Music fans have been clamoring for Spotify to bring the Friend Activity sidebar from desktop to mobile for what seemed like a lifetime, and now it looks like they’ve finally got their wish.
So far, the feature, which lets you see what your Spotify friends or Facebook contacts are currently streaming, has inexplicably never been available on the Android or iOS mobile versions of the app.
But now it looks like the feature is finally available for music fans on the go.
at first Hashtag inventor and all-around tech icon Chris Messina “discovered”, the streaming service appears to be testing a new Spotify “Community” tab for mobile devices, which appears to offer roughly the same experience as Friends Activity, showing what music your friends and Facebook contacts are streaming live and what they’re playing list. Recently updated.
get ready? This is my secret! Spotify has a new community hub to see what live broadcasts your friends are listening to and which playlists they’ve recently updated. However, I don’t know who Andrew Orona is. 😂 Want to visit? Super follow me and I’ll show you how! 😝 #NewSpotify #SocialAudio pic.twitter.com/hmlA52CVEjJune 1, 2022
Interestingly, the test area is accessible to anyone with an iOS device. If you like to hang out and have an iPhone or iPad, just type “spotify:community” into the Safari address bar.
Much of Spotify’s rise hinged on its perfect integration with then-emerging social media platforms like Facebook, which encouraged the sharing and editing of playlists.This means that Spotify is This Streaming services because you can’t listen to content shared elsewhere. It was its biggest win, and something rivals like Tidal failed to replicate at launch, leaving them far behind in popularity.
This new community feature for the mobile app, along with the recent addition of “Blends” – a tool that allows you to make new playlists with friends based on your musical tastes – shows a return to Spotify’s early goals of motivating through you Friends’ listening habits discover music.
Let’s just hope Spotify keeps up with the times and allows the community to connect with other social networks, not just the now painfully out of place Facebook, or we might get to your uncle’s baby boomer brit pop mix, rather than some fresh new pop music.
A return to strong social features may be just what Spotify needs, in an age where it’s not a great value compared to today’s competitors.
