As
expected, Apple has blessed Spotify's streaming subscription music application with a home in its iTunes App Store. Additionally, the app is also making a first, less ballyhooed appearance on the Android Market. The free app allows you to stream any of its nearly 4 million tracks over WiFi or 3G and syncs playlists for playback while disconnected. It's available exclusively to Spotify Premium members in the UK, Sweden, Spain, France and Norway -- only the iPhone app is available in Finland. Great, so does that mean
Rhapsody is next? Magic i-ball says
all signs point to yes. Video overview of each app after the break.
P.S. We're seeing reports that the iPhone app won't play music in the background. The fix? Android.
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Read -- Spotify on Android
Read -- Spotify on App Store
posted September 7th 2009 5:13AM
This is just awesome!!!
Yet sad, this just shows how lame a phone can be when it can't do more than one thing at a time.
Best comment on Spotify for android
User Ian says : "£10 a month haha get real, not paying that as long as I've got a hole in my arse"
"£10 a month haha get real, not paying that as long as I've got a hole in my arse"
As opposed to getting it for free? Wassup with people not wanting to pay for their music nowadays.
I think Apple is starting to realize that apps that compete with iPod functionality aren't in the same league.
As opposed to an ad supported client just like the pc/mac versions.
Hmm, good news, but the free add-supported version is what most people use and want. The Spotify library can't hold a candle to the Napster and Rhapsody, which is were my money would be going if i wanted a subscription service. Hope it works out for them though, the all-you-can-eat for a small fee model is the future IMO.
Hopefully now the Spotify developers has the time to improve the terrible API they have provided and allow us to use our Squeezebox's, Sonos etc - preferably with the free version.
@Dominic:
An artist with 50000 hits on a song gets paid around $130 with the current model, so I highly doubt you'll see any extended services for free users. They really NEED us to quit leeching and start paying for this to work in the long run.
Backgrounder FTW. Even though it shouldn't be necessary. Apple should have an API for passing an audio stream to the standard iPod engine.
Don't worry, it will come (no doubt for the iPhone 4GT ).
"P.S. We're seeing reports that the iPhone app won't play music in the background."
Uhhhh... you do remember that little thing about no third party multi-tasking on the iPhone, right?
Exactly, it's like it's a massive surprise to everyone!
Uhhhh... you do remember that little thing called sarcasm?
The App TuneWiki can start music playing, but once you quit it, the iPod app takes control.
I'm sure Spotify works in a different way to TuneWiki, but I'm sure a little help from Apple, good things could come our way.
Apps can interface with the built-in iPod app to control music playback with the on-board library, but Spotify's music (both streaming and cached) is entirely seperate from that library. So it's all got to be done in the Spotify app itself, and thus no "hand-over" function is possible.
Uhhhh... you do remember that little thing called a joke, right?
Anyway Backgrounder works great, Spotify + TomTom = Fantastic
Jailbreaking makes this statement false.
http://cydia.saurik.com/package/backgrounder
Boom!
Music in the background.
OT: When is engadget going to do a comparison, or an ask engadget of all the different free and pay for music services out there? Im sat here with a fleet of macs, an iPhone and a Squeezebox not knowing what subscription service to go for :(
App works great, except you can't sync your offline playlists over 3G, only wifi. What use is that if you're out and about, travelling for example?
For example, I get on the train to work, load up Spotify, and want to listen to something new. I find something, and if I stream it, I lose connection occasionally and the music stutters. I want to be able to download/sync it there and then, while I have a good connection, so it doesn't stop when I do lose connection.
You can sync over 3G with the Android app!
Wonderful, another way iPhone users get screwed!
As soon as my contract is up I am switching to Android. So much more ability, so much more freedom.
Is no point in complaining about the limitations of the iPhone, when you were stupid enough to buy one
@ Shig
What a stupid comment to make - this is not a limitation of the iPhone, it's a limitation of the Spotify iPhone app.
Actually, it is a limitation of the iPhone. It doesn't allow apps to run in the background.
@ Abuzar
Actually, no one in this thread mentions running apps in the background - my complaint was the inability to sync offline playlists over 3G, which is *not* a limitation of the iPhone, rather a restriction they've programmed into the app.
It's more like a refusal by AT&T to allow such things on their 3G network.
