Spotify launches new audiobook features
Not content with providing access to music on demand, it did not take long for Spotify to branch out and start hosting podcasts. More recently, audiobooks were introduced, and now the company has announced a series of new audiobook features.
Books and video may not seem like natural bedfellows, but this is one of the things that is currently being tested. Other new features include author pages which are similar to artist pages, and an interesting “follow-along” option.
Spotify adds Offline Backup feature that automatically creates offline playlists
With mobiles connected to the internet on a near-permanent basis, it is easy to take for granted. This means that whenever a connection is not available, it is very apparent. Now Spotify is taking steps to help reduce the impact of a loss of connection.
While it is already possible to create offline playlists, this is something that needs to be done manually and it’s all too easy to find yourself on a flight with the sudden realization that you forgot to set it up. And this is precisely where the new Offline Backup mode helps, creating offline playlists automatically, based on your recent listening.
New York Times expands podcast subscriptions to Apple Podcasts and Spotify
The New York Times is introducing paid podcast subscriptions on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, giving listeners the ability to subscribe directly through these platforms. This expansion builds on the success of The Times’ audio journalism efforts, which began with the launch of “The Daily” in 2017. The Times’ podcasts now reach millions of listeners, offering in-depth reporting and analysis on a range of topics.
In addition to The Times’ stand-alone Audio app and the Listen tab in The New York Times app, this partnership with Apple Podcasts and Spotify is aimed at making its subscription service more accessible. Users with an existing subscription through The Times app will have their accounts automatically connected when using Apple Podcasts. Those without a subscription can sign up through the New York Times channel on both platforms.
Spotify users in the US hit with yet another price increase
For the second time in a year, Spotify has announced a hike in prices for US customers. The increase in subscription fees are significant in their own right (rising by up to 17 percent), but the fact that the company has already increased prices in the last year makes this latest announcement sting.
The new pricing structure also comes on the back of Spotify's recent announcement of record profits, increased revenue and a jump in subscriber numbers. The higher pricing applies to new subscribers with immediate effect, and will be implemented for existing users in July.
Spotify is discontinuing Car Thing, purposely bricking devices and telling users to throw them away
Spotify's venture into the world of hardware with Car Thing has proved an unmitigated failure. Having ended production of the device just a few short months after launch, the product is set to be completely discontinued before the end of the year.
But the discontinuation of Car Thing means more than just the end of support and updates -- much more. Spotify says that the devices will be rendered non-functional, and the advice to users is to reset and recycle them.
Spotify launches AI Playlist feature
Spotify's new AI Playlist feature adds an AI component to the creation of playlists on the site. All it takes is to feed the AI some text and it does the rest.
Feed it "sing along songs while riding on a pony in Colorado", "songs while waiting for the microwave to go 'ping'", or "songs for boring bus rides in downtown LA", and you should get a list of matching music almost instantly.
At long last, Spotify Miniplayer launches on the desktop
It has been an extraordinarily long time coming, but Spotify has finally launched the miniplayer that users have been requesting for years.
The arrival of Spotify Miniplayer sees the music streaming service catching up with the likes of Apple Music. The new discreet player floats over other running apps, and gives users a choice of UI designs to switch between.
Spotify launches new collaborative playlist feature called Jam
Streaming music service Spotify has announced Jam, a group playlist feature that can be used by up to 32 people. Spotify describes the new social feature as a "personalized, real-time listening session for your group to tune into together".
It is, in many ways, an amalgamation of several existing features of Spotify, such as Blend, personalized playlists and collaborative playlists. All users of Spotify -- free and paying -- are able to contribute to a Jam, but the ability to create them is limited to Premium Subscribers.
Spotify is working on a new Your Offline Mix playlist feature
Streaming music services are great, but they are -- obviously -- reliant on an internet connection. While most give you the option of saving tracks to listen to offline, this requires a degree of preparation that not everyone has time for. So Spotify has come up with a solution.
The company has revealed that it is working on a feature called Your Offline Mix. It is a playlist that is automatically created from what you have been listening to recently, and it means that you will always have something to satisfy your musical appetite even if you don't have an internet connection.
Spotify is killing Heardle after less than a year
There can be few internet users who are not aware of Wordle, the outrageously popular word-guessing game that is now owned by the New York Times. The game has a huge number of fans all over the world, and it has served as inspiration for many derivatives.
One such Wordle-inspired game is one for music fans, developed by Spotify. Bursting onto the scene in the middle of 2022, the music-guessing game Heardle earned itself an eager following. But disappointment is on the horizon; Spotify has announced that Heardle is closing down.
Spotify launches powerful new playlist feature called Niche Mixes
Spotify has launched a new personalized playlist option which gives users a unique way to create mixes to suite any mood, occasion or activity.
The company describes Niche Mixes as "a set of personalized playlists that combines all that our Mixes offer in a playful way". What this means in practice is that you can search for an "activity, vibe or aesthetic" (running, 80s, meditative, for instance), add the word "mix", and you'll be provided with a custom playlist to suit.
Spotify is introducing a new Plus button, merging its heart and playlist icons into one
Spotify has announced a streamlining of its user interface which will see the existing Heart and "Add to playlist" icons replaced with a single Plus button.
The new Plus (+) button will serve a dual purpose, making it possible to not only add tracks, podcasts and more to your library, but also to add them to playlists. Spotify says that this new approach makes it quicker and easier to add content to multiple playlists, and the update button will roll out to iOS and Android users first before spreading to all users.
How much is your streaming account worth on the Dark Web?
Netflix recently announced a crackdown on the sharing of account details and has introduced a paid sharing option to allow multiple users. It isn't surprising then that there's a thriving Dark Web market for streaming account details.
Research from AtlasVPN shows that account logins for popular streaming services are being sold for an average of $11.
Microsoft releases Windows 11 Build 25290 with new Spotify and Phone Link widgets
Microsoft today stops selling Windows 10, instead redirecting would-be purchasers towards Windows 11. There are ways around this however.
For Windows 11 testers in the Dev Channel, Microsoft has released a new build, and this one is available for Arm64 devices. Last week’s flight (Build 25284) was blocked due to a known issue that resulted in devices getting stuck at the OS boot logo.
The 10 biggest internet outages of 2022
For the last decade the Downdetector site has been providing data on the real-time status and outages of online services.
Ookla, the company behind Downdetector, has released information on the largest outages seen in 2022. While nothing surpassed the biggest outage ever seen, experienced by Meta on October 4, 2021, there have been some significant ones this year.
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