X

Spotify revamps desktop, web app design -- including downloads to your computer

Spotify's premium, paying subscribers can download tracks onto laptops via its desktop app to have songs available later even without connectivity.

Joan E. Solsman Former Senior Reporter
Joan E. Solsman was CNET's senior media reporter, covering the intersection of entertainment and technology. She's reported from locations spanning from Disneyland to Serbian refugee camps, and she previously wrote for Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal. She bikes to get almost everywhere and has been doored only once.
Expertise Streaming video, film, television and music; virtual, augmented and mixed reality; deep fakes and synthetic media; content moderation and misinformation online Credentials
  • Three Folio Eddie award wins: 2018 science & technology writing (Cartoon bunnies are hacking your brain), 2021 analysis (Deepfakes' election threat isn't what you'd think) and 2022 culture article (Apple's CODA Takes You Into an Inner World of Sign)
See full bio
Joan E. Solsman
2 min read
client-x-static-banner-single-desktop

Spotify's desktop app was the company's first portal into its music service before mobile phone came to dominated, but Spotify said the desktop design hasn't kept up with changes over the years. 

 Spotify

 Spotify has refreshed the look and feel of the desktop app and web player for its streaming music service, the company said Thursday, including the ability to download tracks to a computer with its desktop app for people who are paying premium members. 

It also made the design of its web player and desktop app more similar to its mobile app, so that using Spotify across platforms is more cohesive, Spotify said in a blog post. And Spotify simplified playlist creation and added more controls for web or desktop users, like the ability to write descriptions, upload images and drag and drop tracks into existing playlists. 

"We constantly test, develop, and launch new features," Spotify said. "Yet along the way, we felt that our desktop app experience hadn't kept up, and that it was time for a change."

Spotify also added new keyboard shortcuts to assist with many more tasks, the company said. Within the desktop app, PC users can press Control + ?, and Mac users, Command + ? -- that will bring up a full list of all commands available.

The news came about a month after Spotify held an event to reveal a list of announcements, including plans to launch a new subscription tier called HiFi for high-quality audio later this year and an expansion to more than 80 new countries. At the time, the streaming-music giant also unveiled podcast exclusives and a suite of new tools for artists and podcasters. 

Spotify is the biggest streaming music service by both listeners and subscribers in the world.