Spotify
Description of App
Get free access to Spotify Premium now! With Premium you'll get access to millions of tracks from thousands of albums and artists on your iPhone, iPod Touch & iPad. If you haven’t tried Premium before, you can try it on your mobile for 48-hours, completely free. You don’t even have to enter credit card details. Simply download this app and log in using your Facebook account*.
If 48-hours isn’t enough, you can extend your trial by 30 days by following the details in the email we send you when you log in.
If you don't want to extend your Premium trial, or subscribe to Premium, you can still enjoy Spotify on your phone. Wirelessly sync and play mp3s from your computer, explore our music catalogue, and edit your playlists.
Praise for Spotify
- "Spotify is so good" – Mark Zuckerberg - CEO and Founder of Facebook
- "The celestial jukebox is no pipe dream; it’s here now." - Time
- "Spotify makes music fun again, just like the iPod did nearly 10 years ago." – Billboard.biz
Great features
- Instant access to millions of tracks
- Stream online
- Listen offline – no mobile connection needed
- Share music with your friends
- Star your favourite tracks
- Wirelessly sync your own MP3s to your iPhone, iPod Touch & iPad
- Create and sync playlists
- Send the tracks you listen to direct to Last.fm & Facebook
Love Spotify?
Like us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/spotify
Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/spotify
* Full mobile terms of Use & 48-hour free trial terms and conditions can also be found on the Spotify website.
Version
Free or Paid
Compatibility
Device(s) App Was Tested On
Accessibility Comments
You must have a Spotify Premium description to use the app.
Comments
#1 Problems: gone or still present?
I've not used this app myself, but I thought that I had read elsewhere that there were some accessibility issues.
My recollection was that there were problems on the 'What's New' screen, the search facility had a number of unlabelled controls, and VoiceOver didn't give clear feedback on the status of some of the toggle switches on the Settings page.
Have these issues now all been resolved?
#2 Not good
I just tried the current version (0.5.2), and deleted it within 5 minutes.
In that time I encountered most of the problems mentioned above, and saw nothing that made me think the app was close to usable with VoiceOver. Or at least, not if you want to use the app in a meaningful way.
#3 Spotify, it can work but...
I’ve been a Spotify premium subscriber since July 2011 when it launched in the United States. In that time the app has not changed at all in terms of accessibility. The person who posted the initial review of this app is not correct as Spotify for iPhone has significant issues. As said, the what’s new screen is not accessible at all. Some buttons within the app, such as those used to cause a playlist to be downloaded to your iPhone can not be accessed from Voice Over either. Not to mention that the Mac/PC apps are not accessible at all.
So, why am I a paying subscriber and how am I using the app? First of all, with a little bit of assistance getting started, I was able to make the service work for me. The first step is to get an account, then download the desktop app. Next, get some help importing your iTunes library and playlists in to the app. Next, download and install the iPhone app and log in. Your playlists that were imported to the desktop app appear on your iPhone.
Next, for additional playlists or to update those you already have I recommend www.sharemyplaylists.com as a great alternative. There are hundreds, maybe even thousands of playlists on the site that you can subscribe to. I strongly encourage you to do this via the iOS app because the Spotify app offers more accessibility here than on your computer. You can also look at music in your existing playlists and find more songs by these artists and further update your existing playlists if you wish. The functions for adding songs or albums to your existing or new playlists are accessible via the Spotify app on your iPhone.
I also want to promote the Spotify app for iPad as it seems to be more accessible than its iPhone counterpart.
I find the $10 price tag per month for this service to be reasonable. I have purchased very little music in the year I’ve had this service and don’t have a problem with renting my music. I’ve found music I would have never heard before. If time permits in the future perhaps I can record a podcast on how to use the Spotify app best with Voiceover as it can be done.
#4 Thanks
Many thanks for clarifying the extent of the problems with this app and for the workarounds.
#5 Usability
Must agree with all of the comments made abov. I really don't know how it was in the earlier version but the latest one definetly does not coralate to the above posting.
This is how I would rate it with the version as of today:
VoiceOver reads most page elements.
