For a long time, the Spotify app on Apple TV has lagged behind Apple Music, but with its latest update, Spotify is finally closing that gap.
Before this update, the Spotify app on Apple TV had an outdated design compared to its mobile versions and was missing several key features. Fortunately, with the recent update, Spotify has fixed many of these issues and added many of its top mobile features to the tvOS app.
Starting with the user interface, Spotify has redesigned and optimized it specifically for tvOS, making it much easier to browse music and find your playlists on your TV. Notably, Spotify has also added video support in its tvOS app, allowing you to watch podcast videos and music videos, and you can adjust the playback speed of either.
While podcast videos have been widely available on Spotify for a while now, music videos are still in beta and haven't expanded to the US or Canada yet. When you're listening to a podcast or music, you should see a "switch to video" prompt appear on your screen if video is available.
If you have the Spotify app on Apple TV, you can manually update it through the App Store now to get the latest version. For those with automatic updates turned on, you should receive the update by mid-November if you don't manually update it.
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Spotify's best mobile features have finally come to Apple TV
Spotify Connect and Spotify DJ are now available
While the user interface update is appealing and video support is nice to see, I believe the best improvements in this update are the mobile app features that have finally arrived on tvOS.
Specifically, Spotify Connect is now available, allowing you to control Spotify playback on your Apple TV from your mobile device and synchronize what you're listening to across all your devices. This feature has been available on mobile devices, PCs, and Android TV for a long time, so it's surprising that the tvOS app has only now gained it, but better late than never, I suppose.
Additionally, you can now manage your audio queue more efficiently with the ability to skip to any track you like, and you can now view lyrics as well, making it easier to sing along with your TV.
Spotify has also introduced its AI DJ in the latest update, allowing you to receive personalized song recommendations with AI voice commentary. I really enjoy using Spotify DJ, as it offers a great mix of my various music tastes, so it's nice to see it brought to Apple TV.
Spotify's long-overdue app update for Apple TV arrives at a key moment. First, Spotify is growing its video content across podcasts and music videos, so updating its Apple TV app to support both aligns with these aims. Second, rumors suggest Apple plans to launch a new Apple TV 4K box with upgraded hardware before the year's end, so when that happens, Spotify's app will already be ready.
If you own an Apple TV 4K, you can check out the redesigned Spotify experience for tvOS now by going to the App Store and manually updating the app.