Apps are gone, and no explanation is given.

[johnohod]

[AnnaRaeFM]

This is SO disappointing.

I basically relied on the Pitchfork app to find new music - now my user journey is SCREWED Spotify.

Thanks for getting rid of what was a brilliantly seamless experience... :'( :'(

[walkon23 · Accepted solution]

WTF!?

Softify team, are you nuts? You have cutted of a big branch of funcionalities... I'm trully considering ending my subscription.

[MattSuda]

Spotify has discontinued apps.

You can read information about it here:
https://developer.spotify.com/technologies/apps/

You can still view lyrics by clicking on the "Lyrics" button in the bottom right corner.

An official statement:

https://community.spotify.com/t5/Spotify-Ideas/Keep-the-old-app-API-in-the-desktop-software-for-exis...

Hello everyone. Spotify here. 

We’re happy to highlight that several of our partners have already launched new integrations with Spotify. Some of these are located within the Spotify desktop app like MusixMatch. Others are hosted as web apps on partner sites like BBC playlister, Soundhound and Swarm.fm. You can find many others on our developer showcase. 

We believe this will allow us to create a great Spotify experience across many platforms. Instead of trying to build all of these features into Spotify, we’re building ways to make a Spotify account more useful in different experiences. For example, we released an integration with Runkeeper. You’re also now able to use the Pacemaker DJ app on iOS and the Djay DJ app across Mac, iOS and Android. Further theShazaam integration is better than ever. 

We’ll be offering more experiences like this in the future and we’re excited to see what we can build with our partners.

[johnohod]

The problem is that none of external apps buildt on the new API does what the internal apps did. It's not really the same. It's fine that Spotify made an API for exteral websites, but taking away eg. last.fm as an app takes away more value for me than the external apps are adding. And so I see no other alternative than to move on to Wimp.no.

[simoninoslo]

I agree. I loved checking pitchfork and finding new music to listen to. Bring back the seamless experience!

[user-removed]

Yeah, this is crazy. Apps like Pitchfork were the ONLY reason I preferred Spotify over Rdio or Google All Access. I will be cancelling, and switching to Rdio.

[johnohod]

@MattSuda, none of the links you are pointing to or the statement from Spotify gives an explanation.

Or actually, the reason seems to be that they don't feel that the desktop player is relevant anymore. And so us desktop users are probably no longer wanted either.

Quote from here. https://developer.spotify.com/technologies/apps/:

"As Spotify evolves and priorities change, we sometimes have to remove APIs from active development and shift focus to the relevant platforms."

[elmorg]

Really shocked that Spotify decided to do this! Not only have you removed major functionality from the desktop software, but you provided no pop-up or explanation to users about why this feature suddenly vanished. This meant that I had to waste my time searching around on google for an explanation. To treat your cutomers like this seems incredibly rude and inconsiderate. I discovered a lot of my new music using the pitchfork and guardian apps. Now I can no longer do this. 

I feel massively let down by the Spotify team, and will be looking for alternatives. 

[Sylox]

Goodbye for now!