Spotify Redesign

By: Nick Gambino

Spotify just announced a redesign of their “Your Library” section intended to make it easier to navigate. I feel like this change was intended for me and me alone. I can’t even remember the original design, but I do recall the last change to make it “easier” was definitely a step-down. The separate page columns for “Music” and “Podcasts” works in theory but are clunky in practice.

“Starting today, we are rolling out a new version of Your Library to all Spotify mobile users,” a blog post from the company reads. “Now, you’ll have a more streamlined way to easily explore your collection and find your saved music and podcasts faster. Your Library’s updated design and added features will enable you to spend less time looking for content and organizing your collection, and more time rediscovering the music and podcasts you’ve loved over the years.”

Your Library now includes a new Grid view, the ability to pin playlists, albums, or podcasts, enhanced sorting options, and dynamic filters.

Dynamic filters will allow users to flip between the playlists, albums, artists, and podcasts they’ve saved. Most importantly, they’ve finally made it easy to find your downloaded “offline” content. Before, you’d have to search through all of your saved audio and look for that little green downloaded symbol. Now all you have to do is hit the “Downloaded” filter to isolate that offline content.

Sometimes you just want a little customization. Sorting options now include the ability to view all your audio content by creator name, recently played, or alphabetically. In the current iteration of my app, I noticed an option for “custom order” but I can’t tell what it does. I mean, I know what it’s supposed to do, but when I select it, it doesn’t give me an option to customize the arrangement. Hopefully, this is a functional presence in the updated app.

Pinning your favorite music or podcast inside the Spotify app is an essential but missing feature. This is being rectified with the ability to pin up to four playlists, albums or podcasts allowing “instant access so you can quickly dive back into that work playlist or sleep podcast.” Pinning will be as easy as swiping right.

The redesign rolls out within the week to all iOS and Android Spotify users.