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Ask HN: How is the Spotify app so bad?

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Re: Ask HN: How is the Spotify app so bad?

#71

Post by joecot »

daghamm wrote: post #22

I actually like the Spotify app. For things I am (and maybe most normal users?) interested in, it works really nice: choose a song, listen to it, listen to the bands other songs, listen to their "radio" with similar songs, find new interesting bands, repeat.

I tried to leave Spotify. I tried to switch to Tidal, which boasts better sound quality, and most importantly, better payments to artists.

I switch between listening on my phone, my computer, other computers, and my google home devices all day. With Spotify, I can choose which device to choose to from anywhere, and I can also control it from anywhere. I can play music from my laptop, then change songs from my phone, then send it to my google home speakers whenever I'd like.

Tidal didn't have that. Didn't even have google home integration. Didn't even have a desktop app on Linux. I switched back in less than a day. As annoying as Spotify's app can be sometimes, it's the service that works across all my devices, and can switch between all my devices.

Re: Ask HN: How is the Spotify app so bad?

#72

Post by e12e »

Fwiw, the YouTube music android app is pretty bad too. I generally need to force stop it a couple of times pr listening session because it freezes up getting the next track.

Also find it curious that there's apparently no Bluetooth hot key to "like" the current song, only single click for play/pause and double for skip. Bit maybe that's a Bluetooth headphone protocol thing?

Re: Ask HN: How is the Spotify app so bad?

#74

Post by DocKitKat »

marcus_holmes wrote: post #37

I'm semi-convinced it's the bad feedback loop of analytics => product team. "I'm totally lost in this shitty UI, I have no idea how it's supposed to work" looks very much like "I love this interface, I could spend hours just looking at it" if all you have is analytics data.

Nah, it's not a platform that generates money based off eyeballs scrolling through ads, keeping the interface front and center for longer etc.

Spotify optimises for music/podcast/audiobooks hours consumed or songs added to playlist/downloads etc. Being lost in the UI would very much be a negative signal in the data, and easy to separate out from "I love the app and am able to play the content I want" for any analytics team.

Re: Ask HN: How is the Spotify app so bad?

#75

Post by al_borland »

muzani wrote: post #9
al_borland wrote: post #6

I recently moved from Apple Music to Spotify to see what all the fuss is about, thinking it might get me listening to more music, or different stuff than Apple keeps playing. Using it feels like work and I don’t really get the how they expect users to use the app. I’m tempted to go see if there is a video from the designers explaining their vision so I can use it right. As of now it seems like a mess. Also, their AI…

"The worst part about radio is the DJ saying nonsense between songs, and they added AI to say nonsense between songs" Yup, sounds exactly like what a DJ does. I was driving, waiting at a traffic light, watching the minutes go by. 8 minutes. DJ still kept blabbing. Every radio station I turned to, there was a DJ saying nonsense. There's more DJ nonsense than music. That's the point I downloaded Joox, which I later swi…

The AI DJ wasn't even saying interesting things about the song or artist. It was just interrupting to say, things like "let's switch it up and play something a little different."

If it was actually giving me some backstory or saying something interesting, I'd get it as a feature. Like VH1's pop up videos. That wasn't what was going on.

Re: Ask HN: How is the Spotify app so bad?

#76

Post by al_borland »

Source_Code wrote: post #8
al_borland wrote: post #6

I recently moved from Apple Music to Spotify to see what all the fuss is about, thinking it might get me listening to more music, or different stuff than Apple keeps playing. Using it feels like work and I don’t really get the how they expect users to use the app. I’m tempted to go see if there is a video from the designers explaining their vision so I can use it right. As of now it seems like a mess. Also, their AI…

I find the AI DJ's nonsense to be endearing in a funny cringe way, but I definitely understand why people would want a version without it. If you've got a broad music taste I'd recommend using the song radio for a song which fits the profile of what you're looking for. I've found it much more effective for building playlists of new music then some of their other discovery tools.

>I'd recommend using the song radio

Thanks. Being new to Spotify, I wasn't sure what key words I was looking for in the UI to trigger this kind of thing. I see where to do that now.

"Start a Jam" sounded like it would be it, but after looking it up, that wasn't what I wanted at all.

Re: Ask HN: How is the Spotify app so bad?

#77

Post by pushcx »

onion2k wrote: post #45

It's one of the most popular services in the world, but has one of the worst user experiences of all the apps I use. This is really common. It's a sign that the value isn't derived from the software itself, but what the software enables you to do. It doesn't need to be good. People pay to access Spotify's library of music and podcasts, despite the UI. When you run a startup having people hungry to use your MVP despit…

There's an excellent pithy saying for this: If something is worth doing, it's worth doing poorly.

Re: Ask HN: How is the Spotify app so bad?

#78

Post by boxed »

leokennis wrote: post #33
boxed wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Spotify plays the music when you tell it to though. I've heard Apple Music streaming can be a bit laggy to start.

This is true. Apple Music is excellent, but slower than the competition when searching and browsing.

I heard it also is laggy even starting songs.

Re: Ask HN: How is the Spotify app so bad?

#79

Post by _rutinerad »

spiderfarmer wrote: post #42
daghamm wrote: post #22

I actually like the Spotify app. For things I am (and maybe most normal users?) interested in, it works really nice: choose a song, listen to it, listen to the bands other songs, listen to their "radio" with similar songs, find new interesting bands, repeat.

Same. There are a lot of apps way, way worse than Spotify, including Apple Music.

I think Apple Music (on iOS, on Mac it’s quite bad) is really good. But even if it wasn’t, I still would use it just for ratings and complex smart playlists.
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