Introducing Smart Shuffle!

[Joan]

Introducing Smart Shuffle! 

We know that our users love creating their own playlists to capture key moments in time – in fact, playlists created by users often become their most-streamed playlist for the first several months but listening to these playlists slowly fades overtime, and users are eager to discover new music.

With this in mind, we’re excited to launch a new play mode called Smart Shuffle that keeps listening sessions fresh and provides personalized recommendations that perfectly match any listeners’ playlist vibe. 

This update will roll out to Premium users on mobile devices starting today.

How does Smart Shuffle work?

• You can use it in any playlist created by you, and your Liked Songs.
• To activate it, just use the Shuffle button to switch between regular play, Shuffle mode and Smart Shuffle.
• When Smart Shuffle is on, recommendations are added to your session automatically. You can find all the recommendations sitting in your queue.
• You will be able to recognize the music we are recommending with the sparkle (✨) symbol next to the track. For a playlist with more than 15 songs, we’ll recommend one song for every three tracks.
• And the best part, your original playlist remains untouched, so you can add any new track that catches your ear.
• If you like a specific recommendation, just save it using the plus button in the Now Playing View. If that song doesn’t hit right, just tap the minus to remove it from the recommendations. This is then used to better adjust the suggestions we put forward.
• Every time you turn Smart Shuffle off, a new mix will be available every time you activate it again.

Introductory pageHow the queue will look

Adding and removing recommendations.

FAQ

What about the Enhance feature?

For now, Smart Shuffle will replace the Enhance feature.

What will happen to Discover Weekly and other regularly updated playlists?

For the time being, no changes to those will be made. Smart Shuffle aims to improve the listening experience for user curated playlists.

Does this mean that using Smart Shuffle will cause my carefully curated playlists to get cluttered with new recommendations?

No! Your original playlist remains untouched, so you can add any new track that catches your ear. Smart Shuffle won’t change your playlist without your explicit permission. What changes instead is what you'll hear during each specific listening session

We hope you're as excited as we are about this new play mode. The official Newsroom announcement is out, you can check that out too. For any and all feedback on the matter you may have, you're more than welcome to comment in the thread below.

[raendum]

Yeah, same for me. No update, no nothing. Just gone.

I'm on Pixel 6 Pro.

[0C3]

Ok, bad news. Today there was a Spotify app update in the Google Playstore. I updated it and guess what... Smart Shuffle is back 😞 😞 😞

PLEASE (ALLOW US TO) TURN IT OF OR REMOVE IT! It's horrible!

[fukhan04]

Just updated Spotify to 8.8.6.472 and no smart shuffle thank God. Still on Android 13 (64.1.A.0.860). 

[BlueManCa]

I agree with you ! : this feature is CATASTROPHIC! It is therefore absolutely necessary to add a checkbox in the application settings to deactivate this "smart play" option and return to a toggle-type shuffle button: "Normal play / Simple shuffle".
It is imperative to return to the version of the random function as it was before, and which worked very well!

[0C3]

...and it's gone again 🤷🏼‍♀️

[1usernameisenough]

"We’re always testing possible improvements and new features, so you might see something on the app your friend doesn’t, or get a brand-new feature for only a temporary period. We really value your feedback though as it helps inform our decisions going forward, and we'll be sure to pass this on to the right folks."

It's been about 10 months since this was posted and there's still no solution. How long do we have to put up with features that people have clearly stated they don't want? Why is there no option to opt out of testing features? I know there are some who enjoy the changes, but it's certainly not all of us. I'm sick of changes that I didn't want, didn't ask for, and have actively tried to stop. Why is this your business strategy? I was patient for months but now I'm just **bleep** off every time I open Spotify. 

What is the harm in letting people say "no" to something they don't want? How is your default just adding random things to people's accounts who are happy with what they already had? If I wanted something different, I would sign up for it. Instead I got something I didn't sign up for that has been progressively ruining Spotify for me since it was introduced.

If the default needs to be having test features added without notice, then please make it possible to opt out. Just the option to continue enjoying the services we pay for would take this problem off the table and there wouldn't be so many posts about it. Instead, we just have to watch moderators say they see it's an issue and are working on it and hope they aren't lying. I have yet to see any progress on the posts I've read.

The least that could be done is having a reasonable timeline made available for the customers who aren't happy with a feature so they can decide whether they want to put up with it for that long or not. It's incredibly manipulative to string people along for money with no actual evidence or accountability of their actions to show customers that you're actually making changes that would help. 

I used to love Spotify and now I'm simply unhappy whenever it crosses my mind.

Please follow through on what you are saying or stop saying you're going to try to help. Just be honest.

If Spotify wants to be a good company, they can definitely make that happen. If they aren't going to change in helpful ways, stop asking for feedback. Don't ask us to come up with ideas for you to ignore. 

[Lytheul]

I've had the same thing happen to me, smart shuffle didn't show up for me until just a few days ago. But it would be incredibly nice to be able to disable it entirely, or at the very least disable on a playlist to playlist basis.

I understand maybe it's too difficult to completely disable it, but as a feature, it should be able to change based on the wants of the users.

