Make playlist private/public option disappeared

[PeraMia]

Plan

Premium

Country

USA

Device

Alienware Laptop

Operating System

Windows 10

My Question or Issue

When I updated my Spotify, the option to make playlists public or private completely disappeared from the options menu. I've tried reinstalling Spotify 3 times and even did a full clean reinstall and the problem still persists. I've looked everywhere for a solution but found none, so far. I saw mention that this happened to a few people a few years ago but the reinstallation and clean installations suggested then just didn't help.

UPDATE: I found an older version of Spotify in my files and reinstalled it. The option to make public/private immediately was available again. When I clicked to update to the newest version through the app, however, it disappeared once more so it's definitely a bug with the new update. I also noticed that while the option to make playlists private/public still exists on the mobile app (I use Android on my Pixel 4a) it doesn't actually do anything. I can click to make public but it will not be listed in my public playlists and if I make a playlist private on mobile it won't actually be taken off public viewing.  

[Novy]

Hey there @PeraMia, 

Thanks for reaching out here in the Community.

If possible, could you ask a friend or a family member to log in to their personal account using your computer to see if they can replicate this? 

It would also be helpful to know the exact Spotify version where you encounter this issue.

Keep us posted.

[rikverstraete]

i just noticed the same after the update, definitly a bug in the desktop update 

[Novy]

Hey @rikverstraete, 

Thanks for your message. 

Could you let us know your device's make, model and OS version?

It would also be helpful to know if you've already tried any troubleshooting steps. 

We'll be on the lookout.

[MattSuda]

Hey @PeraMia  @rikverstraete 

For now the feature is only in the mobile app. It will be coming to the desktop app in the future.

I found an answer to this on Reddit:

https://www.reddit.com/r/spotify/comments/ocav9h/ability_to_make_a_playlist_private_exists_on/h3thy8...

"It's a little more complicated. Historically, there was a "make private" command, but it didn't really apply any kind of access control, it just removed that playlist from your public profile. Anybody with a link to it could still get to it. That command was recently renamed "remove from profile", which is a much more accurate description of what it does. It's still available on both mobile and desktop.

Meanwhile, we (Spotify; I work there, but not on this) implemented a new private-playlist feature that applies actual privacy. That new feature is now what the "make private" menu command does, and the new feature has been rolled out to mobile first. It'll get added to desktop, too, eventually, but I'm not sure when.

So it's not obtuse design, just scheduling, but because the new feature reuses the old command wording, it definitely looks like a feature was removed!"

[rikverstraete]

windows 10 - spotify app 1.162.583.0

[tripwired]

Update/edit 10/07/2021:

So this feature was only available on mobile, then the feature was partially implemented on desktop and kind of broken, plus not having any kind of changelog of visibility of the upcoming feature made this really hard to understand what was going on when I originally posted - but - my Spotify has now updated to 1.1.63.568 and I have the Add/Remove to/from profile option on desktop correctly, so it's sorted. But I think my other post about having a changelog we can view is still valid, that would be really useful.

[tripwired]

Also why don't we get proper change logs? If this was listed as a change, we as users could easily see that's where the change/bug happened and can more easily discover what a change is, instead of stumbling across new or potentially broken features by accident. Checking the iOS App Store Spotify version history just says 'We're always making updates, bla bla', it's not useful. And I don't know of any way to view the desktop app changelog?

[mciarleglio]

Upvote, same problem. Right click on playlist, the option to make public/make private is gone. I see new options, "add to profile"/"remove from profile", but that is not the same (and the explanation of that feature, as well as the interaction with public/private is totally bewildering).

Also, it is darn near impossible to report usability problems in a sane way that doesn't take all day. Your right click context menus flow off the bottom of the screen and are impossible to use.

[Eni]

Hi @tripwired and @mciarleglio, 

Thanks for getting in touch about this.

As @MattSuda mentioned, we removed the option to make playlists public/private from the right-click menu on the desktop app. We added a new feature 'Add to/Remove from profile' which can be accessed by right clicking any playlists from the profile on the desktop app.

You can consider adding your +VOTE to this idea, if this is something you'd like to change. The Idea Exchange is a great way for us to see what our users are interested in and how many people like a certain idea. Check out this article to learn more about it.

Lastly, regarding the context menu cutting off the screen, we can confirm that the right team is is currently looking into it. We recommend keeping an eye out for future updates to the app, but we're afraid we can't set a specific timeframe for when this will be fixed.

Hope this clears thing up. If you have any questions, just let us know.

[emunahrose]

same here. confused. no public/private option.  just made a new playlist and it has not appeared on my lists of which i have 136.... frustrating.  thinking of leaving spotify.... but my lists!! emunahrose

[Skepparkrantz]

This was a terrible decision, private or public playlist was clear and easy to use

[Jeremy]

Hi there @Skepparkrantz and @emunahrose,

Thank you for your replies and feedback.

In this case we suggest that you head over to the idea that @Eni mentioned above.

We're constantly aiming to improve our features so we hope you’ll continue using it and find it gets better in the future. 

Once again - thanks for the feedback, we appreciate it. Let us know if we can help you with anything else. 

Take care!

[RodB]

"Make playlist public" and "Make playlist private" have been renamed in the last few clients to "Add to profile" and "Remove from profile".

So, the easiest way is to launch the desktop app, right click the playlist, and select "Add to profile" to make your playlilst public.

[emunahrose]

thanks i noticed this option while working on a playlist yesterday and used it.

but a question: i prefer that a playlist i am working on is not public until i post it.

is a list in process private until i add it to my profile?

[MafeG]

Hi @emunahrose,

Thank you for your reply.

Whenever you create a new playlist it will be visible on your profile by default. 

As soon as you create it, you can "Remove it from profile" to start working on it until you're ready to make it public. 

Let the Community know if you have more questions!

[emunahrose]

thanks. n

[lesnark]

Same issue here... Can't make playlists private/public easily no more with desktop app.

The "add to profile" way is very convoluted and unclear.

Please bring back ease of use and/or at least clearly indicate to us users what are the precise differences between "public/private" and "remove/add to profile".

Spotify  pour Windows
1.1.**bleep**.612.gb7409abc

[Alex]

Hi @lesnark,

Thanks for the post and feedback.

If you have suggestions on how the Spotify experience can be enhanced, go ahead and create an idea on the relevant idea board. We always take new ideas and feedback into consideration to improve the app. Here you can read more on how ideas work.

We also suggest checking this help article for useful tips on how to submit an idea. As a heads-up, it's good to know that the higher the number of votes an idea gets, the more likely it is for the idea to be implemented.

Hope this helps. Let us know if you have any more questions.

[djackson111]

Coming here a bit late from what's been said above...

But you could make the following change easier to understand between the patches and software updates --> (?)

[make public / make private] -> [add to profile / remove from profile]

it might make it a little bit more obvious about what's happening between the visibility of playlists... 

you could also add for those of us on macs an auto complete in the help menu...

so that it highlights the [(add/remove) to profile] when people search for public/private...

just a thought!

Thanks  🙂