Spotify introduces an iPhone Lock Screen widget for easy access to its app

Spotify adopts the iOS lock screen. The company today announced the introduction of a new iPhone Lock Screen widget that allows all users running iOS 16 and above to tap the Spotify icon to launch the app directly before unlocking their iPhone. bottom.

Lock screen widget support, which rolled out with the release of iOS 16 last fall, brings at-a-glance information to your phone’s screen as a circular or rectangular widget below the date and time, or as a line of text just above it. It was offered as a direct placement method. Many developers large and small, including major tech companies like Google (including YouTube), Facebook, and Snap, quickly jumped on board with Lock Screen widgets. But Spotify was not.

While primarily intended as another way to connect people to information from your app, some lock screen widgets can also be used as shortcuts to launch apps directly. This gives you quick and easy access to your most frequently used apps. For example, one of Google’s widgets lets you initiate a search directly from your iPhone’s lock screen. For Spotify, the app simply opens the Spotify app. Save time unlocking your phone, then finding and tapping an app icon or widget. This is great if you’re on the go or in the car and want to dive into your music or podcasts, and don’t have time to swipe between apps or screens.

Aesthetically, Spotify’s rounded icon goes well with other popular circular icons that grace users’ lock screens, like Apple’s default weather and activity widgets.

To add a new widget, press and hold your finger on the lock screen to reveal the Customize button at the bottom. Tapping this takes you to an area where you can choose to add a widget and look for Spotify in an alphabetical list. You can then tap Spotify or drag the widget to add it to your lock screen and exit the customization screen.

In addition to the new lock screen widget, the company supports other widgets, including two sizes of home screen widgets for easy access to recently played music and podcasts. It also supports Apple’s Live Activities, which puts music controls at the bottom of the lock screen when the app is actively in use.

Spotify says you’ll need to update your iOS app to the latest release to access the new Lock Screen Widget feature. To use these types of widgets, your users must be on iOS 16 or later.