Cool Spotify Features You Didn't Know About

Spotify is packed with features—some of which you know about and some of which you don’t. Many people missed the Pets Playlists when it was available, for example. Another one we see often is that many people don’t know how to use the EQ function—or that they even have one!

The features built into Spotify’s app make listening more enjoyable - and can help you tailor your experience better.

Let’s look at some of Spotify’s features, where you can find them, and what they do!

• Spotify’s Discover Weekly and Daily Mixes
• Collaborative Playlists
• Listening History
• Lyrics
• Sleep Timer
• Spotify Wrapped
• Audiobooks
• Sound Of
• This is
• Private Session Mode
• Taste Profile Refinement
• Exclude From Taste Profile
• Smart Shuffle
• AI Playlist
• Sound Quality Settings
• Crossfade
• Google Maps & Waze Integration
• Clips
• Voice Command
• Spotify Connect
• Visualizations / Canvas
• Offline Mode
• Keyboard Shortcuts
• Playlist Folders
• Pin Playlist
• Uploading
• Eat This Playlist (Snake)
• Spotify Code

Spotify has a huge list of features; many people don’t make the most of them. Here are some of their most popular features and some you probably don’t know about!

Daily Mixes and Discover Weekly

• Discover Weekly: A personalized playlist updated every Monday with songs you might like based on your listening habits.
• Daily Mixes: A bunch of playlists are updated daily based on what you have been listening to.
• Where to find: Go to "Home" –> "Made for You" section.

Collaborative Playlists

You can create some fot he most unique playlists around when you let friends and family create a playlist with you!

• What is it: Create playlists that you can share and edit with friends.
• How to enable: Right-click on a playlist –> Select "Collaborative Playlist."

Interested in Spotify Collaborative Playlists? Read more about it here: How to Make a Collaborative Playlist on Spotify.

Listening History

Looking for a song you have listened to in the last week but can't remember its name? Listening history can help!

• What is it: View and recover previously played songs.
• How to access: Go to "Home" –> Tap on your profile picture –> "Recently played."

Lyrics

Sing along with your favorite tracks by displaying real-time lyrics. Spotify has a great lyrics option, so you can finally correct that wrong lyric you've been singing for years!

• How to access: Play a song and swipe up from the bottom of the screen to see the lyrics (if available).

Sleep Timer

Set a timer to stop playback after a certain duration, perfect for listening before sleep. Who doesn't love some lofi while they drift off to dreamland?

• How to enable: While playing a song, tap on the three dots in the top right corner and select "Sleep Timer."

Here you can find more about setting up a Spotify Sleep Timer.

Spotify Wrapped

A yearly recap of your listening habits that is ultra-shareable and fun!

• How to access: Typically available in December via a banner in the app.

You can also get your Spotify any time of year here: See your stats for Spotify (Spotify Wrapped)

Audiobooks

Spotify has a huge range of audiobooks; some subscription options mean you get a selection for free every month. Check out the Spotify Audiobooks Offer.

• How to access: Search for "audiobooks" in the Spotify search bar.

And here are some features that perhaps you didn’t know about!

Starting with improving your music search on Spotify. For most of us, we type in a genre or an artist and hope for the best, but there are a couple of improvements you can make.

Sound Of

Make the most of Spotiy’s curated playlists in all genres and themes.

• Where to find: Search for "Sound Of [Genre/Theme]" in the Spotify search bar.

This Is

You might have seen these in your Spotify app, but you can instantly get more from an artist. These playlists tend to include B-sides, features, remixes, and more.

• Where to find: Search for "This Is [Artist]" in the Spotify search bar.

How to refine your taste for Spotify Wrapped (so you won't have to endure those cheese tracks ruining your otherwise incredible musical taste).

Private Session Mode

Using Private Session Mode has two perks. The first is hiding your regular listening from the public. The second is that anything that you have listened to in Private Session Mode (according to users for the last three years or more) won’t show up on your Spotify Wrapped!

• How to enable: Go to the "Home" tab –> Click on your profile picture –> Select "Private session."

Taste Profile Refinement

Most of your taste profile refinement will happen behind the scenes because Spotify’s personalization algorithm is constantly running.

However, you can take action to help the algorithm.

When listening to music, do it more actively and less passively (when you can).

• What to do: When you are enjoying a song you are listening to, Add to Liked Songs. And, if you hear something you don’t like, tap the ‘...’ and tap Hide this Song. You can only Hide songs in public playlists or Made for You playlists.

To hide a song in your playlists, you’ll need to remove the track from whatever playlist it is in and then hide it.

For a little more on how personalized playlists works, we have another guide: How Do Spotify Personalized Playlists Work?

Exclude From Taste Profile

This is for when you absolutely don’t want to have a selection of songs in your Wrapped or influence what Spotify recommends to you.

You can exclude entire playlists from your taste profile.

• Where to find: Click on any of your created playlists, click the ‘...’, and scroll down the options until you see Exclude from taste profile.

Click it. You’ll get a notification that says, “Listening to this playlist will have less impact on your taste profile and recommendations.”

Cool playlist features that can improve the listening experience.

Smart Shuffle

Let’s say you have created a playlist you love but aren’t sure what to add next. Although people often prefer the Create Similar or Enhance options, Smart Shuffle is a reasonable replacement.

Spotify can add tracks to your playlists based on their similarity to what you have already listened to.

• How to enable: Open one of your created playlists. Next to the play button, you’ll see the shuffle button; click it once. You’ll see diamonds around the button and this notification: “Smart Shuffle recommendations will be added to the Queue for this playlist.” To turn it off, tap it again, and it will be a standard shuffle (still green), and one more tap will turn it grey, signaling that it is off.

AI Playlist

We recently covered this in more detail in our How To Make And AI Playlist post, but it is a feature that is being rolled out across more regions.

Creating the perfect playlist takes time and effort, and once you listen to it from start to finish, you can make some running order adjustments to your taste. But what if there was a way to get a foundation faster? Spotify’s AI Playlist option can help you with the first phase.

Use Spotify’s AI Playlist tool to build the foundations of your playlist.

• How to create: For users with the beta, open the mobile app, tap Library, and then look for the + at the top of the screen. Press it, and you’ll see three options: Playlist, Blend, and AI Playlist. Tap AI Playlist, and try to type in something extremely specific like ‘music for when you have to go on a run, but you don’t want to.’ Then, refine it with commands like ‘more bpm’ or ‘more metal’ until you get the playlist you want. When you’re finished, tap Create, and it will be saved in Your Library.

Smoother listening and improved quality are a must, especially as Spotify has one of the lowest audio qualities on the market. Here are a couple of tips to get the absolute maximum from Spotify.

Sound Quality Settings

Make sure that you have selected the highest setting.
You can improve the quality of your listening to Spotify.

• How to access: Go to "Settings" –> "Audio Quality" and select your preferred quality.

EQ Settings

Everyone who loves listening to music should become as familiar with EQ settings as possible. It helps improve the listening experience and tailor how different genres sound.

You have multiple options for bass, treble, and midrange.

• Where to find: Open the Spotify app, click your profile picture, tap Settings & Privacy, Playback, and look for Equalizer. There, you will find all of the options.

We have a great guide about the different EQ settings on Spotify and some manual EQ settings to try.

Crossfade

You have more control over Spotify’s crossfade than you might think. While many crossfade options decide when to fade in and out automatically, or there is a set one, you can decide how long or how short your standard crossfade is.

Enable crossfade for a smoother transition between tracks.

• How to enable: Head to Settings & Privacy, tap Playback, and you’ll see Crossfade. Adjust the slider and settings to your preference. Automix and Normalization are better ‘on.’ Normalization will stop you from getting a jumpscare when the next song is much louder than the one you were listening to.

