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 Sep 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.
You know, as you keep pointing out what the iPhone doesn't have, it seems that Apple adds it. It wasn't so long ago that the iPhone-hating crowd was bitching about the lack of MMS, video recording, copy and paste, and what not. Now it seems they're down to three things- no background apps, bad service provider, and poor battery life (which is debatable).
Well... keep up the great work! Out of curiosity though, what are your plans for when the iPhone ~can~ do everything? Going back to the 'suck Steve Jobs' theorem then I suppose? :T
Not really, Donut. You see it'll be long dead by then.
@Mark Anderson
I assume you believe that the world ends in 2012 as well. And in Bigfoot.
Nope, I believe that Apple have failed to appreciate the pace of change and will get left behind again like they did with the Apple III.
LOL, yeah right! The iPhone essentially opened up average consumers to smartphone usage (AT&T's shitty ass network service as of late is a testament to that fact).
Those people aren't going to pick up another smartphone that's harder to use and adapt to now, and they also aren't going back to the dumbphone era. Unless something changes drastically, the iPhone is going to remain the iPod of the cellular market. Indefinitely.
Simplify Media app for iphone does the same for a lot less money !
Doesn't that app just give you access to your music which you already have? Doesn't sound the same at all.
Isn't Microsoft going to launch a similar music streaming service this fall (codenamed "Omni"). They maybe announcing it on Sept 9 during CEDIA expo.
http://www.mobiletechworld.com/2009/08/04/microsoft-project-omni-multiplatform-music-streaming-rumor/
*Cough Cough* ZuneHD, please do this?
The zune pass did it years ago. You can either stream and download music to your zune over wifi.
That feature is essentially guaranteed, since I can already stream full albums from Zune Marketplace directly to my Zune 8 over wifi. I'm surprized that MS doesn't push that feature more, it's extremely cool but I had no idea it existed until I discovered it on my device by accident.
Does anybody have an I-Phone with T-Mobile in Germany and if so, would you recommend it? Seems very limiting and expensive. Thanks!
Doesn't T-Mo have the Hero too? (In Holland they do) I'd go for that one if you find the iPhone too limited (Jailbreaking helps though).
Sprint's Hero just can't come fast enough. Not so much for the running in the background thing though. That is known and easily fixable. It's the no synching over 3G.
The one thing that stops me from absolutely hating ATT and Apple is the fact I got my iPhone for free.
Android has its fair share of apps that require wifi, too. I think it's a lot less common in third party apps since they don't have to answer to anybody, but I know the built-in AmazonMP3 app requires wifi to purchase albums.
if the running in the background thing is "known and easily fixable" i'm assuming ur speaking of the backgrounder JB app. if so, there is also an "easy fix" for the 3G/wifi issue. its called 3G unrestrictor. it allows any app that is limited to wifi only to think its on wifi when its only on 3G. thus enabling the sync.
of course u have to be on a jb'ed iphone, and while some may complain that they want it out of the box, im glad they keep it restricted. some people (the general masses not reading tech blogs) need to be coddled and restricted on how they use their devices, so that they dont ruin them. jailbreaking ur phone is not a long arduous process, but rather a 5-7 minute process, neat and almost flawless. follow all instructions and read everything and there shouldnt be a problem (i've jb'ed over 45 phones and never had a brick since 1.1.2) updating is also painless as there are apps to backup all ur packages/apps, and restore after a succesful update & re-jailbreak.
i've used android and while pretty, its UI is not as friendly as i feel the iphone's is. i'll stick with the iphone and the spotify app with 3G unrestrictor and backgrounder packages.
Are you sure Chef? I've never been told to switch to Wifi when on AmazonMP3. Or maybe I'm not paying attention? Iono...
Really not tryna pick sides. But take that whole list you just said...
And all we have to do is open, click. end.
How is that NOT friendlier than open, click, not work, jailbreak, download, download, click, click, click (assume to click until apps are set up), then back to Spotify, click, end.
And people always say it''s not as "simple" as the iPhone? How so. Looking at these two screens for example. Only difference is graphical presentation. It has the row of buttons, a touch screen to scroll. How is it not as easy?
Many people need to really distinguish between "prettier" and "easier." Cause seems as most would want to say prettier.
Comparing the two interfaces, I'd have to say the Android interface looks a bit janky against that of the iPhone.
Wonder if anything like this will be available for the Blackberry Storm
Backgrounder makes spotify on the iphone much more useable. Only problem is that jailbreaking seems to slow the phone down pretty substantially.
I'm so happy to see a phone besides the G1 finally being used when talking about Android. Yay for multiple phones now.
Now can we PLEASE get a Rachel rocking or something, LOL
Are you talking about the phone in the video? Because that is a G1.
Maybe I just don't understand your comment.
android does have apps that require wifi to work but what i have found is if there is a version where there is wifi and 3g options but the market version has the 3g option grayed out you can normally find the app outside of the market available ungimped....and download and install the app without any hacks to make it work
Does the Android app save the playlists to your microSD or the internal memory?
Let me fix you. Since Andoird Market isn't available in Finland, you can't download the app in Finland from Andoird Market. However, it doesn't mean you can't get it.
http://www.spotify.com/en/mobile/overview/install-for-android/
For obvious reasons it is too bad that spotify isn't in the US but the less obvious benefit would be that mainstream users here would see that notifications are the suck compared to background processes. A few killer app embarrassments like this and apple might get off its ass. Then again, maybe they only approved it because it is limited?
"The fix? Android"
Hahahahah xD ... Gold =)
I'll care when it is in the U.S. =(
what I love most about this app is that it is not available in the USA :)
but those living in the USA don't have to complain, you have a lot of other free stuff like hulu and pandora which we dont have here in sweden
cool application. i do this on my pre and stream my ampache server with ampache mobile. Works pretty good.
Or you could just jailbreak your iphone and download backgroundr, that'll let it play music I assume
oh money no thanks
This article makes me happy, going to get onto this later today, think it'll go fine on my HTC Hero :)
Works flawlesly on the Hero :)
*Cough* Jailbroken... Backgrounder app? problem solved? Apple? Hint? Also to note,, spoify are Sh!t hot on premium accounts... I installed it on two iphhones and they will log in together but will only play music one at a time. It will cut the other out if you try to play two ata time... nice, just nice.. there goes my shared subs dream!
I can't find it on the android market, Ive tried searching 'spotify' anyone else have better luck?