Changing the heart button to a plus

[Dian]

Hey there,

We wanted to let you know that our design team is currently testing a new layout for the button responsible for adding items to Your Library and your playlists on iOS. The team is exploring revamping the look and some of the functions of the Now Playing view and this includes a possible change of the heart symbol for a plus sign thus streamlining the process to encompass "one button to rule them all" design.

In some versions of the app you might see a plus instead of the heart or you may see some differences in the way the Now Playing view looks, so if you want to share your feedback with the team it's best that you also include a screenshot of what you see so that we'd be able to properly sort and forward your thoughts.

When designing this new experience our teams tried to incorporate as much as possible of your valuable feedback from our older tests about this. As before, we would really appreciate you sharing your thoughts on the test in this thread. Your feedback will this way reach the right team directly.

Let's continue to together improve our experience using the Spotify app!

[giorgiopetralia]

Thats only cool if i can instantly know which song is in my favorite when looking at a record or a playlist. With the heart I instantly knew and its time saving if have to work on playlists, now i gotta swipe left on every single track to find out. I’m not liking it.

[dj_chewie]

The new UX is horrible. Who approved this mess? 

[breeholiday]

when I was using the feature my favorite part honestly was the ability to select multiple playlists and see a checklist of what playlists have already been selected for a song. i honestly believe the heart could stay where it is with it’s normal function (though i love the plus i see complaints about missing the quick add/remove) and the add to playlist button could simply open up the checklist with the ability to select/deselect multiple playlists at one time.

if i want to move a song to a different playlist i have to first add it to the playlist (if i want the song on multiple playlists i have to add the song one playlist at a time) and then i have to go back and remove it from the original playlist

the feature allowed me to select the new playlist(s) while deselecting the old one in one action. it’s been a feature i’ve dreamed of forever and was so sad to see it gone again after updating my app. please bring it back!

[reeon]

UX designer here: The heart icon is more "emotional" where the "plus" icon is easy to understand from the function.
I think in the context (the listener likes the song) and the fact that music has lot to do with any kind of emotions, I would prefer the heart icon.

[brooklyncompton]

I love the plus button!! Please keep 

[Kendyevelyn]

I have to say that I think the new layout (to put it nicely) sucks.
I listen to a lot of music and like to discover new songs. So I use the ♡ function a lot. But the + thing sucks. You have to make 2 more clicks to put a song in your favourite songs playlist instead of just 1. I like the idea of selecting a playlist, but you could do that before without having to like the song. Removing songs from playlists is also really more complicated because of this, again a few more clicks to remove only the tick behind the songs from the playlist.
The worst thing for me, and it bothers me a lot, is that when you listen to the "mix of the week" or a new album, for example, you can't see which songs you've liked at a glance. You have to click on the song to see it. It makes me want to puke.
In summary: More clicks, no overview of the liked songs in albums, old design worked the same.
Hate it!

[user-removed]

My spotify has morphed again for the 3rd or 4th time this week (seriously wth this is like having a roommate that rearranges the house every time you go to sleep).

First it was empty hearts next to everything in my liked songs library or no hearts…

Then it changed to a clear/hallow plus sign (+) that i had to click to manually add a song to liked songs (the plus sign is still clear after).

And today it has changed to:

A green checkmark next to a song but *ONLY* if you are viewing the now playing screen. If you see a song in a playlist or search results that you know is in your liked songs library, you either have to 1) Press play on song title, click on now playing, see if there is green check mark or 2) click on three dots next to a song in list form, click the clear plus sign to indicate that you would like to add this song to a playlist (even if you dont intend to) and then BOOM you see a green check mark next to the playlist liked songs. 

so, the only way to know if you have already liked a song or added it to a playlist is to literally play the song out loud or tap the screen three times to go to different screens so you can investigate. This is a nightmare. 

the plus sign is great but its completely different function from the heart or green check mark. Can i please have whatever green icon of Spotifys choosing to show me which songs i have already explored/liked/added?  

[Sophinchen]

i really liked the new design but now it’s gone. 
Is there some way to get it back ? 
I understand the people that don’t like that you can’t see which songs are hearted anymore but I think that the function to put songs into playlists with pressing the plus two times is the best they could’ve done. 
also I don’t understand the people that say that you can add the song to one playlist by pressing the heart because that does not work for me or do they mean the “liked songs” playlist ? 

