Spotify seems to be testing the Discover function in the test version of its iOS app. That feature has its own tab at the bottom of the screen and allows users to view short music videos in a layout similar to TikTok’s.
From Discover’s interface, users can then add songs to their own lists. The interface with vertical videos that also scroll vertically is reminiscent of the way TikTok shows its users videos, Techcrunch reports based on tweets from developer and hashtag inventor Chris Messina.
The Discover tab sits between Home and Search, according to a screenshot of Messina. He found the feature in a TestFlight beta of Spotify for iOS. Spotify confirms the existence of the test, but does not want to give further details. “At Spotify we often do tests to improve the user experience. Some of those tests form the basis for a new user experience and sometimes it is just a learning experience. We have nothing further to report on this at the moment.”
The videos in the vertical feed come from Artists’ Canvas, a feature that has been around for several years to provide a song with short animated images. They replace the static image with the cover of an album or single in the app.