One of the most handy features to come from the best music streaming services are lyrics, and although I’m a Spotify user, even I know that its lyrics interface needs some overdue TLC. But I’ve just learned about a hack I never knew existed.
I scour the r/truespotify forum on Reddit a fair bit, mainly to get a kick out of any new rumors on upcoming features I may find. But my latest deep dive took me by surprise, and apparently, you can zoom in and out on lyrics in Spotify. Has this just been launched? Or am I just extremely late to the party?
A post shared by u/mascarariri (see below) includes a side-by-side video comparison of Spotify lyrics on iOS and Android, in which the user shows themselves zooming in and out on Spotify lyrics on Android, using Billie Eilish’s song ‘Wildflower’ as an example. Unfortunately for iOS users like myself, this isn’t available.
Side-by-Side: Spotify Lyrics UI on Android vs. iOS. from r/truespotify
According to the user who published the video, all it takes to zoom is a simple pinch motion on your phone’s screen, just as you would to navigate Google Maps, for example. Additionally, the user demonstrated by zooming out to 75% — though it likely goes further — and zooming in quite far to 150%, so the range appears extensive.
Being an iOS user, I’m not surprised that I didn’t know about this trick sooner, but it turns out that not even Spotify users on Android knew about this. “I'm surprised to see something on Android before iOS. It's usually the other way around, and it takes ages to port those features; even Google apps are better on iOS”, one user said.
But the reason why this is the case for Android and not iOS is still very much a mystery — users are still debating whether it's system or developer-related. But while it's a handy tool for enhancing the lyric-viewing experience for those who are visually impaired, or those who prefer reading larger text in general, it still doesn't fix the main issues with Spotify lyrics.
Apple Music knows how to do it
Yes, Spotify has been my streaming platform since my teens, but my trial runs with Apple Music have magnified the things that Spotify falls short on — and lyrics is one of them.
When I first signed up to Apple Music last year, one of my favorite parts of the experience was the lyrics interface (I believe I said it 'puts Spotify's to shame'). I'm currently on my second round of playing around with Apple Music after being persuaded by a recent offer, and my opinion still stands.
The main difference between the two is synchronization. Not only are all songs on Apple Music synced in time with the flow of the lyrics, but each sentence is highlighted so you can see exactly which part of a line you're supposed to be — and it works wonders for when you're using karaoke mode (another fun feature).
This isn't the case with all songs on Spotify. Not only are lyrics quite static in their fluidity, but not every song is synchronized, meaning you have to scroll manually. You also have to wait at least a few days for lyrics to appear for new music, while Apple Music's catalog of new releases already comes equipped with them.
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