Desktop: New "Now Playing View" sidebar

[MattSuda]

Spotify is introducing a new "Now Playing View" sidebar in the desktop app and Web Player to go along with the recently released "Your Library" sidebar.

Together, the individually customizable design of these new views provides a richer experience, more context, and quicker access to personal favorites.

The Now Playing View in the right sidebar shows the album art and info of the current song or podcast you are playing and also shows more information about the artist.

When you expand the album art in the bottom left corner of the app, it will no longer hover over the Your Library sidebar. Instead, the new right sidebar will open up. You can resize the Now Playing View sidebar to your preferred size.

You can open and close the Now Playing View sidebar by clicking the button in the bottom right of the desktop app.

The Now Playing View sidebar will open up on the right side of the app by default when you start playback, but you can disable this behavior under Settings ➜ Display ➜ Show the now-playing panel on click of play.

The Friend Activity feed is still accessible via the "friends" button next to your profile picture in the top right corner of the main content area. There is also an option in Settings. You can swap between showing either the Now Playing View or the Friend Activity feed in the right sidebar.

The new Now Playing View sidebar is now rolling out to all desktop users worldwide, so you should be seeing it soon.

You can read more info about the new desktop experience in the Spotify Newsroom post:

➜ Spotify’s Desktop Experience Gets a Brand-New Look With Redesigned ‘Your Library’ and ‘Now Playing’ ...

You can read more info and give feedback about the new Your Library sidebar here:

➜ Desktop: New Your Library sidebar

FAQ:

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

The Now Playing View sidebar keeps opening at the start of playback, how do I turn this behavior off?

• The Now Playing View sidebar will open up on the right side of the app by default when you start playback, but you can disable this behavior under Settings ➜ Display ➜ Show the now-playing panel on click of play.

How do I get the album art to expand in the bottom left corner like before? When I try to expand the album art, it opens the Now Playing View sidebar to the right.

• Unfortunately, that is no longer possible. When you expand the album art in the bottom left corner of the app, it will no longer hover over the Your Library sidebar. Instead, the new right sidebar will open up. You can resize the Now Playing View sidebar to your preferred size.

Can I hide certain sections in the Now Playing View sidebar?

• Right now it's not possible to hide sections, so you will see all of the sections. However, you can drag and resize the sidebar to your prefered size.

Feedback:

Where can I give my feedback about the new Now Playing View sidebar in the desktop app?

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

Updates:

This section is to inform you of updates to the new Now Playing View sidebar such as changes and new features.

July 2023:

• Click to enlarge album art on album pages
  
  When you are viewing an album page, you can now click on the album art at the top next to the title to view it bigger in the middle of your screen.

[rossisdead]

You need to bring back clicking on the album art to get back to the currently playing playlist/album. That was a surefire way to get back to where I was after getting lost in pages of search results. Now I either need to hit the back button over and over until I get to where I was, or I have to go find the playlist in the playlist list and scroll to whichever song is currently playing.

Yes, I know that clicking on the title of the now playing window that opens will get me there. That's a) completely unintuitive, and b) now requires two clicks on completely opposite sides of the window to do what one click used to do.

To be honest, if I *wanted* to view this "now playing" section, I'd keep it enabled. Totally get the appeal of it, but the UX is clunky. If it's gonna stick around, at least put a "Go to playlist" option when you right click the album art. There's already "go to artist" and "go to album". Shouldn't be that hard to add one more link. 

Oh and while we're at it, since this never gets addressed anytime it's posted: Can we *PLEASE* get it back so that creating a new playlist from an album automatically includes the band name in the title? It used to work this way. It would take roughly 10 seconds for an intern to append one more piece of data to a string.

Edit: Now that I think about it, getting back to the playlist I was on actually takes three clicks now. I have to close the "Now playing" window every time after I get to the playlist.

[Magnative]

I feel like dev probably tone deaf about this now but

Please bring back normal big cover art on the bottom left. Is so stupid that right side of the screen in waste with information that I don't want to know.

Before when I click on the cover art is open playlist that is currently playing but now is just go to main of the album from the song which I doesn't want that.

