Spotify’s new desktop mini-player just upped my productivity game

Published Mar 21st, 2024 4:14PM EDT

It feels like every few months, Spotify comes out with a new feature or tool to try and tempt me away from Apple Music. This time, the company wants to entice me by giving me a new feature to boost my productivity when I’m working on my computer.

In a post on Instagram, Spotify announced a new mini-player for its desktop app. The new mini-player will start to roll out for users today and brings back the good old days of a music player widget on your PC or Mac.

Spotify says that the new mini-player enables you to handle a number of things while performing tasks in other apps and windows, including the ability to play/pause, change tracks, choose playlists, control the volume, and watch music or podcast videos.

The Spotify Desktop Miniplayer will also work as a window to view video, allowing desktop listeners to enjoy video podcasts for some of their favorite shows while using other windows. We know that music and podcasts are a huge part of people’s daily working lives and the Spotify Desktop Miniplayer will allow listeners to change tracks, choose playlists, control volume and watch video without ever missing a beat. What’s more, the Miniplayer will be fully flexible for your desktop needs – make it as big or as small as you need, pull it around your screen to your preferred location.

What’s really neat about the way Spotify handles its new mini-player is that the size and functionality of the widget will update dynamically as you change its size:

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Of course, Apple Music has had a mini-player all of this time, but it comes in only one form: a square. It doesn’t change in functionality as you change its size, so Spotify is once again upping Apple in terms of features here.

There’s also no denying that Spotify makes a better app for the Mac than Apple Music does. The Apple Music app is incredibly outdated, still holding on to characteristics of the iTunes app that has long been discontinued. Apple really needs to give some love to this thing. Spotify keeps tempting me to abandon ship with all of these features, and I keep nudging myself closer to that move.

You can check out the full announcement video below. Keep an eye out for the new mini-player in your desktop app: