Spotify is now the latest company to follow Facebook's footsteps, having created a lightweight variant of its main Spotify app, unsurprisingly called Spotify Lite.
For the most part, Spotify Lite allows users to access some of the core functions the main app offers, but upon closer inspection, it's clear that it lacks a lot of basic features, which in turn could significantly impact one's experience of using it for music playback.
The Disadvantages Of Spotify Lite
For instance, offline downloads aren't possible on Spotify Lite, and it doesn't matter if the user is a Premium subscriber or not. Though that's to be expected for an app that only measures 15 MB, compared with the main app's whopping 100 MB.
It joins the ranks of other slimmed-down apps for the developing world such as Instagram Lite, Facebook Lite, and Uber Lite, but with a number of compromises that quite frankly don't make a lot of sense.
Aside from the lack of offline downloads, as Android Police reports, another key feature is also missing: extreme quality playback — and again, it doesn't matter if the user is a Premium subscriber or not. There's also no Spotify Connect, which allows for audio to be played back on other wireless devices, including Wi-Fi-enabled speakers, a smart TV, or a Chromecast. The kicker? It appears that some songs cannot be selected, and again, Premium or non-Premium, it doesn't matter. As such, all music has to be played via shuffle.
Will It Ever Be Released In The US?
For now, the app is only available for Android in Brazil. The Play Store listing, it should be noted, describes the app as a "test," and asks for user feedback. So far, the bulk of the reviews seem to complain about the missing features, but there are some users who say they're happy that it's lightweight and doesn't take up too much storage space.
It's not clear if Spotify plans on releasing Spotify Lite stateside, but if it is, the app should at least get offline downloads and extreme quality playback, if not also Spotify Connect. Of course, these are all present in the main Spotify app, but at times that can be frustrating to use. There are probably a number of users who'd like a slimmed-down, but not truncated, Spotify experience, without the necessary bells and whistles.
That being said, Spotify could be positioning the Lite app as something that'll attract even more users, one that'll also convince existing free listeners to switch to Premium. But whatever its strategy, it's not telling.