You shouldn’t use your phone while driving except for directions and music, both of which can be set up before you start your drive. Spotify is discontinuing its Spotify Car Thing, and Car Mode has reportedly gone too. However, you can hook your Spotify to your Bluetooth system if you have one and integrate Google Maps.

Spotify and Google Maps

Listen to your music while Google Maps helps you navigate.

The Google Maps integration makes getting directions and listening to music without competing sounds.

• How to enable: Find Settings & Privacy, then look for Voice Assistants & Apps or Connect to Apps. Scroll down slightly and find Google Maps. Tap Connect. Once you tap Connect, you’ll be taken to another screen, which will ask you to agree to the Spotify to Google Maps connection. Tap Agree, and you’ll be taken to an option to ‘change default audio app?’ Click allows, and Spotify will, by default, play while you use Google Maps.

Spotify and Waze

Google Maps might not be your navigation of choice. Waze offers a little bit more traffic notifications. Interestingly, connection to Waze offers directions on Spotify, music, and podcasts on the Waze app.

Follow the same instructions to connect Waze and Spotify.

Once connected, open the Waze app, and you’ll see a music symbol in the top right (don’t do this while driving). Tap it, and you can select an audio app. Tap Spotify, then tap Open. You’ll be asked if you want to connect, tap yes, and your music will start. You have two options in the Waze app: Show music on the map and Show the next song. For a better map view, you can hide these.

Other cool stuff!

Spotify Clips

Spotify Clips is a newer feature, but you don’t have to do anything to turn these on. They should automatically appear on the main page of the mobile app.

Clips are short video clips that show the music you love most by the artists you listen to.

• How to find: Clips are only available for certain songs, and you’ll see them on the Now Playing screen as you scroll the mobile app.

Voice Command

Voice command is one of the most useful features; it means you can control Spotify without getting hands-on. Like all voice assistants, there are errors, but for the most part it works perfectly well.

• What it is: Voice control on Spotify works just like other voice assistants (Alexa, Siri, Google, etc.)
• How to use: Tap on the microphone icon in the search bar and give your command (e.g., "Play [song/artist]").

Spotify Connect

Perhaps one of the nicest things about having a home assistant or a Sonos setup is that you can stream your favorite music from Spotify. This is even better when used with Jam sessions or Collaborative playlists (big party vibes).

• What it is: Control music playback on different devices connected to the same Wi-Fi network.
• How to use: Tap the "Devices Available" icon in the bottom-left corner and tap on the device name you want to connect to.

Visualizations / Canvas

This feature is first for artists. They can upload a high-quality video, and listeners can see the loop as they listen. This is an excellent function for artists who put their music out on Spotify, as they find that listeners are 145% more likely to share the song.

However, you, as the listener, can control whether you want to see them. Here is how.

• What it is: Short looped visuals to accompany certain songs.
  How to enable/disable: Go to "Settings" –> "Playback" –> Toggle on/off "Canvas."

Offline Mode

Offline mode is for those traveling and may be without internet for a while or those who just need a little disconnection but want to keep their music. Keep in mind that you need a premium subscription to use offline mode.

• What it is: With offline mode, you can download and listen to music without an internet connection.
• How to enable: Head to "Settings" –> "Playback" –> Toggle on "Offline mode."

Keyboard Shortcuts for Spotify

Not everyone uses keyboard shortcuts, but most often, that is because you just don’t know them!

