
How to lose customers: Remove a feature you thought they weren't using - phy6
https://community.spotify.com/t5/Live-Ideas/Android-Android-Widget/idi-p/4802473#comments
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Someone1234
They didn't "remove" the feature, they moved the feature.

Instead of a launcher widget only found on the home/lock screen of supported
launchers, they instead have a permanent expandable notification widget which
is available from the existing places, plus more (Home and Lock Screens like
the old widget, plus usable while other apps have focus).

It contains all the same information and controls but now works in more
places. It also allows you to control it/disable it directly from the App Info
panel. It is also launcher agnostic. This is mostly a user training/education
issue. More information:

[https://community.spotify.com/t5/Android/Android-Widget-
Remo...](https://community.spotify.com/t5/Android/Android-Widget-
Removal/m-p/4800301)

Plus, in my opinion the whole "it is an optional feature, why even remove it!"
argument only makes sense when you ignore the maintenance/support required to
keep it in. Android Widgets actually require a lot of tinkering to keep
working correctly between major versions and across device form-factors.

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wodenokoto
Headline seems overly editorialized.

Granted, I didn’t read the whole thread, but I didn’t see any indication that
Spotify don’t have usage statistics on widgets and I also didn’t see any
indication of actual customer loss.

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chewz
Spotify should allow for 3rd party independent players. It is not possible to
make single perfect music app for billions of customers.

I do not like the direction Spotify app is evolving. I understand that they
would like to control user experience, promote podcasts, in-house playlists
etc but this is not what I like. Multiple competing Spotify players for
different user niches would be a better way to go then single app.

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vlucas
I once made a simple counter app, and I actually got some very negative
reviews on the Google Play store for NOT having a widget for it. Sent my app
ratings in the toilet. Android users _love_ their widgets...

