Spotify widget gone?

[Ronald765]

• I just noticed that the Spotify widget has disappeared from my homescreen.  I thought I had removed it by accident, but when I checked the widgets, I noticed that it has disappeared there as well. Does anyone else have the same problem or is it just me?

[karalouise]

At first, I thought it was an issue with Huawei, but I found out it wasn't, Spotify intentionally removed the widget. Pretty ridiculous move in my opinion. It was the easiest way to interact with the app, now they remove it so you have to use the "hard" way. Why remove something that works and people are happy with? Seems like bad decision making on their part, and will ultimately mean bad business idea. 

[Stansfield]

I very, very rarely take part in any online fora. But this is just too much. A completely idiotic, unexplicable decision on the part of Spotify. WHY remove a feature that was working fine, didn't cause any trouble and was undoubtly useful and being used by thousands of users around the world? Was keeping it costly somehow?? Was making life easier for users and issue??

No, using the swipe-down menu is NOT a solution, as a) it's a needless extra step and - more importantly - b) IT'S NOT AVAILABLE UNLESS SPOTIFY IS ALREADY OPEN! 

EDIT
This makes the experience so much worse for me that I'm exploring alternative platforms, and I've been a Spotify premium user roughly from when it launched, with a few months break for Dizzer when the Spotify app for Windows Phone (sic!) still sucked.

[netgnome]

One word: STUPID.   Oh wait, I need another word:. LAZY (that the programmers couldn't figure out how to make widgets work across multiple versions of Android so they removed it entirely). Time to up my Pandora subscription from Plus to Premium and dump Spotify.

[crisagatie]

Stupid move by Spotify. Unsubscribed for now, I am so fed up with companies that "know better" what I want or need. 

[_82zyjwuu-w8f]

Seeing people leave Spotify over this is ridiculous 😂 sorry for you. I'm
not happy about it either, but I feel like it's a Google/Android thing,
rather than Spotify's fault.

[xeper]

Lol no, Spotify made this pointless decision on their own.

[Please-listen]

Another strike in Spotify's long history of discontinuing cool features. They really **bleep** me off. 

You are so lucky you don't have any proper competitor, because we feel**bleep** as users...

[bigkatoomer]

Mounted Kitchen tablet is mission control. A page of audio,weather,CCTV, calendar widgets. Massive own goal here spotify. A massive step back. Will think twice about my subscription as a  result.

[_82zyjwuu-w8f]

Just get a widget app if it's such a big deal

[netgnome]

Sorry, but you are showing your ignorance of Google/Android and how widgets work.  Claiming it's a fault of Google/Android and not Spotify ignores the fact that other apps like Pandora continue to function with widgets.  Yes, it's possible to have an ICON on the home screen that starts Spotify.  That's not the same thing as a widget that has player controls (skip, back, repeat, etc). When you're driving in a vehicle without "integrated" bluetooth controls (e.g. in the steering wheel, or Android auto), having to "drag down from the top to reach the player controls" is inconvenient at best, dangerous at worst. 

Yes, there are 3rd party apps which provide widgets for spotify.  Many/most cost additional $$ and when I'm already paying for a subscription I shouldn't have to pay more to get a basic feature that other music players already have.  Not to mention the potential security issues of a 3rd party app.

[_82zyjwuu-w8f]

I saw something about how Google's trying to get rid of widgets so yeah it
was probably wrong you can't believe everything on the internet 😂 there's
a reason why Spotify has a driving feature.. if you wanna be real you
shouldn't be swiping through your home screen while driving. You should be
on Spotify only, using the driving feature. And it's still on your lock
screen.

[DCNR]

What an extremely incompetent developer/business decision - and you gotta love how Spotify arrogantly brush the criticism aside with the classic "thank you for your feedback, but we have casually decided to not give a f***" replies.

Anyone have a good replacement service ?

[Ellaaronov]

So upset.  Downgrade not upgrade!

[Cyborg2040]

Yeah, I've been paying for Spotify for years, but the removal of the widget is just going to have me either switch services or go back to listening to my own files with a player that does still have a widget.

[_82zyjwuu-w8f]

Spotify pays our artists better than most.. let's not be ridiculous.. don't
leave lol. goes to everyone, I'm tired of setting people on here
threatening to leave over this. That's sad.

[Cyborg2040]

No threats bud. I switched to prime music for less and they have a widget. 

[_82zyjwuu-w8f]

I could never leave Spotify but that's me. And Spotify pays artists more.
But don't you have to get the amazon music unlimited to get the whole
catalog?

[piratekyky]

That vote appears to be closed. Is there any further way to petition Spotify to bring it back? 

[Cyborg2040]

Yeah, by not using their service and leaving a review on the app store. 

[Cyborg2040]

Also about Amazon music unlimited, yeah you do, but that's only $7.99 a month. So if you're already a premium subscriber, you actually save money. If you dont have premium, then just use Pandora or something, or keep using Spotify if the missing widget diesnt bug you. I have no issue with Spotify's service, but I use the widget far too much to go without it when there are alternatives out there.