[TacNuke]

Please bring back the left side album art functionality! I loved seeing that without taking up a fifth of my screen wiith information that i already have in the bottom left!

[aviwad2]

One of the worst changes by Spotify. Horrible. Get RID OF THE NOW PLAYING. Why is opening it on every click the auto-enabled option? Why is it an option? Why does the expand button on the album open it? Why should every click in your app open the now playing panel? I will switch to Apple Music soon because your product is broken and irritating to use. 

[garyjpaterson]

Echo what literally everyone else is saying. We need a 1 click "jump to song in playlist" button at the very least. The basic user experience has been ruined, for what reason?

Would love to hear from the person responsible

[Karhuvaari]

Hi,

Old thread, but this "The Now Playing View sidebar will open up on the right side of the app by default when you start playback, but you can disable this behavior under Settings ➜ Display ➜ Show the now-playing panel on click of play." won't work at all. Panel will pop-up time to time and I HATE IT! Thats why I like to use other music providers.

[cloudsmaker]

The sidebar itself is a good idea, but because of it, i can no longer jump to the currently played song in the playlist by cliking album cover. So now it's sometime impossible or very time consuming to find where in the playlist is the song, because i listen to huge (couple of hundred-tracked) playlists.

I wish you could have at least not remove that feature and just put it elsewhere. Can we please, have it back?

[darkyoda1138]

Please give us the option to put the now playing back into the middle section. 

Also the option to add the like button back. I've been using that as a way to "love" vs like since you removed the option to like or love a song. (Songs I like I add to a playlist songs I love hit the heart for as well.) Honestly stop removing functions. Add all the options you want just stop dumbing the entire app down.

[brcorrealucas]

This link to “Now Playing” from the current playing album cover is driving me crazy. i was so used to click there to get me to the current playing song within my playlist (that sometimes did not work as well) to select a different music from the same artist or musics that were near by. Now i need to open the playlist from the sidebar and scroll ~3000 musics to get to the current playing music and thats when i see the current playing music while scrolling through the page. That’s just sad.

Couldn’t you at least give us a link to hover the current music on the playlist from the right click then?!

[tunaman_jim]

"Musics"? You mean songs?  Or playlists?

Why can't you click the playlist link in the Now Playing pane? We get that it's suboptimal, but it seems like you're making life difficult for no good reason.

[removeallpodcasts]

This feature is just stupid as others have mentioned. Please actually implement features users want instead of ruining your app deliberately

[Edwardont]

Is there a way to get to a playlist you are listening to without having to use the now playing sidebar? And also not having to search around for the playlist?

[shark1975]

Gah i really don't like this.

I want the current queue in the panel in the middle. Now I have a useless massive panel in the middle whilst one of the two primary features of the app is tucked away in the right hand panel. Why? I should be able to put the current queue in the middle pane.

Same for the library on the left, this should be in the middle pane. The library view is so small now which is really rubbish from a usability point of view. We're not all mobile phone users you know!

It's really annoying that the two main features are in side panels and not in the middle pane. The middle pane is pretty redundant which makes no UI sense at all as this huge space just sits there displaying useless stuff.

[lazypapertiger]

Totally agree that this new feature is a UI disaster.  It might work if I could actually resize the side bar and shrink the pointless middle space, but you don't actually allow that, despite the puff piece saying that we can resize the side bar...

[rednblu]

Why?  Why?  Why?

This is just random rubbish, this ax-hacking of November 2022 functionality into three advertising panels.

[Anton111111]

Matt, why spotify totaly ignore the most topest topic (https://community.spotify.com/t5/Desktop-Windows/Why-was-the-queue-moved-to-the-right-instead-of-the...) on community? 

[Ytse]

We are not the customer but the product.

[morefluff]

Even after mailing to Spotify directly, pointing to this topic and being assured that 'user feedback is taken very seriously', i was still fighting with the now playing sidebar and the blue popup every day.

That's it. I've had it.

I'll spend my money elsewhere, on software that makes my life easier instead of frustrating.

[rednblu]

Clever-- And heartfelt!-- and beautiful.

Nice doggie . . . .

[Anton111111]

What is on screenshot? How has you gotten it?