[Desktop] Lost Features, no friend tab, etc.

[mcoutlook]

Since a few days i lost a few features which i would like to have back.

Plan

Premium

Country

Austria

Device

Lenovo Laptop

Operating System

Windows 10

My Question or Issue

My Desktop Version got updated all of a sudden and now i got a completely different look. I don't have the friend activity bar on the right side, i can't change my playlists covers or description. I can't even see my own profile like before on the top right. It is like the phone version because i honestly can't customize anything anymore.

Same on the Web player. I downloaded an older version already, which helps, but it updates itself automatically and gets back to the new(?) design. Is there anyone with the same issues or with a solution?

Thanks.

[Valhalla8]

This new change also removes the ability to add and manage Local Files. I cannot play any of the music on my PC; it's all greyed out. I can't add, remove, move, copy, play, nothing. I can still play them on my Phone at least but I can't sync the music anymore. And no, I cannot turn Local Files on/off in Settings because that option no longer exists.

This is ridiculous that the app just changes, features are removed but I'll still be charged for features I no longer have.

[Flyrus]

Ok so I have found a solution that has at least worked for me. I should say this exact plan probably only works on PC, but I have found this solution to be satisfactory.

Step 1: Uninstall the updated version of Spotify (if you haven't already) and install an older version. I installed Version 1.0.85.259. Here's a link that can get that for you: <snip - Moderator Edit> 

Step 2: Edit the program to not automatically update when the app opens. This may sound complicated but here's a helpful YouTube video with step by step instructions listed in the description. If you follow everything correctly it should only take 5 minutes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAy6EsKrwQg

Step 3: If you followed the YouTube instructions properly you should have a new shortcut that you will only be using to start up Spotify on your desktop. So lastly you have to prevent Spotify from opening in any other way. You're going to want to open the app up and go to Settings > Advanced Settings > Startup and Window Behavior, and then make sure you switch off Spotify opening from online and when you start your computer.

If you do all of this you should have an older version of Spotify with all the missing features on your Desktop that won't be updated so long as you use the new icon to open it. Obviously this isn't ideal but this is way better than what we currently got. I hope this works for y'all/is helpful.

[mcoutlook]

yeah i've also tried to dwonload spotify this way but for me there's too much malware and other **bleep** coming from those 3rd party downloads. tried it but restored my pc afterwards beacuase i got a program which i couldn't deinstall because it was running in the background all the time. tried closing it in the trask manager - wasn't possible. So i restored my pc.

[mcoutlook]

But it would be great to hear something from the people in charge. i mean it's been a while since the update now. In my opinion there's no excuse for them to not have given us any further information by now. There's now way a test run is going on for two months - not with this much feedback about how bad it is just in this feed alone.

[Sebasty]

Please don't download Spotify versions from these sites. The likelihood of them being riddled with malware is rather high and sometimes restoring the PC might not even be enough to get rid of them.

If you must, use these Spotify installers that sit in your Downloads (from the day you installed Spotify). That is, unless you clean the Downloads folder regularly...

[mcoutlook]

my pcs survived several minecraft mod packs back in the days. i'm used to those things.

but as i said, downloading spotify from a third party is no option for me. i'll just wait it out... sadly that's the only option

[spillingdrinks]

i do clean downloads regularly, don't have place on a laptop to keep old versions of Spotify around

[mcoutlook]

So i just installed spotify after restoring my pc - was a very good idea because it is way smoother than before in general haha - an now i got a new version. see image.

just a little (negative) feedback again:

-i still can't edit my playlists

-i don't see my nor other people's follower

-i just see my playlists on my profile - no recent artists etc. ..

-i don't see any stats on an artists page

[ST4R3]

I just noticed that you also dont get an overlay view for song radios which sucks because I used to use that alot

[mcoutlook]

ok nvmd  the friend tab is gone again. i didn't even close the app...

are you doing this on purpose? i mean this is some next level failing.

and why do we have to be testers? i understand that there are errors while programming, i programmed myself, but c'mon this is live on users...

[ST4R3]

its also great that this is just tied to the account (as far as I know) so when you log in with a different account would probably be normal again without an update

[WheeleyDan]

Same issue here and I'm getting really frustrated with this. So I reached out to customer support chat to see what's up. They gave me a test account login info and with that account desktop app worked perfectly. After that I logged in with my personal account and got the web player view again. So I can confirm that this is tied to account. 

The chat guy clearly didn't know about this test and suggested me to create a new account and transfer all my info and playlists there. After he consulted with a specialist on how to advance with this, I just got the same "we are always testing new improvements..." answer. And then got to leave a feedback on this test 😂

If someone doesn't want to take part on a user test group, why can't they just remove this persons account from the test group? Problem solved. Why is this test only on PC? Also how is stripping out lots of features an improvement? Who would think that this would be something that users want? Honestly no one. After the feedback in this topic why hasn't this test ended? It's been dragging on for months. 

This all sounds very stupid and illogical to me which brings me to the conclusion that our accounts have somehow been corrupted. Maybe they got hacked or just f'd up on an update. Don't know but I'm pretty sure this is not a test. I hope that I'm wrong and we'll get the good old desktop app back soon, he said while cancelling premium.

[PCC2020]

Something really serious must have happened. We that are experiencing the same in this group have been seriously downgraded **bleep**$#$"% version with less features. Still trying to figure out how come we were downgraded to a version that has less features and that doesn't allow us some of the basics. Something serious must have happened.

Nobody ever asked me if I wanted to be downgraded or to be part of a "test". This is ridiculous. I've been over an hour with a customer rep and they are completely lost here... I've asked to go back to my previous version and she said they are not able to!

All my other family members (4) are accessing the normal version with all the features. Please help.

I'm considering cancelling my subscription and get a refund because 1) Spotify is not delivering what I paid for 2) I was opted in to a test without my consent.  

[PCC2020]

Dear Elena, please remove me from this "test". Urgently. This is the worst interface ever and I really feel that I've been downgraded without consent. It is effectively a downgrade as there are less features. PLEASE remove from this test and return my user to the old version. Thank you Pedro

[PCC2020]

Can you PLEASE return my user to the old version? This is the worst version ever and I'm wondering what's in Spotify's leadership to pay engineers to design such rubbish. Please advise.

[PCC2020]

Dear Ivan, I want to be removed from this downgrade or "test" that I never consented. This is a crappy version and I should be paid to use it, not the other way around. Please sort this asap.

[mcjd95]

Same problem here, received the message below:

"Right now, it's not possible to opt-out of these tests however if your not happy with the new experience I'd recommend adding a +VOTE here to show your interest to Spotify to returning back to what you had previously." 

Please vote!

[ankokunoinferno]

This is beyond frustrating. I used to actually like using Spotify but it seems with every new update it's just getting worse and worse. I'm sick of these so called "improvements" I just want the old version back. 

[markrushton]

I'm another longtime paying customer who got switched to the wretched PC desktop version in the past few hours. Can't Share/Embed. Can't tell how many followers my public playlists have. Can't drag an album into a playlist. And on and on and on. Had to deal with lousy customer service prior to finding this. Looks like it's been an issue for a while. I'm sure Spotify doesn't care.

[jsannn]

That seems awful. If my client switches to this extremely limited web version, I will seriously consider ending my subscription. And I am long term subscriber and Spotify fan and I am paying for family!