@ Micah Robinson
Sure, it may be something the carriers convinced Apple/Spotify to do, but it's worth pointing out that AT&T are not the only iPhone carrier in the world, and besides which, Spotify isn't even available in the US, so AT&T in particular wouldn't care.
I don't care anymore anyway, I jailbreaked (jailbroke?) mine earlier, and it's working lovely with Backgrounder and 3G Unrestrictor.
You're right. I forgot Spotify wasn't available in the US.
Dam that iPhone UI is sexay :)
damn i wish the hero didn't have a chin.
The Hero doesn't have a chin anymore, they remodeled it for the final design. Too bad Spotify isn't available in the US yet. For now use an Android app called Dizzler which is similar to this but no playlists and it stutters 2-3 times per song even with a good 3g connection.
There's a chinless edition in the works for the US -market. It looks a little plain though. Don't diss the Hero before you've actually kept it in your hand. It looks quite gorgeous in real life. I think this is one case where huge promotional pics on the web is a detriment to a gadget.
@cory, that is a completely different model of the hero, i'm talking about this one.
No Spotify love for Bill G. and Ballmer yet then, especially with the former banning iPhones in his household.
We should all get together and ship them both a crate of iPhones, all playing monkey boy on loop.
I'd rather send Steve Jobs a crate of HTC WinMo phones, and then watch him burn them; Bill G. would probably just donate the iPhones to a 3rd World country, and Ballmer would just launch them as a new Microsoft product by mistake.
Because Ballmer is so stupid, he's driving the company into the ground? Oh wait, no no, that's not right at all...
Oh Richard...you are hilarious to the max! LMAO
Can't sync over 3g? There is an app for that: 3G Unrestrictor ($1.99 on Cydia)
Can't run in the background? There is an app for that: Backgrounder (Free on Cydia)
Yeah, but that is hacking. We want it to work without putting work in. Android seems alot more user friendly and can do the stuff we want it to do right out the box. I am and iPhone owner BTW.
It's such a disadvantage for third-party developers when they can't do something as simple as run music in the background. Who's really going to stay in this app for any length of time before they have to do something else with the phone? It really hurts the utility of the phone.
I have an iPhone and my brother has a HTC hero
I want to trade for this
+1
Biggest problem - no offline sync via 3g. I'm signed up for a month. Not sure yet if I'll extend it - the catalogue has big holes, and latest releases are behind iTunes. Also, the Spotify homepage is very poor - I use iTunes to find new music, then source it on Spotify.
Great free app - not so sure if it runs £10/month good though, despite the incredible number of ads on the free service now. For my money, needs to be half the price with better music industry support. Otherwise, Spotify=fail.
I still think the instant nature of the streaming over wifi is amazing - and the same goes for syncing from Mac to iPhone - you add it on the computer, it starts syncing instantly on the app. Impressive.
The offline sync via 3G has been disabled due to the fact that if you decide to sync 100 songs it ends up being almost 500MB of traffic...if you don't have unlimited data that's gonna cost.....doing that on a 3G will also take quite along time...
I've been using Spotify/PC version since august last year, first in beta phase and then as a Premium subscriber....15USD/moth....less then a CD for almost 6 million songs...I think it's a great app!
"P.S. We're seeing reports that the iPhone app won't play music in the background. The fix? Android."
Which makes it totally pointless.
No amount of push notifications is going to sort this problem. Apple need to step up their game.
Oh well, I guess this saves me £10 a month.
"Which makes it totally pointless."
Oh, please. I understand that it is desirable for this application to work in the same sort of way as the iPod application but I think it's a bit of a stretch to say that it is totally pointless. As long as the application works (that is to say, will play your Spotify playlists) then it has a point.
It is pointless.
The iPhone is a communication device first and foremost. What's the point of the Spotify app if you can't listen to music and read your SMS/browse your e-mail/surf the web at the same time?
Your definition of "pointless" clearly differs from my own. The application will enable you to listen to music and therefore fulfils its purpose. Do not get me wrong - I completely agree that the application would be more useful if it could run in the background while do something else. However, I disagree that not being able to run in the background makes the application pointless. You can, for example, use it to play music like the iPod application does while you travelling and this is surely its most important function.