If you woke up today, January 16, 2026, and noticed Spotify acting a bit weird or looking fresh, you aren't imagining things. The app just went through a massive 24-hour cycle of changes. Some are great. Others? Well, your wallet might not love them.
Basically, Spotify pushed a major UI overhaul for specific devices while simultaneously dropping a bombshell about price hikes. It’s a lot to take in at once.
The Big UI Change: Android Tablets Finally Get Love
For years, using Spotify on a tablet felt like using a blown-up version of a phone app. It was clunky. It was awkward. Honestly, it was lazy.
But as of yesterday and rolling into today, Spotify officially revamped the Android tablet interface. If you're on a Galaxy Tab or a Pixel Tablet, check your app store. You'll see a brand-new media player on the right side of the screen. The cool part? You can actually resize it. It feels way more like the desktop version now, which is a huge win for productivity.
There’s also a new navigation bar at the bottom. It’s got the basics: Home, Search, Library, and a dedicated "Create" button. It makes jumping between a podcast and your gym playlist much faster.
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Did Spotify Update Today With New Social Features?
Yeah, they did. They’re leaning hard into "Social Listening" right now.
On January 7, they teased some of this, but it’s hitting more accounts globally this morning. The standout is Listening Activity in Messages. This is an opt-in thing. It lets your friends see exactly what you’re streaming in real-time through the in-app chat.
- Request to Jam: You can now see if a friend is listening and instantly send a request to "Jam" with them.
- Emoji Reacts: You can react to their current track with emojis without even starting a conversation.
- Real-Time Sync: The backend infrastructure was beefed up to reduce latency, so "real-time" actually means real-time now.
It’s clearly a move to stop people from jumping ship to Apple Music or TikTok Music. They want the app to be a social hub, not just a jukebox.
The Bad News: The 2026 Price Hike Is Real
While the features are nice, the cost of "free" (or rather, Premium) just went up. Spotify confirmed on January 15 that they are raising prices in the U.S., Estonia, and Latvia.
If you’re a New York resident or living in Tallinn, your next bill is going to look different. Here is how the damage breaks down:
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The Individual plan is jumping from $11.99 to **$12.99**. That might not seem like much, but it’s the third increase in three years. If you’re on the Family Plan, you’re looking at $21.99 now. Even students are getting hit, with their plan moving to $6.99.
Emails are hitting inboxes today. If you haven't seen one yet, check your spam folder. New subscribers are being charged the higher rate immediately. Existing users get a grace period until their first billing cycle in February.
Recent Outages and Bug Reports
Was Spotify down today? Not officially, but thousands of users reported glitches over the last 48 hours.
Downdetector showed a spike of reports—mostly people getting randomly logged out. There’s also a lingering bug where public playlists disappear from profiles. Spotify’s community moderators acknowledged they are investigating why some "Public" settings aren't sticking.
If your app feels slow, it might be the "Lossless" rollout. Spotify is finally pushing higher-bitrate audio to more Premium tiers, and the initial handshake between the app and the server can cause a bit of lag.
What You Should Do Right Now
Don't just let the update happen to you. Take control of your settings.
First, check your Privacy and Social settings. If you don't want your boss seeing that you've been looping "Baby Shark" for three hours, make sure "Listening Activity" is toggled off. It's on by default for some users after the update.
Second, if you’re an Android tablet user, manually check the Google Play Store for an update. The "side-car" media player is a game changer for multitasking.
Lastly, if you're annoyed by the price hike, look into the Basic tier. In some markets, Spotify is offering a version of Premium that excludes audiobooks for a slightly lower price. It’s a bit of a hidden menu item, but it can save you that extra dollar a month.
Keep an eye on your email for the official notification regarding your specific billing cycle. The "Lossless" audio feature is also rolling out in waves, so head into your Audio Quality settings to see if the "High Fidelity" toggle has appeared for you yet.