Here are all of the keyboard shortcuts that you can use for iOS and Windows:

Keyboard shortcuts for Spotify on Windows:

Play/Pause: Spacebar
Next Track: Ctrl + Right Arrow
Previous Track: Ctrl + Left Arrow
Increase Volume: Ctrl + Up Arrow
Decrease Volume: Ctrl + Down Arrow
Mute/Unmute Volume: Ctrl + Shift + Down Arrow
Shuffle: Ctrl + S
Repeat: Ctrl + R
Search: Ctrl + L
Show/Hide Friend Activity: Ctrl + Shift + F
Like Current Song: Ctrl + L
Save to Your Library: Ctrl + S
Create New Playlist: Ctrl + N
New Playlist Folder: Ctrl + Shift + N
Copy Song Link: Ctrl + C
Paste: Ctrl + V
Cut: Ctrl + X
Delete: Delete key
Select All: Ctrl + A
Find: Ctrl + F
Go Back: Alt + Left Arrow
Go Forward: Alt + Right Arrow

Keyboard shortcuts for Spotify on Mac:

Play/Pause: Spacebar
Next Track: Command (⌘) + Right Arrow
Previous Track: Command (⌘) + Left Arrow
ncrease Volume: Command (⌘) + Up Arrow
Decrease Volume: Command (⌘) + Down Arrow
Mute/Unmute Volume: Command (⌘) + Shift + Down Arrow
Shuffle: Command (⌘) + S
Repeat: Command (⌘) + R
Search: Command (⌘) + L
Show/Hide Friend Activity: Command (⌘) + Shift + F
Like Current Song: Command (⌘) + L
Save to Your Library: Command (⌘) + S
Create New Playlist: Command (⌘) + N
New Playlist Folder: Command (⌘) + Shift + N
Copy Song Link: Command (⌘) + C
Paste: Command (⌘) + V
Cut: Command (⌘) + X
Delete: Delete key
Select All: Command (⌘) + A
Find: Command (⌘) + F
Go Back: Command (⌘) + Left Bracket ([)
Go Forward: Command (⌘) + Right Bracket (])

Playlist Folders

Playlist folders aren’t new, but there are more people using them to keep their music organized. Rather than going through your list of playlists, you can put playlists into specific folder categories. It makes your music organization so much easier.

• What it is: Organize your playlists into folders.
• How to create: In the desktop app, right-click on your playlists and select "Create Folder." A folder appears on the left; you can rename it and then drag playlists to it. Or once created, you can right-click on a playlist and click “Move to Folder.

Pin Playlist

• What is it: You can pin your playlists, which moves them into a priority position in your library.
• How to do it: On the desktop app, right-click the playlist you want to give priority to and click “Pin playlist.” The playlist will automatically move higher in the list. On the mobile app, goo to your library, press and hold the playlists you want to pin. A pop-up will appear with the option to Pin.

Uploading Music

While Spotify has 100+ million tracks, you might want to upload your own music to listen to.

• What it is: Upload your own music files to Spotify.
• How to enable: Go to "Settings" –> "Local Files" –> Toggle on "Show Local Files" and add your music folders.

We have a more in-depth guide for How to Upload Music to Spotify.

Keeping your playlists in order can take a little work, but we lined up the easiest ways to get it done: How To Sort Your Music Out.

Eat This Playlist

This will feel like a throwback for people who have experienced it for the first time. Spotify introduced a version of Snake.

• What it is: A game that lets you "eat" your playlist.
• How to access: The Eat This Playlist seems to be very hit-and-miss with who has it and who doesn’t. It was rolled out in specific regions. To access to, tap on any playlist in the mobile app, tap the three dots, and if you have it, it will be in the pop-up menu.

Spotify Code

A new way to share music with friends.

• What is it: Spotify Code offers a cool new way to share your playlists with friends and family.
• How to use it: Open any of your playlists, tap the three dots, and look for Spotify Code. You’ll get a half-screen pop-up (in the app) with an album or song artwork and a soundwave. Tap save to photos. The person who wants to access your playlist will open their Spotify app, tap the magnifying glass for search, and then tap the camera in the top right. A pop-up saying Scan will appear. Tap scan, and then hold the camera over the Spotify Code image.

Spotify is one of the most popular music streaming services for a reason. And, while it might not be their audio quality, they have more than just music to offer subscribers. Fancy testing out thier features? Transfer your playlists to Spotify today!