A brand new update from Spotify adds a couple of great new features. The Mac and Windows versions of the subscription music service both now support gapless playback and crossfading of songs. There is also a scattering of other tweaks and improvements.
One headline feature will be welcome to fans of mixes and concept albums: gapless playback means no more getting jerked out of your suicide attempt as you listen to Pink Floyd’s The Wall in the bath. Crossfading, though, is less useful, which is probably why it is switched off by default.
The app should now be speedier, thanks to “faster artist browsing.” I tried it and it does indeed seem to be quicker (it was always pretty fast anyway). Paying users can hide the “purchase” buttons in the app, offline mode can be toggled from a menu item, and if you quit the app and relaunch, when you press play it carries on from where you left off — even in the middle of a track.
The update should be rolling out to everyone, but if you can’t wait, there’re preview versions available for OS X and Windows. Now, where did I put that King Crimson playlist?
