Spotify on mobile goes free, replaces a paywall with shuffle play

Listen to artists or playlists at random for free

With an update to its app, Spotify has dropped the paid subscription requirement for using its music service on mobile. Although a free component was previously available to desktop users, a subset of features is now available on mobile as well. What you'll find in the free version of Spotify is what it calls "shuffle play."

That basically just means "radio," and with shuffle play you'll have the option to listen to your own (and shared) playlists, or a specific artist, in random order. This brings the free offering down to parity with something like Pandora, which offers effectively endless radio for free on mobile and the desktop.

Make no mistake, the free version of Spotify is clearly set up to upsell you to the paid version of the service — and we're okay with that, if you see the value in the app and service and want more, you can expect to pay.

Source: Spotify

Andrew Martonik

Andrew was an Executive Editor, U.S. at Android Central between 2012 and 2020.