New Desktop Experience - your feedback wanted!

[Hubo]

Spotify is testing a new way for you to connect with your music on Desktop. The new desktop experience features an all-new design, streamlined with the Spotify apps on all your devices. 

This is a brand-new experience and some parts are still being fine-tuned. Be sure to give feedback with the steps below to let the right folks know what you think could be improved.

The other Rock Stars and I got the chance to test the new desktop experience first and now more users will be able to test it out and give their feedback for the team. If you are a passionate Spotify user and would like to join the Rock Star Program and be part of cool experiences like this, then check out this help article.

How do I know if I’m using the New Desktop Experience?

The new desktop experience is not hard to spot with its new design! Your Library looks like this for example:

 

Why did the app change? 

This test is rolled out to a specific group of users at this moment. It’s not possible to sign up for this right now, but your interest is really appreciated. If you’re interested in testing out new versions of Spotify before everyone else, check this out: https://community.spotify.com/t5/Spotify-Answers/How-do-I-become-a-Spotify-Beta-tester/ta-p/4551518. 

If you’re looking for more information about how tests work and about how features are released, take a look here: https://support.spotify.com/article/why-am-i-seeing-different-features-than-my-friends/.

How to give feedback?

This thread is your go-to destination for asking questions, getting help for issues you may have, as well as to share your impressions and feedback on this new desktop experience. 

Keep in mind that pictures can say a thousand words, so if you have any screenshots of something you’d like to share of your experience be sure to post them here as well! The right teams at Spotify take their time to read the posts in this thread and use your feedback to fine-tune this new experience for everyone.

[Woodi]

The layout is strange, but will get used to it. What confuses me is that the Dislike option has been REMOVED? Not moved, but REMOVED completely? What is the point of Discovery Weekly if I can't say 'no thanks' to certain songs?

[TerminalGuy]

I really don't like the new update.

• There's no way to order Liked Songs by artist anymore.
• Searching for bands in Liked Songs is broken when using a space, e.g. searching "Off Road" for Off Road Minivan comes up with no results, but if I type OffRoad then all the songs by the band appear.
• The album art shows in the list of songs which means each song takes up more room, so fewer songs can be shown on the screen at once.

If this is just a test, then if it's possible I'd like to go back to the old version.

[lmcphre]

I am 50 years old and I am still rather tech-savvy. I've been an IT worker for 26 years. I have nothing against applications enhancing their usability from time to time. But why does it have to be such blatant changes? My mother is 75 years old and it took me over a month to show her how to use Spotify and she finally got familiar with it enough to use it from time to time. I can't imagine how stressed she will be when she sees the interface has changed. 

Making huge changes, removing features here and there just to enhance the looks of the application frustrates your users. Personally, when I go to Spotify, I want to LISTEN TO MUSIC, not spent time trying to understand how to do it.

[kcwebbah]

Glad to see I'm not alone in my hatred or frustration of this new desktop version! Also, feeling cautiously optimistic we will eventually be reverted back to the old version similar to what happened earlier this year.

I also have one more missing feature to add to the list. I cannot figure out how to find the clean version of albums anymore. This used to be found at the bottom of the album under a dropdown for "More Releases". This feature has been long missing on the mobile version but at least with desktop I could add clean versions of songs to family playlists.

[Sebasty]

I see many of you are frustrated with the search being kind of hidden or not actively available.

Spotify has the following keyboard shortcut for giving focus to the search:

Ctrl + L

For Mac its Cmd - L.

I can't tell if it works in that new UI, but hopefully it does. Should make it easier to get to Search.

[intellix]

yep, it looks like that hotkey works on the new UI. But now the Artist song list has been removed, it's still unusable and I've cancelled my subscription. Realise that I've been paying monthly for almost a decade, which is insane.

It seems like the Twitter @SpotifyCares don't know that the UI has been replaced. They said "Your Library" has been refreshed. It's not a refresh as entire features were completely removed that your user base were using... but hey, it's prettier now I guess?

[hosami]

Did they just remove the option of using a proxy? This feature is a must if you are behind a firewall or inside a restricted network. Please bring it back!!!

[1crimson1]

I'm okay with theme changes, the more the merrier, but I am NOT okay with the removal of simple options such as being able to sort by Artist in playlists that I created for myself. This is absolutely critical to my daily needs as my main playlist has over 2,500 songs from dozens of different artists. If this doesn't get "fixed" I will certainly be considering a new music streaming service.

Ug, seriously? Why? Why is this a thing, I don't have time for this kind of stuff as I'm at work.

[EthanS1]

Hey @intellix,

The @SpotifyCares team are aware about this current test which has rolled out however Spotify staff are monitoring these threads regarding feedback on the new look so I’m sure they’ll check this out with the teams over on Twitter to double check everyone is on the same song-sheet! 

[TerminalGuy]

I should add: you can technically order by artist (clicking the Title column until it turns to Artist), but this then orders each artist's albums in alphabetical order, but the songs on these albums are ALSO in alphabetical order (i.e. not in actual track order).

When I order by artist I'd prefer it orders it in album alphabetical order but each album should also keep its actual track order. This used to be a Spotify feature but it was removed a few months ago.

[1crimson1]

Just my opinion, the optimal sort would be by Artist, then Album release date, then finally by track number. Regardless, Spotify's customers should be given the OPTION to sort their playlists however it best suits said customer, not how Spotify deems the way things should be. It's this kind of attitude and way of doing things that forced me off of a Windows OS and onto a Linux platform. 

