Spotify is to get one of its most oft-requested features in its next update: gapless playback. By default, songs will now flow seamlessly from one to another without any silent pauses in-between.
Fans have cried out for the feature -- on support site Get Satisfaction, and Spotify's own forums -- pretty much since the streaming music service first launched. It's near-essential for dance and classical music, live recordings and concept albums.
The latest update to the desktop client will have gapless playback switched "on" by default. If you prefer a brief pause between tracks, for whatever reason, you can turn it back off in the preferences.
Another fan-requested feature in the update is crossfading. This tells Spotify to start fading out one song as it brings the next in. You can select the exact number of seconds you want your songs to crossfade (from one to 12 seconds) in the application's preferences.
Other features and fixes in the update include faster artist browsing; better sorting of albums and top hits; a save and restore feature for "Now Playing"; improvements to the Subscribe, Buddy List and Favourites options; and an "Offline Mode" button in the Spotify menu. Oh, and one more cool feature -- if you pay for the service, you will also be able to hide all those annoying purchase buttons from your playlists and search results.
The latest release of Spotify is rolling out now. Once your account is ready to go, the Spotify desktop client will ask you to restart. As for mobile? "Gapless playback and crossfading are not available on Spotify Mobile yet and we don't have anything to announce regarding the mobile apps today," a spokesperson for Spotify told Wired.co.uk.
There are plenty more features requested of Spotify. Above gapless playback in the "Top Ideas" section of the company's support forum is the long-awaited iPad app -- Spotify has flagged that as "under consideration". It's almost certainly in the works.
Other popular fan requests include the ability to notify Spotify of incorrect metadata, a way to prevent duplicates in playlists, the ability to subscribe to bands and artists, and a major overhaul of the Android app.
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
