13 useful Spotify tricks and features you might not know

Spotify is one of most popular music streaming platforms with millions of users and songs available worldwide. Known for their personalisation tactics, Spotify provides many useful features that make the process of listening to music much more enjoyable.

Despite the platform being so well-known and used amongst many, there are features – some of which might be limited to either the mobile application or desktop version only – the streaming service has that most users might not be aware of. 

Not sure what are the features available? We’ve compiled a list to improve your Spotify listening experience.

Part of Spotify’s latest desktop update in March 2021 and mobile update in May 2021, the ‘Made for two’ feature is currently in the beta testing process. 

To access it, you will have to search up ‘Your Daily Mix’ on the mobile app and click on the first search result. The app will then allow you to invite a friend and create a blended playlist of 50 songs from both you and their music, as well as common songs the both of you listen to.

Sadly, this might only be available to certain users as the feature is currently in beta. However, you can still join a friend’s blend as long as you have updated the app.

Did you know that Spotify has secret easter eggs?

In collaboration with Disney, playing any official Star Wars soundtracks will transform your music progress bar into a lightsaber! But sadly, this only works on the desktop version of Spotify.

Star Wars fans are sure to enjoy this added treat while listening to songs from the movie. Even non-fans of the franchise can have a kick out of this cool feature.

If you are someone who insists on listening to music only when there’s good sound quality, If good sound quality, then Spotify’s equaliser is something you need to explore.

On the mobile app, click on ‘Playback’ under settings and find the ‘Equalizer’ button. You can choose from Spotify’s suggested audio settings for different genres, or equalise the sound yourself.

Remember, different types of songs may sound the best in dissimilar sound settings.

Ever wondered what were the songs you’ve been listening to most in the past month?

Now instead of waiting till the end of the year for Spotify Wrapped or using external sites to check your listening history, you can easily view your top artists and top tracks of the month on the Spotify desktop app itself.

This is only visible to you and you can view this on your profile on the desktop player – if you’ve updated your Spotify to the latest version.

Spotify is all about personalisation and positive user experience. Instead of simply letting you listen to music on their platform, Spotify ensures you get exposed to new music and songs you already like all at once.

While it already provides daily mixes of songs which groups similar genres and artists you listen to together, there is now a feature called ‘Made by you’.

Apart from including songs you already listen to often, the ‘Made by you’ mixes also introduce you to similar songs from your stated genre or era, as well as tracks from an artist you like that you have yet to hear.

You no longer have to manually add songs into a playlist and it’s so much easier to find new music that’s also similar to the ones you already like!

If you’re someone who wants to find out what your friends have been listening to, whether it is to keep up with your peers or just being nosey – we aren’t judging –  the friend activity is always a fun feature.

By connecting your Facebook account to Spotify, you’ll be able to see your Facebook friends’ recent listening activity! You can also manually add friends by searching for their profiles.

Of course, the friends who added you can see your listening activity too. But if you would rather keep the songs you’re playing private, there is an option to do so. Alternatively, you can start a private session to listen anonymously.

Sure, you can type in whatever you’re looking for in the search bar, but did you know that you can easily scan codes that immediately bring you to where you want it to?

Every song, podcast, album, artist and profile has a unique Spotify code. You can find it by clicking on the three horizontal dots for each source and then scan by clicking on the camera icon on the top right corner of the ‘Search’ page on the mobile app.

This way, you no longer have to manually type in your searches and the process will also be more efficient if your search keyword is too vague.

For some Spotify users, it’s not enough having just one or two playlists. Instead, multiple playlists are required for each genre, vibe etc. 

Of course, there tend to be playlists that overlap and often, having too many playlists can be a little overwhelming and messy. So why not ease the categorisation process and create folders for similar playlists?

This can be done on the desktop version of Spotify. Simply right click on a saved playlist and click on ‘Create folder’. You can then drag in the other playlists you want into the folder.

Although you can’t create folders on the mobile app itself, you can still access the folders you made using the desktop version.

This feature makes everything neater and easier to find if you have many playlists saved.

Sometimes there are particular artists or bands we strongly dislike and would rather not hear any of their songs. Well, there is an option available on the Spotify mobile app to block music creators.

That way, you can avoid hearing their songs as you are now unable to play them, even if they appear on a playlist you’re listening to.

Faced the issue of having too many songs in a playlist and having to scroll all the way down to reach your recently added songs? 

The solution is simple: Arrange your songs by ‘Date added’ instead of ‘Custom order’.

As someone who has a playlist of almost 3000 songs, the feature to sort tracks by their added date is a lifesaver and lets me easily reach my most recent songs right at the top of the playlist.

If you’re the type to create many music playlists, you may be familiar with the annoyance of having to scroll through all of them just to find the specific one you’re looking for.

Well, here’s a simple solution: Pin your top playlists! This way, it’ll be easier to find the playlists that you mainly listen to.

The desktop version does not offer the pinning feature, but instead, you can drag your saved playlists into order on the left-side column.

Enjoy listening to music while you sleep, but hate the thought of wasting battery and letting your music play for the entire night? Use Spotify’s sleep timer feature!

Only available on the mobile version, all you have to do is click on the three dots on the top right corner of the screen when a song is expanded and scroll down to find the words ‘Sleep timer’. You will then be able to stop playing audio when the track ends, or till a maximum of one hour.

Sick of the awkward long pauses between songs? Spotify has a feature to let you crossfade songs by up to 12 seconds.

That way, your next song will play a few short seconds before the song you’re currently listening to ends abruptly. 

Say goodbye waiting in between each song and hello to seamless transitions!