The Spotify app for Mac has now been updated to sport new Touch Bar controls for the new MacBook Pro models, and it now also supports AirPods integration, pausing whatever is playing when the tiny buds are yanked off and then resuming playback once they're snugly in place again.
Touch Bar Controls
Owners of the new MacBook Pro lineup will now have a Spotify experience similar to iTunes, wherein the Touch Bar can be used to scrub through music, pause, play, shuffle, and search for tracks. The new update also adds a dedicated volume slider in the Touch Bar, so music volume can independently be controlled apart from the system volume.
AirPods Auto-Pause Support
The Spotify for Mac app can now also support auto-pause with AirPods, automatically halting the music when users pop the wireless headphone off their air, though this was a feature mostly discovered by users, since Spotify didn't boast about it too much.
Spotify's Reign
Spotify still leads the music streaming pantheon, continuously lording over its field competitors as it sits atop the space. Spotify claims that it has now reached 40 million users with a premium subscription, which is twice as much as Apple's 20 million.
The Spotify app is a free download from the company's own site. For those still on the fence about Premium, Spotify does have a free tier service, although that comes with advertisements intercut between songs, and free users are locked into the service's shuffle mode. $9.99 per month throws all this away, alongside offering users to download the songs for offline listening, among other things.
Spotify's direct competitor, Apple Music, was introduced in 2015, billed meant to oust Spotify and Google Play Music in their rank. It's built into the music app on iOS and iTunes, though some users have requested for a standalone app. Apple Music boasts a stellar music library, alongside similar pricing tiers with Spotify, which makes it a worthy competitor to the latter.
Spotify App For Apple Watch And Apple TV?
Several users have long been requesting for Spotify to release apps for other Apple devices, such as the Apple Watch and Apple TV, though Spotify has noted that support for these aforementioned devices aren't slated any time soon, and Spotify hasn't exactly explained the reasoning behind prioritizing the two devices down in the pipeline.
The update is available now for the 2016 MacBook Pro with Touch Bar. For users who own a pair of AirPods, try listening to Spotify with them now and see if auto-pause works as described.
Have you downloaded the update yet? What do you think of the app's integrated Touch Bar controls? Feel free to sound off in the comments section below!
