Music streaming app Spotify for Windows phones is finally available. They just leveled the playing field for Windows Phone users after promising improvements back in May this year. Recently, Spotify officially announced that the ad-supported version of Spotify was now available on Microsoft’s mobile platform to download and use.
Before the announcement, Spotify for Windows phones charged users ten dollars a month for the Premium version. Android and iOS users, meanwhile, have had ad-supported options functional on mobile phones since December last year.
The change means that Spotify for Windows Phones can now be enjoyed with similar benefits to the two larger smartphone platforms. The user can shuffle playlists made by him or others or listen to a specific artist on shuffle. According to officials, Spotify for Windows Phones also features an improved look for search results as compared to other two operating systems and browsing artists is also simpler than before.
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However, one thing that hasn’t yet landed on Windows Phone, it seems, is Spotify’s black visual overhaul that began rolling out in April. The new look puts more focus on the musical content and de-emphasizes the app’s interface elements.In May, This new look of Spotify for Windows phones would be coming sooner rather than later.
The features of Spotify for Windows Phones are:
Free streaming: You no longer need a Spotify Premium subscription ($9.99 per month) to use the Windows Phone app. Now, you can use a Spotify Free or Spotify Unlimited ($4.99 per month) account and have an ad-supported experience. (The latter provides ad-free music on PCs only).
All of the music: Listen to all the playlists you’ve created and playlists from the people you follow. Spotify lets you discover new music, save, shuffle and share.
Your favorite artists: You can now shuffle play an artist and listen to their entire catalogue.
More playlists: Spotify for Windows phones provides playlists for events like working out, dinner parties, different moods, and more.
More: Search results look better than ever before, Spotify says, and artist browsing is easier with better discovery of related artists.
Even without the drastic visual overhaul, the new version of Spotify for Windows phones is obviously a big win. One of the drawbacks that still haunt Windows Phones is that it still doesn’t have the big app draws that Android and iOS endorse boldly, although the app catalog has improved in recent months – Spotify being a big step in the direction.
With this move, Spotify has taken another step at broadening its user base. Despite being one of the most popular music streaming services in the world, it has stiff competition from rivals such as Beats Music, SoundCloud, Deezer and the likes. On the other hand, Microsoft needs to beef up the quality of its Windows Phone app store to stay in the smartphone game. Needless to say, Windows Phone users can rejoice as they can now listen to unlimited music without having to upgrade to a premium account.
With Spotify’s service on Windows Phone now on par with Google and Apple’s mobile platforms it gives users one more reason to consider a switch. As is the case withAndroid and iOS, Spotify Premium is still available on Windows Phone – despite the launch of free app – with features such as higher bit-rate tracks, offline listening, and full access to Spotify’s catalog.
Making Spotify available for free on a greater array of devices helps to get the music streaming service into the hands of more listeners. In May, Spotify announced that it hit a new milestone of 10 million paying subscribers and 40 million active users across the world, since its launch six years ago in 2008.
The new version of Spotify for Windows Phones is available in the Windows Phone Store for Windows Phone 8 and 8.1.
The Tech Cult 