SpotifySpotify's new free listening tier for smartphone customers, originally announced last month, is finally live for iPhone users. Previously, Spotify limited its free listening to desktop users, requiring a $9.99 monthly subscription for music access on mobile devices beyond Spotify's free radio streaming.

On the iPhone, Spotify's service is built around shuffling, much like similar services from Pandora and iTunes Radio. Customers can search for a specific artist or song, but will be required to shuffle through an artist's catalog to access the music. Pre-compiled playlists can also be accessed, but unlimited search and listen access is not available.

Only paid iPhone subscribers will be able to listen to music offline, a must for users hoping to listen to music on airplanes. iPad users see a slightly different service, working similarly to how the current PC version of Spotify does. Users can pick and choose songs to listen to without forced shuffling, but they still won't get access to offline tracks.

- Your music: Listen to all the playlists you’ve created and playlists from the people you follow. Spotify lets you discover new music, save, shuffle and share.

- Your favourite artists: Want to listen to a certain artist? Just hit shuffle play, sit back and listen to their entire catalogue. Don’t settle for something similar. Don’t settle for just one track from the artist you want to hear every 20 minutes.

- Discover great new playlists: Going for a jog or to the gym? We’ve got the playlist to help you go the extra mile. We know you just want the perfect music for a specific moment in time – and we’ve got you covered. There’s something for every mood, genre or moment.


Spotify for iPhone can be downloaded from the App Store for free. [Direct Link]

Update: Some users are saying they've had access to the free tier for several weeks. It's possibly Spotify has been rolling out the new tiers gradually to its user base.

Top Rated Comments

bushido Avatar
145 months ago
huh? it went live the day they announced it. you had me all excited for a change in iPhone usage :D:(
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
WB2Colorado Avatar
145 months ago
Is in this article a little late? I've had this on my iPhone for a while now.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
calvin2006 Avatar
145 months ago
I've had this on my iPhone for about a month now. It works really well with my playlists, with reasonable time for ads and every now and then a random song that is similar to items in my playlist. Nice feature.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
RebornProphet Avatar
145 months ago
I'm not on premium. I have unlimited search and unlimited skips on my iphone 4s. You'll just have to accept it.
lol. You can search until your wee heart is content, of course you can.

When you search for an artist and go to the results a big green button appears (on iPhone) that says Shuffle. You can create as many playlists as you want, but when you go into them the Shuffle button appears and the individual tracks text are dulled down (non press-able). The only way to play the playlist is on shuffle.

If you've got it on your 4s, and I don't believe for a second that you do, then it may well be a glitch and you're getting something you shouldn't which will remedy itself. Even the app itself in its notes tell you that on mobile it's on shuffle only. You cannot scroll halfway down a playlist and play a song of your choice first on iPhone, that only works on iPad.

And as for accepting it, I don't give a toss what you have on your 4s because I'll just use the vastly superior iPad app on my 4th gen. You're trolling and now you're blocked.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
RMo Avatar
145 months ago
This went live the day they announced it, and contrary to the update tacked on to the end of this article, I don't think it was a gradual rollout (they said "here's how you do it" the day of). You didn't even need an app update for it to be enabled, so the bug-fix update today is undoubtedly unrelated.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ZZ Bottom Avatar
145 months ago
Umm yeah, has this since day it was announced last month.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

iOS 18

iOS 18.4 Will Include These New Features for Your iPhone

Wednesday February 5, 2025 7:15 am PST by
iOS 18.3 was released last month, so the first iOS 18.4 beta should be coming soon. iOS 18.4 is expected to be a more substantial update for the iPhone, with several new features and changes related to Apple Intelligence and beyond. Apple's website suggests that iOS 18.4 will be released in April, following beta testing. Below, we outline what to expect from the update so far. Apple...
General Apple Invites Feature

Apple Launches New 'Invites' App

Tuesday February 4, 2025 8:00 am PST by
Apple today announced the launch of a new app called "Invites," which is designed to allow users to plan events like birthday parties, graduations, vacations, baby showers, and more. "With Apple Invites, an event comes to life from the moment the invitation is created, and users can share lasting memories even after they get together," said Brent Chiu-Watson, Apple's senior director of...
App Store vs EU Feature 2

Apple Says It Doesn't Approve of EU Porn App

Monday February 3, 2025 1:15 pm PST by
Apple does not approve of the "Hot Tub" pornography app that was released for the iPhone in the EU using alternative app distribution, Apple said in a statement to MacRumors. Further, Apple is concerned about the potential user safety risks with a pornography app, and says that it undermines consumer trust in the Apple ecosystem. We are deeply concerned about the safety risks that hardcore...
maxresdefault

An Apple TV Refresh is Coming in 2025 - Here's What You Should Know

Wednesday February 5, 2025 10:17 am PST by
Apple hasn't refreshed the Apple TV since 2022, but rumors suggest that we're finally going to get an update in 2025. We don't have a full picture of what to expect yet, but we have some hints on what's coming. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Updated A-Series Chip The current Apple TV 4K uses the A15 Bionic chip that was in the iPhone 13 lineup, and it's time for...
applecare apple care banner

Apple Raises Monthly AppleCare+ Subscription Price for All iPhones

Tuesday February 4, 2025 9:35 am PST by
Apple this week increased the prices for its monthly AppleCare+ subscription prices for the iPhone, raising the cost by 50 cents for all models in the United States. Standard AppleCare+ for the iPhone 16 models is now priced at $10.49 per month, for example, up from the prior $9.99 per month price. The 50 cent price increase applies to all available AppleCare+ plans for Apple's current...
iOS 18

iOS 18.3.1 Update Coming Soon for iPhones

Thursday February 6, 2025 7:31 am PST by
Apple is internally testing iOS 18.3.1 for iPhones, according to our website's analytics logs, which have been a consistently reliable indicator of upcoming iOS versions. The software update should be released within the next few weeks. iOS 18.3.1 should be a minor update that addresses software bugs and/or security vulnerabilities. Apple Intelligence notification summaries for news and...
iPhone SE 4 Single Camera Thumb

iPhone SE 4 Launching as Soon as Next Week

Thursday February 6, 2025 3:30 pm PST by
Apple's next-generation iPhone SE could debut as soon as next week with a launch to follow later in February, reports Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Apple isn't expected to hold an event for the iPhone SE 4, and will instead unveil the device through a press release. The iPhone SE 4 is expected to have an iPhone 14-style design, with Apple eliminating the thick bezels and Touch ID Home button of...
disney

Disney+ Loses 700,000 Subscribers Following Price Increase

Wednesday February 5, 2025 3:34 pm PST by
Disney+ lost 700,000 subscribers worldwide in recent months, according to Disney's earnings results for the first quarter of 2025. Disney said it now has 124.6 million Disney+ subscribers, a decrease of 0.7 million compared to its subscriber numbers in the fourth quarter of 2024. The drop in subscribers comes after Disney+ prices increased in the fall. Disney+ with Ads went from $7.99 to...