Why don’t you just stick to the search or library tab if you don’t want the recommendations on the home page?
Oh my gods, are you joking? When I launch the app on my android device, it defaults to the homepage. I've actually contacted Spotify about this and there is no way to change this, so in what fictional fantasy world are you living that I can "just stick to the search or library tab" when literally launching the app defaults to the homescreen? Am I talking to a bot?
if you don’t want any recommendations they’re pretty easy to avoid
Oh sure, let me use uBlock Origin to just zap all these shelves. Oh wait, now I can't see any albums.
I'm not talking out my ass here, so I'd appreciate it if you just let me vent about how shitty Spotify is with their crappy features that are unable to be customized in any way. Why not? BECAUSE THEY ARE USING IT TO ADVERTISE, EVEN THOUGH I'M PAYING A SUBSCRIPTION. I DO NOT want ads, no shelves, no recommendations, no algorithm, and honestly? Maybe I just don't want Spotify. They don't even pay artists that much anyway, so I could just as well pirate like I do for movies and shows ever since Netflix went wack.
Sorry, I didn't realize you were just trying to vent. I agree that they should have some kind of option to default to a different tab, or some better solution. They do a lot of shitty and annoying stuff as a company. But also, it's not really a fictional world to just stick to those tabs, it's more like an extra tap once the app opens. You might even be able to set up a tasker thing or something like smart autoclicker on fdroid to immediately switch tabs as soon as the app opens
Yeah sorry for coming on strong, but I've got a lot of resentment for Spotify. It was good, but it's becoming enshittified along with everything else.
Honestly, there are alternatives that don't require a subscription at all. Most of them don't allow local downloading, which used to be inconvenient, but now we have unlimited mobile data, so it would be so easy to switch.
For the record, I like supporting artists, which is why I do buy physical media from independent record labels and the like, which is a much better way to support them than Spotify.
The tasker idea is worth researching, though. I'll look into it. At the end of the day, it would be really nice if I didn't feel compelled to switch. I've put a lot of time and effort into my playlists.
Do you have any recommendations for alternatives? I remember looking into it a bit ago and not really finding one I liked, but would be interested in making a switch. EDIT: on iOS, if that matters
I think iOS has significantly fewer alternatives than Android since (correct me if I'm wrong but) I think you are limited to the Apple Store. You could look into some of these.
Android has apps like Spotube, which has all the essential features of Spotify for free, or even LibreTube or NewPipe can be used as music apps.
I saw someone comment on reddit a couple months ago that Apple may start allowing side-loading apps. That would open up a lot of doors, and I hope it's accurate, though who knows if the user was correct.
Thanks for the reply! Yeah I do a lot of listening on my work phone (the iOS one), might just need to settle for doing more media playing on my old Android.
Y'know what? That's actually something I should do as well. I have a Galaxy S8 that is no longer in service but would work perfect well as a dedicated media player, and then I wouldn't have my listening interrupted by email and text notifications.