I have a few playlists that I want shuffled, but those playlists are strictly meant to have only the songs that I want, while there are other playlists that I'd be fine with them having access to smart shuffle. 

[luli111]

YESSSS!!!!! SMART SHUFFLE IS GONE!!!! FROM ALL MY DEVICES. thank you spotify. I promise to use the new enhance buttom as much as possible so you don't bring back smart shuffle 😉 

ps I was just kidding about going to youtube music, I tried it and it was complete garbage XD

[seriouschip]

They’ve gone and added this godforsaken feature to my Spotify again, and I accidentally pressed the wrong button ONE TIME and now it automatically gives me smart shuffle instead of a regular shuffle, and it literally does nothing but waste my time. And pouring salt in the wound is that there’s still no option to turn it off. If I have to keep putting up with this I am going to stop giving Spotify my money 

[Renisence]

2023 and I want this feature removed or at least a toggle. It's ruining my Spotify experience. If I wanted recommendations I would listen to one of the curated playlists. It really makes me reconsider using the app. 

[Nordica]

Sadly the smart shuffle arrived to my phone with the 8.8.10.582 update, now Im desperately trying to find a way to disable it. 😐

[fukhan04]

Same exact version on Android 13 (64.1.A.0.860) and smart shuffle is thankfully off for me. 

[Lytheul]

So there's now a new problem with smart shuffle. Spotify is keeping the "smart" recommendations, when I'm not in smart shuffle. 

[igowtf666]

I hope they disable it completely or at least an option to turn it off in the setting. This setting is causing so much lag, and when I un-shuffle, I want the next song which it got randomized, not a completely random one AGAIN. This feature is pissing me off so bad, if I want a "smart shuffle" I'll just go to the playlist that recommended me. Please, for the love of god, if you, SPOTIFY, really want to keep this **bleep** feature, at least make an option to COMPLETELY turn on/off in the setting. Thanks

[Ronnoboy]

I am not using shuffle at all anymore, the risk of it messing up my playlists is too high.

Now I am experiencing a new problem: playlists go on repeat when I have not selected repeat.

Spotify wth?

[chevyash]

i hate this update lol they added smart shuffle for me and removed the like hearts next to all of the songs i’ve liked…why would they change something that’s been the same for so long???

[merlijnk82]

I've found that for me, simply turning on repeat all completely disables the smart shuffle. Works with or without shuffle enabled.

Yes, it shouldn't have to be this way. No, it's not likely to change any time soon, I don't think. This is obviously not a bad UX decision, rather it is a pretty sound business decision. I don't believe Spotify cares one bit about maybe a 100 people on their community forum complaining about this function, as long as millions are happy with this functionality and more engaged with the product. These subscribers are less likely to cancel their subscription and maybe even tell their friends about this nifty functionality. Millions more don't care but are also not likely to cancel their subscription over this. Don't expect Spotify to implement a toggle, ever. 

[kaworu_bloodpaw]

This seems like a great feature!

Any idea when it might come to Desktop?

EDIT: Based on feedback from others, this actually seems like it would be annoying when trying to reshuffle, and I think I would like to have the Enhance button, or maybe a different way to toggle Smart Shuffle.

[Monsterdonkey]

What about HiFi? Where’s the follow up to that official announcement years ago?

[MattSuda]

I've had the new Smart Shuffle in my mobile app for a while now.

I would prefer if the feature was reverted back to the Enhance button. The new "Smart Shuffle" mode has made the app much harder to use for me.

It is really annoying now that when I want to go to a playlist and turn shuffle mode ON and then later turn shuffle mode OFF, I have to wait for "Smart Shuffle" to load first with the spinning icon which can take up 2-3 seconds before I can THEN turn OFF the shuffle mode completely. This is really annoying. It also affects the shuffle button on the Now Playing View. At first it feels as if the shuffle button is lagging and taking a while to respond to your tap due to the loading icon. It's just not easy to turn off when I want shuffle mode completely off.

Enhanced being a separate button was easy to understand and turn on/off. With it now being lumped into the Shuffle button, it will be much harder for users to use. Shuffle and Repeat mode buttons are standard controls of almost all music players. By changing the way the Shuffle button performs will be a huge learning curve. I can just imagine having a hard time explaining this to people I know who use Spotify especially those that are older.

Every music app has a shuffle button. Spotify is the only music app (that I'm aware of) that has made Shuffle harder to use by making it have 2 different modes. To turn shuffle off, you first have to turn Smart Shuffle on, which takes 2-3 seconds to load with the spinning loading icon, then you can finally turn it off.

Also, free users upgrade to Premium to get away from Shuffle Play mode where suggested songs randomly gets throw in. A lot of free users will upgrade, and complain that even though they are paying they still have the free Shuffle Play mode, and not know they have Smart Shuffle mode turned on since suggestions are being thrown into the playlist. The Enhance button just made more sense and was probably easier for new Premium users to understand.

Spotify should take into account how changing a standard music player function will affect older people and those that aren't as tech savvy.

Overall, I honestly think this is a terrible change.