Dave, I listen to Spotify a lot on my Android phone and it’s kind of annoying to have to go and launch the app every time I want to control my music. What are my options to have it be more accessible so I can have a more streamlined experience?
Telephones in the early days were all about voice, but it didn’t take long for mobile and portable phone designers to realize that they were fantastic music playback devices. As a result, we now have an extraordinary number of different music and audio content options on every mobile device. iPhone, Android, tablet, car there aren’t many devices that don’t have at least a dozen different streaming options and different ways to control those streams.
What’s interesting is that some systems now just have a generic “now playing “app or utility that lets you go to one place regardless of what you’re listening to. Android kind of works that way too so if you’re listening to Spotify, the system itself recognizes that as the music source and can show you a lot of information about what’s playing.
Ultimately, though, what you really want to do is install a Spotify widget on your home screens on your Android phone and then you’ll find that you have access to all the controls you want all of the time. It really does make things quite convenient. Let’s look a little more closely at this situation…
WHAT’S CURRENTLY PLAYING
Before we go further, it’s worth acknowledging that if you have Spotify playing on your Android phone, that information – and controls – will show up in a lot of different places. For example, on the lock screen:
Notice the big “La Libertad” box with various controls, even what speaker or speaker group is in use (“Everywhere” is a speaker group I’ve set up). Once you’ve unlocked your phone, you can always access music or playback controls by swiping down from the top to open the Quick Settings Panel:
Finally, in Spotify itself there is, of course, information on what’s playing:
It’s pretty minimal along the bottom, but the track I’m enjoying as I type this is “I Remember You” by the Alec Taylor Trio.
Lots of options without making any changes to your phone, but what if you want this to show up without any swipes or effort? Enter Android widgets!
ADD THE SPOTIFY WIDGET
Widgets are easy to work with. Find a home screen with some empty space, then tap and hold on the screen until you see this appear:
You see that there are three categories of changes you can make here: Wallpaper & style, Widgets, or Home settings. You can explore the others at your leisure, for now just tap on “Widgets“.
A long list of apps that offer widgets is revealed:
Some of these are Android system widgets, some are from other Google properties, and many are tied to the specific apps you have installed on your Android phone or tablet. Yes, widgets work on tablets too.
Tap on “Spotify” to see the two widgets it offers:
The difference relates to how much screen real estate it’ll consume. The top widget will take up the space that four app icons could be shown, while the bottom, the taller widget, will consume 4 x 2 or 8 spots. I prefer the more streamlined upper widget, so I’ll tap and it shows up on my home screen:
The two big dots on the left and right side are resize handles: You can tap and drag to experimentally find out what other sizes it supports. I’m going to tap and drag the right handle to go all the way to the right edge, then tap once on the home screen anywhere else than the widget. It’s now set!
That’s it. Easy, right? If you want to delete a widget, tap and hold your finger over it, then – without picking up your finger – drag it upward after a moment or two. A “Delete” target will appear; drag it to that area and it’ll be uninstalled.
Pro Tip: There are lots of ways to manage your Android devices and ensure the best possible experience. Learn more by checking out my extensive Android help area while you’re here!