Most buttons are clearly labelled.
There are some accessibility issues with this app, but it can still be used if you are willing to tolerate these issues and learn how to work around them.
#6 Playlists in Spotify
I haven't been able to grok how to add songs to new or existing playlists on Spotify. If you've been able to successfully do so, can you post a quick guide on how you accomplished it?
#7 Just Installed
Hey Larry,
Thanks so much for your on target comments. I just installed this app last night, as I had installed it months ago and found it to be terribly unusable with VO. Than I saw someone post that it worked with VO, so I installed it, got to the What's New screen and of course, heard that annoying VO reading button, button, button. RATS. I did play around with some of the other screens that did work with VO, but not sure why people are so in love with this app. I am a iTunes Match subscriber who doesn't listen to a lot of new music, long live classic rock, so I am still not understanding why people love this app so much. There are a ton of music apps that are totally accessible so would love to hear why everyone is so in love with spottily. Thanks all
#8 If You're going to Pay Any Way
I have a subscription with Mog. Every thing is voice over friendly. One time they updated the app and messed it up. I contacted them and It was fixed within the week. The only thing it cannot do that Spotify does is creating play lists from your iTunes. They have a section called Just for You, they make reccomendations based on what you listen to. They also have Mog radio that works similar to pandora but you can skip as many tracks as you want. You cannot, however, do the thumbs up or down. You can change the similarity to play just the same artist all the way to lots of different artests that are similar. You can download as much as your device can hold.
#9 Playlists
Andrew,
The easiest way to do this is to search for an artist or track in the search screen, select it, and then start playing a song. Once a song is playing the window has controls at the bottom, a hide button in the top right corner that essentially takes you back to the previous screen while the music plays and a button on the top left that says something like NP Info Glyth. Tap this button and the display changes such hat the album art in the middle goes away and you are presented with the name of the artist, song name and, I believe the album name. If you were to tap the name of the artist you go to a screen with all of their works on the Spotify service. If you tap the name of the song it takes you to that particular album. Note that you need to then tap the hide button on the top right to get back to the now playing screen and repeete the process to view the previously mentioned options. Under the artist and song name is a button that says add to. If you tap that you are presented with a list of your playlists. Just find the list you want the song added to and tap it. That's all it takes. You can also ad an entire album to a playlist. Say for example you are listening to a song, tap the info button in the top left, tap the song name and find it is on a Greatest Hits album and you want every song on that album put on a playlist. When looking at that album you would look for a button on the left side of the screen just above the track list that says more. Tap it and you get options to ad to a playlist, share, start artist radio, Etc. Just tap ad to playlist and then select the list you want the tunes included on. There is room for improvement here but it works and is accessible despite the poorly labeled info button in the top left corner. Have fun.
#10 MOG is a good option
I did check out MOG before settling on Spotify. At the time MOG had a somewhat limited library but I thought everything else was great. I don't think I could make the switch because of the extensive playlists I have in Spotify that could not be moved over. Also, there is an extensive community on the web with sites built on the Spotify API that acomplish some very good things. For example, I love 80s music and have a playlist of about 1,800 songs. I pulled my existing list in from iTunes and then built on it by importing other users playlists available from within Spotify and from sites like sharemyplaylists.com. At one point the list had about 2,300 songs. I then ran it through another site called spotify deduplicator. This site looks at the playlist XML and, just by hitting a button, it produces a new playlist with all duplicate tracks removed. Its a nice touch and makes building great playlists easy. These are just a few of the Spotify resources built on the API. I am not sure that MOG offers these options. Someone previously commented that iTunes Match is fine; they love classic rock. I do as well but instead of my limited collection I have access to just about anything from that genre I want to have. I've also discovered great music, bought their albums, bought concert tickets when they came to town and murchandise. So, the rent your music option can lead to record sales and money in the pocket of artists. So I'm not a big iTunes Match fan.
#11 Bleh
As long as it requires a Facebook account to sign up, I'll stick to Pandora.
