Spotify expands app with direct messaging function
The music streaming service Spotify is expanding its range of functions to include direct messages. The feature is available for both free and premium accounts.
Spotify adds direct messages to its app.
(Image: Spotify)
Shortly after the price increase of the Premium tariff and the introduction of the Basic subscription, Spotify is still not introducing a High-Res option, but it is introducing the option to send direct messages from the app.
Spotify goes social
As Spotify explains, users will be able to use the direct messaging function to share music, podcast and audiobook recommendations without having to leave the app. According to the provider, the messaging function will be launched in "selected markets" later this week and will be available for free and premium users aged 16 and over on mobile devices.
According to TechCrunch, the messaging function will initially be introduced in Latin and South America. Over the coming weeks, it will then be made available in the USA, Canada, Brazil, the EU, the UK, Australia and New Zealand.
The new messaging function is seamlessly integrated into the Spotify app and can be accessed by tapping the share icon in the "Now playing" view when listening to a song, podcast or audiobook. Here you can select a friend or contact to whom you would like to send the content.
(Image:Â Spotify)
Spotify users can share content and send messages to people with whom they share a Spotify plan. Direct messages can also be sent to other users with whom you have previously interacted via Spotify, for example via jams, blends and collaborative playlists.
Offensive messages are to be checked
According to Spotify, the new feature aims to supplement, not replace, content recommendations that are already shared via text messages, social media such as TikTok, Instagram or Snapchat and third-party messaging services. Audio content shared with or by the user ends up in an inbox that users can access by tapping their profile picture in the top left corner of the app.
Videos by heise
Messages between users support emoji reactions and, according to Spotify, are protected by "industry-standard encryption". Users can also accept or reject message requests, block other users or turn the function off completely. If users receive objectionable messages or content, they can press and hold the respective message to flag suspicious content. Spotify states that messages are proactively checked for "certain illegal and harmful content" and chats reported by users are reviewed.
(afl)
