Samsung Music, now that’s a name I haven’t heard in a long time. Samsung smartphone owners rejoice, now the Samsung Music app will finally feel useful. The app has a tab that lets you connect to your Spotify Account.
Users will be able to use the new feature after updating the app. Users will now be able to view lists of playlist recommendations and latest song and album releases.
These recommendations, however, won’t be based on users’ listening habits. Users will also be able to search albums, music artists, and songs on Spotify via the Samsung Music app.
The biggest shortcoming of this update is users won’t be able to listen to any of the music via the app. When a user chooses a song or playlist they like, Samsung Music will redirect to Spotify’s app on the phone.
Hence users will ultimately be using Spotify’s own app. In hindsight, this feels like a massive blunder on Samsung’s part. People will still have to keep both apps on their phones if they are to make use of this new feature.
There’s another problem that we feel is absolutely necessary to mention. The tab will only appear in those countries where Spotify is available. Most European countries, South American countries, the US and Canada will remain unaffected.
Asian countries such as India, Bangladesh, China, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Pakistan won’t have the access to this feature.
There are other UI changes in the app as well. Most of which should have been implemented way earlier but oh well.
Some of the major changes include a tabbed layout which allows users to swipe through Albums, Folders, Artists, Tracks, Playlists, Favorites, and Songs tabs.
Users can now swipe up to view the current song being played. If users swipe down from anywhere on the screen, they can hide the current song. Both commands feel silky smooth and give the app a much-needed change.
Personally, my favorite addition is the new crossfade feature. It enables the song being played to gradually fade away when the user closes the Samsung Music app. Before the update, songs would suddenly cut out once the user exited the app.
The update is currently available only via Samsung’s own app store, Galaxy apps. In a few days, it should roll out on Google Play Store as well.
These changes should persuade users to stick with Samsung Music even though it isn’t the best music player on the market. Most Samsung users, even the diehard ones, uninstall the app because they have so many better options.
Music players like BlackPlayer (which is my personal favorite), PowerAmp and JetAudio HD are some of the most downloaded and highly rated music players on Google Play Store.
They offer way more customization options, have better interfaces and overall offer a better user experience.
Only time will tell if Samsung Music’s latest feature is just another half-hearted attempt to prevent users from leaving or if users find actual value in it.
Fazeel Ashraf
Jazib Zaman