#12 Spotify is now free on mobile
I'm surprised that no one's mentioned this already but Spotify is now free for mobile. I don't have a premium account and I was able to play radio stations and create playlists. I doubt that non-premium users can download songs though. While it's not the most accessible app, it's a good way to discover new music.
#13 Spotify Premium Membership
Ok so I have seen how Spotify is now free to those of us in the U.S. so I installed the app, signed up with my Facebook account, went to find a song, and now the app tells me Spotify streaming is only available for premium members. I went in to the More section, and can't find anything about premium memberships. Anyone know what I did wrong? Was I not supposed to sign up through Facebook? Thanks, trying to figure out what the big deal about the app is, and so far, it just looks like the same thing as Pandora. Thanks
#14 Hrm no it's not free, I tried
Hrm no it's not free, I tried to play something and it said that in order to play I needed a premium subscription.. and when I go into radio, I only find a page with a heading level 1 and no content. So either not accessible or I just don't know how to use it.
#15 It works for me
I've never had a premium account and it works for me. The reason I know about it is because I received an email from Spotify that notified me that it's now free for non-premium users. Perhaps it's only free for existing users and not new ones?
#16 Radio is Free
Walei,
How did you create a playlist without a paid subscription? I notice that Streaming On Demand is for the Preium members only. However, only in the US is the Radio Stations are FREE. I saw that and was able to listen to the Radio Stations. However, how were you able to Create your own Playlist?
Thanks!
#17 My mistake
Hey anonymouse,
I apologize. I was able to create playlists, but when I went to play the songs in my playlists, I got a message informing me that I need to be a premium member to play songs on demand. So I was mistaken about that.
Walei
#18 Version 0.5.4
Now supports IOS 6! One of the first to do so!
What's New in Version 0.5.4
A lot of folks like the iOS 6 support we’ve brought to this update. We do too. But we also like:
• New: iPad users can now show more stations.
• Fixed: Login issues for users who only ever log in with Facebook.
• Fixed: Improved stability.
• Fictitious: This version is available in chocolate, strawberry or vanilla.
#19 Version 0.5.5
What's New in Version 0.5.5
As well as the usual bug extermination, this version says a big hello to…
• New: Sort your playlists. Tap the lovely "Sort" button next to the search field to sort by track, album, artist etc. (iPad only)
• New: Friendlier login for first-time users (iPhone only)
• Improved: Your settings are now arranged by category.
• Improved: Want to search among your friends? OK. (iPad only)
• Improved: Radio now loads faster. Blink and you’ll miss it.
• Fictitious: This app makes a lovely cup of tea.
#20 problems with spotify
I am not sure if other people have this problem but i redownloaded spotify on my idevice today and cannot seem to logn with my existing information because there is no button to click on where there should be one. there is a button to sgn up to facebook but i already have a traditional account.
A pity MOG is not available in the Netherlands as of yet.
#21 Is the New Update Accessible?
There's an update in the app store, Spotify 0.60 or something like that. I'm just wondering if anyone has tried it out. From the release notes, it sounds like Spotify has changed the look of quite a few things, so I'm hesitant to update til I know more about how the accessibility has or has not been affected.
#22 Downloading playlists on Spotify
Hello,
How can I download my playlists on Spotify when using it with VoiceOver on my iPhone and iPad? I've tried to do it on my iPad so far, and I just hear it say download playlist: 0 of 0 downloaded, once I press the download button, I can see the list of songs on my playlist, so I know for a fact it doesn't have 0 tracks. Can anyone help?
#23 spotify my expearyence
hi
yes the new spotify is still usable with voiceover but getting round it is a bit different,
there is a open side bar menu on the top left to get to the tabs that were on the botem,
once a song is playing you can get to the now playing screen by dubble tabbing the title of the currently playing song at the bottem of the window.
I also found loging in wasn't easy, i found that turning off voiceover and tapping 3 times on the bottem rite then turne voiceover back on this was the only part i found really tricky, if anyone knowes of a easyer way i'd like to know.
If anyone wants me to go in to more detail then i can do.
#24 deleting stations on spotify
I was wondering if there is a wqay to delte a station on sptify that i don't want anymore.