Spotify has gone through quite a few changes over the years, but none seem as dramatic as the latest update to the app's home page. Spotify revealed the new look at its Stream On event this past week, and it seems to be quite divisive among streaming fans. The new TikTok-like UI shows large previews for music, podcasts, and audiobooks that users can swipe through.
The new UI has already begun rolling out on Android and iOS devices, but we want to know what you think of Spotify's new Home experience.
According to Spotify, the new design builds on the previous change that was rolled out last year, giving users easy access to various content feeds, including music, podcasts, and now audiobooks. The new experience is supposed to help users discover new content more easily. Automatic previews will play snippets of songs that users might like in hopes that it will capture their attention enough for them to want to listen to the full track and/or save it to their library.
The idea is that it's easier to discover new content if it's fed to users this way over simply reading static titles and actively clicking to preview a title. Of course, users will still have access to their favorites at the top of each home feed, but Spotify hopes this new approach will facilitate more active discovery.
Of course, Spotify is far from the only company to implement a TikTok-like UI in its app. Instagram tried a full-screen approach last year that was met with a lot of criticism. However, that hasn't stopped other apps and services from testing or adopting the TikTok-style feed, which is not surprising given the popularity of the app.
With new songs and trends are often discovered and popularized from TikTok, perhaps Spotify wants to emulate a similar experience on its app. However, only time will tell if this new approach will actually benefit the app or drive users to other music streaming services.
