A new version of the official Spotify desktop app rolled out last week.
The update, which bumps the version number to v1.0.37, features just one notable Linux-specific fix: support for opening/playing albums, artists and tracks using Spotify URLs.
Revolutionary, man.
Official Client, But Not Officially Supported
Confusion remains over the status of the official Spotify Linux app, despite our best efforts to explain the situation in an earlier post.
The “tl;dr” is that Spotify app for Windows, macOS & Linux share a vast bulk of their codebase. This means that when the Windows and Mac version are updated, the Linux version is rebuilt and released too.
But if a change affects or breaks the Linux side, it doesn’t stop the release of the app for Windows or Mac, and the client remains untouched until whatever issue is fixed.
But because the Linux version is no longer under active development it can sometimes be a while before a fix, and thus a new release, can happen.
Any Linux-specific bug-fixes or features the client receives is down to the work of just one Spotify employee working in his free time (or as part of the company’s internal “hack days”).
Spotify is no longer officially supported on Linux (technically, Spotify argue, it never was as it never left ‘preview’ status) but new versions continue to be released on Linux so long as they pass basic testing.
Install Official Spotify App on Ubuntu 16.04 LTS
Don’t have the official Spotify app but want to install it? You can do so quite easily. See our step-by-step guide to learn more.
H/T to the Tweet whose tweet I can’t find to credit properly