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I never understood how companies worth billions can fumble having the most basic features across all of their platforms. For example, Spotify's desktop UI for p
by dotty- 4y ago
I never understood how companies worth billions can fumble having the most basic features across all of their platforms. For example, Spotify's desktop UI for podcasts: on mobile, I'm able to look at my liked podcasts and have a chronological list of the newest episodes across all of them. On the desktop app, that entire feature is missing. I have to check each individual podcast on the desktop app to find new episodes. It's such a frustrating experience and it's been like this for years.
Also, my understanding is that you cannot purchase podcast subscriptions on Spotify. One of my favorite podcasts "Serious Trouble" (previously All the Presidents' Lawyers) moved to a subscription model to unlock longer episodes, and it seems crazy to me that I cannot just pay to subscribe through Spotify. Instead, they publish those podcasts through Substack, which seems like such a missed opportunity for Spotify.
Separate from podcasts but another Spotify annoyance: Spotify (recently?) added 'enhanced playlists' that auto-adds songs to your Liked Songs. I actually like this feature. But those auto-added songs do not appear on the Desktop app, so I can only use this feature if I exclusively use my phone to stream music. I can't imagine what the internal justification for not prioritizing having the same features across platforms.
- threeseed 4y agoOften it's because they have one Product Manager for Web, one for iOS, one for Android etc. And because they have different demographics they may request features in different order and so you end up with this incomplete experience.
- dehrmann 4y ago> Often it's because they have one Product Manager for Web, one for iOS, one for Android etc. Not sure what it's like now, but several years ago, this wasn't the case. Squads usually had people for Android, iOS, and desktop, and the product owner oversaw all of the platforms.
- emodendroket 4y agoA combination of churning the app constantly and focusing on analytics, I think. “Well, not many of our users use the desktop app, and only 15% of the users make use of the feature.” In a vacuum that looks great, but many long-lived products are successful precisely because they cater to every possible need you could have.
- ghusto 4y agoHeh, yeah this description in the article made me giggle: > a user-friendly interface It is the worst interface I have the misfortune of having to use (don't ask).
- praisewhitey 4y agoif Substack is like Patreon you can listen to the paid feed on any podcast app via RSS feed, except Spotify which doesn't allow users to manually add RSS feeds.