Spotify Lite app arrives in low data, low functionality beta
Spotify has just released its new app aimed at its free tier subscribers. Called Spotify Lite, the app lacks the ability to shuffle or download songs, but includes new features such as an automatic data-limiting option.
Spotify Lite is in beta at the moment, and only appears to be available on the Google Play store in Brazil, according to MusicBusinessWorld.
When contacted for comment, a representative from Spotify said, “At Spotify, we routinely conduct a number of tests in an effort to improve our user experience. Some of those tests end up paving the path for our broader user experience and others serve only as an important learning. We aren’t going to comment on specific tests at this time.”
So we’re still in the dark as to whether this app will ever make its way to iOS or the UK in any combination.
Since this is a stripped down app, you’re not going to get the functionality of the full Spotify experience. You’re limited to choosing music from playlists (although Spotify’s auto-generated and personalised ‘Daily Mixes’ appear to have made the cut), which you then aren’t able to shuffle.
You can’t download music to listen to offline, and sound quality is more limited.
Data limiting for all
That said, there’s one feature in Spotify Lite that we’d be interested in seeing on the full app. The feature in question is a data-limiting option, which suggests that the app will automatically stop streaming once you’ve used up an amount of data of your choosing.
The functionality could be really useful for anyone who is on a more data-limited plan, but to be honest we think it could be helpful for many other people besides.
As this is a beta, we’re sure that the amount of functionality will increase over time, but we’ll have to try out the app for ourselves before we can come to a final judgement.
The Spotify Lite app joins a spate of recent stripped down app releases which include Instagram Lite, Facebook Lite and Messenger Lite, which are attempting to widen access to the internet’s most popular services.
Are you a Spotify Free subscriber or do you pay for your music streaming? Let us know @TrustedReviews.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