+ I did not have the one where the placements changed but they do not sound good 

[Swanny]

Dang, should just bring back the star button at this rate 😂

It used to be the plus button as well when "Your Music" first launched. Man, I feel old now, no one else in the comments seems to have remembered that.

[BabyEcho0_YT]

everyone this is a test design so stop overreacting that it's a + and not the ♡

if this post is helpful hit the "Accept as Solution". If you appreciate my answer, maybe give me a Like. follow my spotify? and community account here

Note: I'm not a Spotify employee.

[pokielilpuppy]

Specifically with regard to the functionality that allowed you to add a track to multiple separate playlists simultaneously - I really liked that and I'm bummed it's no longer present in my UI.

2 things I loved about it:

1) It allowed me to save time by adding to multiple playlists at once rather than going through the process for each playlist I wanted to add the track to.

2) It allowed me to understand which playlists I'd already added the track to because of the empty circle/checked circle design

I'd be so glad if this functionality were implemented permanently.

[kaworu_bloodpaw]

@pokielilpuppy

There's an Idea in the Idea Exchange focusing on this subject. I recommend adding your vote here.

See how the Idea Exchange works here.

If my answer was useful, don't forget to give it a 'Like!' If my answer was the solution, don't forget to mark it as the solution! Thanks! 😇

If you need anything else, please reply and ask, or shoot me a Private Message! Feel free to follow my Spotify or Community profiles!  Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with Spotify.

[Hunter_has_no_plan]

Recently my spotify updated and I now have a checkmark instead of the heart, and I can now turn on “smart shuffle”. Whenever I have songs in my queue and try to turn of shuffle, it starts the smart shuffle, and suddenly it skips to or three songs in my queue. It seems like no one else I know has gotten the update, not even the ones who I share a plan with. I am wondering why I have gotten this update now, why no one around me has gotten it, and if there is a possibility that I can reverse it or get rid of it because it makes the user experience of spotify really bad.

[joeyemond]

I find it frustrating that with the heart icon removed, it has also removed the ability to see at a glance which songs on an album or playlist are already in my Liked Songs. Now when scrolling through in any view other than Now Playing, there is no on screen indication of which songs I've liked. Replacing where those hearts used to be with the new plus symbol would be fine, but having no indication at all to replace them I find to be an oversight.

[mpad419]

I honestly don't like this change. I don't care about what shape the "like" sign is, I just hate that it doesn't show the sign next to songs you've already liked anymore. It used to have the sign that you liked the song right next to the 3 dots, but it doesn't show up anymore. And it is a hassle to unlike songs as well.

[mpad419]

I do like the whole checkmarks for adding and removing from playlists though, that is a nice addition. But the rest of the changes have certainly made the user experience worse

[user-removed]

Well, my spotify (+) button has changed 4-5 times this week but this is how it seems to work: Sometimes, if you push the plus icon it flashes green real quick and then turns into a green check mark; a little note flashes at the bottom that says “added to liked songs” or something. One tap of the heart icon (or the plus icon) is *supposed* to add that song to liked songs. But mines a mess because on some screens that works and on other screens i have to manually add it by clicking the plus and then selecting a playlost and then pressing done. My spotify has changed 4-5 times this week its crazy- my point being that perhaps yours is changing as much as mine has the past week or two

[spirosag]

I can see that Spotify did this in order to make it easier to add songs to multiple playlists at the same time. Maybe their data has shown that people tend to use only the Liked song playlist?

But the awful thing that really messes up the UI experience is that now that the hearts are missing from the playlists/albums/everywhere, there is no way to see what songs you've already added to your Liked songs playlist. It was extremely useful to be able to see at a glance your favorite songs in albums, playlists etc. If they add this back (maybe a ✔️ instead of a heart?) then I wouldn't really mind the rest of the changes, although I am not a big fan.

[ButtKissThighCheeks]

Here's what you could really do .... An honest to God real time chat so I can get honest to God help.  I HATE YOU!!

[kaworu_bloodpaw]

@ButtKissThighCheeks

Spotify does have a Live chat with their customer support as an option for users. You can contact them here.