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Spotify adds an iOS 16 lock screen widget

Spotify adds an iOS 16 lock screen widget

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The new feature in Spotify’s app adds a one-tap shortcut for your iPhone’s lock screen that can display recently played artists, playlists, albums, or podcasts.

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Top half of an iPhone 14 Pro on the lock screen — Saturday, April 8th, 10:30 — Spotify logo widget in between the small weather and activity icons.
Oh hey, a Spotify widget on the iOS 16 lock screen — finally!
Image: Spotify

The new version of Spotify now supports iOS 16 lock screen widgets so you can have a swift way to get to your music as you unlock your iPhone or iPad. The app can also display album art of your recently played music right on your homescreen. The new feature is available after the version 8.8.26 update, joining other features Spotify supports in iOS, like Now Playing, so iPhone listeners can have quick access to music controls.

Spotify is a bit late in the game to support iOS lock screen widgets since the feature came out last September, though notably, Apple doesn’t have one for its own Music app, leading customers to use Siri or Control Center. We mentioned the customizable iOS 16 lock screen as one of Apple’s greatest successes of last year (yes, you’re right, Android had it before).

Spotify has had a spotty relationship with Apple; it accused Apple of anti-competitive behavior and is winning an antitrust case in Europe over Apple’s in-app payment charges. But Spotify sometimes does play ball with Apple, with support for CarPlay and an Apple Watch app so people can listen to music at the gym without their iPhones.

Setting up the new Spotify widget is easy and is achieved using the same steps to add pretty much any available widget. It even supports the large and small widget options for the homescreen.

Correction April 14th, 10:00AM ET: A previous version of this article said Spotify didn’t support homescreen widgets until this update. Spotify did already have a widget, just not on the new lock screen. We regret the error.