by Music fans have been begging Spotify to bring the Friend Activity sidebar from desktop to mobile for what seemed like a long time, and now it looks like they’re finally getting their wish.
Until now, the feature that lets you see what your Spotify friends or Facebook contacts are streaming has inexplicably never been available on the Android or iOS mobile versions of the app.
But it now looks like this functionality will finally be available to music fans on the go.
Originally “Discovered” by hashtag creator and all-round tech icon Chris Messinait appears the streaming service is testing a new Spotify “Community” tab for mobile devices that appears to offer broadly the same experience as Friend Activity, showing what music your friends and Facebook contacts are listening to in real-time stream and what playlists they have. recently updated.
Ready? Here’s my secret! Spotify has a new community hub to see what your friends are listening to live and what playlists they’ve recently updated. However, I have no idea who Andrew Orona is. 😂Want access? SuperFollow me and I’ll tell you how! 😝#NewSpotify #SocialAudio pic.twitter.com/hmlA52CVEjJune 1, 2022
Interestingly, the testing section can be accessed by anyone with an iOS device. If you feel like messing around and have an iPhone or iPad, just type “spotify:community” into your Safari address bar.
Spotify’s rise was shaped in no small part by the way it dovetailed well with burgeoning social media platforms of the time like Facebook, which encouraged playlist sharing and editing. It meant Spotify was the Getting a streaming service because otherwise you wouldn’t be able to hear what’s being shared everywhere. It was its greatest triumph and what competitors like Tidal failed to duplicate when it launched, leaving them far behind in terms of popularity.
The addition of this new mobile app community feature, along with the recently added Blends — a tool that lets you create new playlists with friends based on your two music preferences — marks a sort of return to Spotify’s early goals of inspiring music discovery through the listening habits of your friends.
Let’s just hope Spotify moves with the times and allows the community to connect to other social networks beyond the now painfully unhip Facebook, otherwise we’ll likely only be exposed to your uncle’s boomer Britpop mix and not some fresh ones new crackers.
A return to great social features might be just what Spotify needs at a time when it doesn’t feel cheap compared to its competitors these days.
