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Spotify’s Upcoming Updates: Music Speed Control and Lossless Auto-Downloads
Spotify is gearing up to introduce a feature that users have been requesting for years. Recent reports indicate that the Swedish streaming giant will soon implement a solution widely popularized by platforms like YouTube and TikTok. The app may soon allow users to directly change the playback speed of music tracks.
Expanding Playback Speed Beyond Podcasts
While Spotify has consistently expanded its offerings—recently venturing into educational video courses and fitness integrations—the company has not forgotten its core functionality: music streaming. An APK teardown conducted by Android Authority on the app version 9.1.48.148 revealed clear evidence of a new playback speed control feature.
The platform is actively working on rolling out an adjustable playback speed tool for music. While this feature is currently restricted to podcasts and audiobooks on Spotify, the newly discovered code suggests an imminent expansion to standard music tracks. This aligns with broader industry trends where listeners frequently seek out sped-up or slowed-down versions of popular songs.
This is a niche yet significant shift in how users interact with audio. The ability to accelerate or decelerate songs can profoundly impact both the perception of content and how new music is discovered and enjoyed on the platform. As Spotify continues to refine the user experience, with engaging additions like played receipts and musical ghosting features, offering native tempo adjustments keeps users in the app rather than searching for altered tracks elsewhere.
Why Tempo Control Matters
- Customized listening: Users can speed up slow intros or slow down fast rap verses to catch the lyrics clearly.
- Practice and learning: Musicians can slow down complex guitar solos or drum beats to learn them accurately.
- Trend adaptation: Eliminates the need to hunt down unofficial “sped-up” versions of viral TikTok hits.
Fixing Offline Downloads for the Lossless Era
The ability to tweak the tempo is not the only upcoming feature uncovered in the app’s code. Another major update aims to resolve a persistent issue associated with the highly anticipated introduction of lossless audio support (often referred to in rumors as Spotify HiFi or Supremium).
When upgrading audio quality to a lossless format (which demands much higher bitrates, typically around 1411 kbps or higher), previous implementations required users to manually re-download their saved content to enjoy the enhanced fidelity. Only newly added tracks, albums, or playlists would automatically save in the premium tier quality.
To streamline this transition, Spotify is developing a feature that will automatically update existing offline music to higher quality tiers once the lossless setting is activated. This means your entire offline library will seamlessly upgrade without requiring manual re-initiation. For audiophiles currently tweaking settings like Spotify Exclusive Mode on Windows for bit-perfect audio, this seamless upgrade path will be a highly welcomed quality-of-life improvement.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Will changing the playback speed of a track affect artist streaming payouts?
Typically, Spotify counts a stream for royalty purposes if the track is listened to for at least 30 seconds. While native playback speed controls will alter how fast those 30 seconds elapse, it does not create a separate “derivative” track. Payouts will likely function identically to standard streams as long as the minimum time threshold is met.
How will the automatic lossless download feature handle mobile data consumption?
Lossless audio files are significantly larger than standard compressed files. The automatic update feature is expected to respect your app’s existing data usage settings. This means automatic offline upgrades will likely default to downloading over Wi-Fi only, preventing massive and unexpected mobile data usage drain.
When will the music playback speed feature be available to the public?
Features discovered in APK teardowns are in the internal testing phase. While the presence of the code (in version 9.1.48.148) strongly indicates active development, Spotify has not announced an official release timeline. It will likely undergo A/B testing before a global rollout.
Source: Android Authority | Opening photo: Gemini
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