The popular music streaming app Spotify has started to enable a new voice assistance tool among some premium users of iOS and Android devices, allowing them to search for music and podcasts by calling out the command “Hey, Spotify ”.

According to the portal specialized in technology and mobile devices GSMArena, the new function incorporates the possibility of starting the search using this command, provided that the device screen is on and the application is running.

This innovation adds to new features for its desktop and web player versions.

The voice assistant allows users to exclusively play the content of an artist, a playlist, a podcast or a music album, a possibility that began to be known since the beginning of March, when some users confirmed that the platform was testing an assistant voice with a specific command.

At the time, it was reverse engineering expert Jane Manchun Wong who discovered and announced that Spotify had been working on that development. However, it is not the only development that the platform has made in this line: since 2019 the popular music streaming application has been preparing a device called Car Thing for users to control the operation of the app by voice.

This innovation is in addition to new features for desktop and web player that have already been enabled. Now it is possible to return to songs that have been listened to recently through the option called “Recently listened to”, with which users can jump back and search for content up to the last three months of listening.

The platform is also incorporating personalized music recommendations for premium users and will allow image uploads, drag and drop songs to facilitate playlist design.

In addition, it recently redesigned aspects of the podcast section to make it easier for users to find the content that interests them the most. Premium subscribers will also be able to download music and podcasts for offline playback, simply by pressing the download button (icon) on the desktop app.

Song Suggestions

Another of Spotify’s most recent announcements had to do with the development of a voice recognition technology to detect the user’s mood, gender, age or accent in order to offer song suggestions that suit tastes. from each person.

The voice analysis technology is covered by a patent granted to Spotify in January, according to BBC News. This system would be able to detect their mood (if they are happy, sad, angry or neutral), the intonation or the rhythm when they speak, in addition to taking into account social type adjustments of the user’s profile, as an individual modality, small group or party.

“It is common for a streaming media application to include features that offer personalized recommendations to a user,” says the patent seen by BBC News, although this proposed voice recognition system would prevent users from having to answer multiple questions about your musical preferences.

At the end of 2020, Spotify also announced an improvement in sound quality so that subscribers can access CD-quality music and new tools for podcast creators, which allow to extend creations to text and video.