[TerminalGuy]

Another change I've found is that you can't click the song's duration while it's playing at the bottom of the screen to switch between its length and how much time is left until the song ends. I usually have it on the time remaining option but that's not available anymore.

[ShellySparrow]

I think the new look is ok, I kinda like the new album art in the playlists, like it is on mobile. But I do think it makes it a little cluttered. My biggest issue is literally only that I can now not use my scroll wheel to change the volume slider when I hover over it. Other than that looks pretty slick.

[CountKeepo]

Otherwise the UI update has been really good and successful but my user experience has been really really **bleep** over by the removal of the search. If I want to find a specific song or artist to listen to, I don't want to add an unnecessary step of clicking "Search" in the side bar.

In the mobile version this works because the search button is right where your thumb is located so it's easy to click it and go along with your day. I'd still rather have the search bar visible here as well for fast access.

I attached a picture of the front page and the search tab. Why can't the search bar just be there as usual?

[andrxi]

UI: i don't like the new playlists design:

• The playlist scale is too big (i want to see more songs without scrolling, like before) and i can't adjust it using the zoom feature because it applies to the whole app.
• The name of the playlist is too big. 
• The ❤ (like song) option moved, i want it like before, after the play button.
• The Artist name moved under the song title, i want it like before.
• The previous profile page was more minimalist (when it comes to playlists - it was much better without the ''SEE ALL'' option) and "following /followers" pages not on profile - just like before.
• The Artist page look weird.

Also, there's a few downgrades like the control of the left sidebar, the search bar, the volume changing smoothness.

- Overall, i want this update to improve the old app with a few features (the song pictures, the addition of new songs on the top in playlists, some design elements) and not remove useful features.

[mhart27]

Could you please comment on the inability for Spotify to include dislike buttons on daily mixes and such where they feed us songs we 'might' like?  I understand that this is a lost feature to Spotify.

This is the most annoying aspect to Spotify I have encountered after switching from another service. I find I am listening to songs I do not like way too often, I am afraid to listen to new music here, because then the algorithm thinks I like that band, just for giving it a chance, and it begins to feed me that band without being able to say no.

Thanks.

[Graei]

Agree with this. Absolute nightmare. What if I want to play a single artist, all albums. Now impossible.

[Graei]

This is by far the worse update I've seen to Spotify. Usually don't have negative things to say, but this is so bad I had to post.

The removal of the full list of songs under an artist has caused the following:

> It's not impossible to, select an artist, hit play and list to their discography from start to finish.

> It's impossible to find a song if you don't know the name of the song or which album it's on.

> The list of related issues goes on and on..

The removal of the full list of songs under an artist is enough to make me swap streaming providers.

Reinstate this immediately please.

[Slvr1113]

TO KEEP IT BRIEF and REAL

Only 2 chief complaints (everything else is fine i guess):

1. "add song to playlist" ADDS NEW SONG TO THE TOP instead of the bottom of any given personal playlist, unlike how it's always been (adding to the bottom).

This SERIOUSLY messes up my flow and the order of my playlists I've established being a long-time user. The update naturally wants to take my established order and just pile new song additions on top of it, making a kind of "3-1-2" order of songs (1 being the oldest; 3 the newest). Call it OCD but it bugs the **bleep** out of me to see my songs completely jumbled out of my custom-made order, particularly after spending so long organizing and crafting a timeline of sorts out of them. And also, I don't want to have to drag every new song down 200+ of my other songs EACH time I find a new one to add to the playlist.

     2.  I do miss the search bar being visible at all times (i.e. not having to click a side-tab for me to just be able to start typing).

Not a HUGE deal but it's still kind of inconvenient not having that search bar there at any given moment.

CONCLUSIONS:

I don't mind these being options per say, but they should be exactly that. Perhaps a setting to turn each of these options on/off might be a fair compromise between introducing the new UI, while not kicking guys like me to the curb essentially. Everything else besides that, I don't have a problem with to be honest really (not yet at least lol).

[tripwired]

1. Start Radio
   Can't see the playlist by clicking on the current track/artwork. Is this an intentional change? I hope not... please restore the ability to see the created playlist. I want to view the results, not have to click Next, Next, Next through all the tracks to see what was put in the list. I consider this a serious issue / missing feature. *EDIT* I see I can view the upcoming tracks in the Queue but I prefer the playlist behaviour, because clicking tracks in the Queue modifies the list so this is still a missing/removed feature.
   
   
2. Search Bar
   Why has this been moved into the sidebar? Put it back up the top.
   
   
3. Delete key - songs
   The Delete button on keyboard no longer works for deleting tracks from a playlist... I have to right click > remove. This is slower and frustrating, restore the Delete key ability.
   
   
4. Delete key - playlists
   I can't use the Delete key to delete playlists either?
   
   
5. Order of songs added to playlist
   Added tracks go to the top instead of the bottom. Restore original behaviour, placing them at the bottom.
   
   
6. Can't resize left sidebar width
   Unable to clearly see long playlist names.
   
   
7. About info moved
   Artist 'about' info should be more prominent, move it back up top.

Update: 21/11/2020
The update coming on 30th November should address points #3, #4, and #5, but no mention of the others, nor the things others have raised. #1 is a huge change though. I use Spotify because the Discovery aspect is on point and this hinders it.

As others have said in this thread, please consider the opinions of your most loyal users. 

Also, please rethink this A/B testing without user opt-in. Microsoft run the Insider program, users opting in KNOW (sort of, without going into details) what they are getting into. Why don't we as Spotify users have the same opt-in option? Don't just lump us with something that doesn't have the same features as the version we had before, with no option to toggle between the 'legacy' and 'new/in-development' experience.