefore resides in my liked song library.

This UI is getting more ridiculous. It has not been thought through properly. The visual feedback is not intuitive.

During my brief courses on UI design etc this would come under the heading as an example of a bad implementation.

Engineer: "if ain't broke leave it alone"

Personally I wish I could have the five star system as per the old media player.

I suppose we'll have to put up with this for another five years until some bright spark comes up with the new idea of have a heart for liked songs.

[j_wa]

The endless updates of features that don't fit the users! I just can't hold my peace anymore ...

Why not create a customizable experience for people, cause everyone has different needs!

So now, if you want to add 1 song to 1 playlist but NOT like a song, you have to:

1. press + button
2. press + button again
3. remove from liked
4. chose playlist
5. save

Or ...

1. menu (3-dots menu)
2. Add to playlist
3. chose playlist
4. save

4-5 clicks to add a single song!

More than 3 clicks to add a song to library in a dedicated music app is just redonculous.

Just add a settings option to customize the "speed-dial" buttons as users wish, and create options based on the peoples' most requested suggestions in this community.

Example option 1:
Keep Heart-option key features, and adopt more stuff to it.
Example option 2:
Change it to + button that allows you to directly add a song to a playlist (+ button -> places to chose -> save).

Edit: and now there is a Minus-button .... As if I needed to spend more time undoing an accidental hide!!!!!

[agrippavips]

So I just spent 2 years adding songs I researched and liked to a Playlist. I then listened to this playlist for the last year in alphabetical band order and marked those I liked to the Liked Playlist. I could see the green heart on songs I already liked and could skip listening to the next unmarked one. 

As of yesterday my app has switched to this PLUS sign thing and now every song I listen to from my Playlist has a green mark because it belongs to this main playlist. I no longer can see those I liked unless I press the PLUS sign and check the LIKED Playlist is checked. More often or not it is already in the Liked Playlist. Luckily I am at the 'V's and almost completed this process. 

Please bring back the Heart functionality and keep this PLUS functionality for other Playlists.  

This will make using Spotify in the car a much simpler/ safer experience. Heart to send to Liked Playlist, Plus to pick other playlists.

Also, make the Heart visible when you display a playlist in the Mobile App so you can see what you have already liked.

[agrippavips]

"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. "

This is not true. ERROR. I tap the PLUS once and it pops the playlist list and the Liked Playlist is NOT selected. I have to select Liked manually.

I appreciate what you tried to do but this function should have been a separate button on the screen while keeping the LIKED heart functionality.

We need to have the function to save a song into a default playlist with a single tap for distribution later to other Playlists. That is what  the LIKED button was for. and it showed Green or Empty given it was or was not already liked. Liked was a persistent state.

[helenew]

Exactly!!! I agree so much!!!

Sendt fra Outlook for Android<>

[Samppa3]

Think how clever and handy the Spotify app developer dreamed this little thing and change to be..

38 pages here prove the point that this was not desired or needed change at all.

[Samppa3]

I wonder if Spotify gave us, the paying customer possibility to vote on each feature or change that they're about to introduce to us.

Then how many would go on to the current version of the app? This would sincerely help us get the app better..

As change for the sake of change is nonsense. Listen to the feedback and gather our views, before launching any useless changes.

[WACOMalt]

I really dislike this change. Liking a song very clearly saves it and adds it to my liked songs. Adding it to a playlist very clearly adds it to a playlist. Having one button for both, while it may make sense when you look at your liked songs as "just another playlist"... Feels unintuitive to me from a use standpoint.

I've never seen my liked songs as a playlist, even if that's what it is technically. I've seen it as an unordered list. And it rarely serves as a good playlist on its own due to the sheer variety in it.

Please return the separate "like" and "add" behaviors. This is a simplification that causes complication for the user.  Also... The heart is just such a clearer and more obvious button for "I like this". a plus sign to me ONLY means "add it to something" I originally sat there confused trying to figure out how to like a song. I've never thought of liking as a song as "adding a song to my liked songs playlist" and that sounds so much more convoluted to even say.

[1Lul]

The original post is older than six-months old. Somehow I only got hit by that change a few days ago. And it's really not great.

I do think it's irrelevant to point out the fact that Spotify say they will add the heart icons back to dismiss complaints about this feature being broken.

Spotify's "will do" aren't exactly "will do fast". How long ago did they announce they would add hifi to their services for instance?

It's a bad UX move. It's bad enough the old user base complains. It's bad enough that any new user used to the features that every web app share nowadays will be confused. We're used to like things on internet and apps since the early days of FB! Even your forum has likes (notice how little likes the post that generated dozens of pages of comments got btw) Whoever decided to remove the heart icon from your app just decided your users couldn't like things on Spotify anymore, they can only make lists.

And for everyone who says that this update doesn't change anything, then idk why you mind people asking to the feature to be reverted to its previous state 🤷

[Kyler8]

This is a nonsensical change. You have made the app worse. Stop making the app worse. Give us back the one tap heart.