Nope, there’s still no sign of Spotify HiFi, but the music-streaming giant is testing a different feature that would keep your tunes spinning even when you’re offline.
Spotify (check out our Spotify review) has long offered the ability to download music tracks for offline playback, but a new “Your Offline Mix” feature would automatically download a playlist of recently played songs, perfect for keeping your toes tapping if your device unexpectedly loses its data connection.
Spotify CEO Daniel Ek teased Offline Mix on Twitter, saying that it’s “designed for times when you might not be online.”
Ek also shared a screenshot of the feature, which revealed that Offline Mix can download hours of music automatically.
If Offline Mix sounds familiar, you might be thinking of YouTube Music’s offline “mixtape,” which automatically downloads a collection of tunes based on your previous listening history.
YouTube Music’s offline mixtapes get refreshed every 24 hours while you’re connected to Wi-Fi, and it’s a feature reserved for paid Premium members.
As with many of Spotify’s tests, Offline Mix has in fact been percolating for some time, with TechCrunch noting that an earlier version of the feature was first spotted back in 2020.
It’s not clear when–or if–Offline Mix will be officially rolled out to Spotify users, or whether you’ll need to be a paid Premium subscriber to use the feature.
Given that only Premium users can download Spotify tracks for offline listening, it’s a safe bet that free users won’t get Offline Mix access–again, assuming the feature ever officially launches.
Author: Ben Patterson, Senior Writer
Ben has been writing about technology and consumer electronics for more than 20 years. A PCWorld contributor since 2014, Ben joined TechHive in 2019, where he covers smart speakers, soundbars, and other smart and home-theater devices. You can follow Ben on Twitter.