Spotify brings Listening Activity, Request to Jam for Messages: Details

Spotify has rolled out Listening Activity and Request to Jam in Messages, letting users see what friends are playing in real time and invite them into shared listening sessions on iOS and Android

Spotify has announced two new features for its in-app Messages system — Listening Activity and Request to Jam — aimed at making it easier for users to see what their contacts are listening to and start shared listening sessions. Spotify said the updates are rolling out on iOS and Android in regions where Spotify Messages is available. The audio streaming giant added that availability will be broadened next month.

 

The Listening Activity feature shows real-time playback information inside Messages, while Request to Jam allows users to invite contacts into a live listening session directly from a chat. 

 

Listening Activity: What it does

Listening Activity is an optional feature that displays what a user is currently listening to within Spotify Messages. If the user is not actively playing anything, their most recently played track is shown instead. The activity is visible only to people the user has already connected with through Messages.

 

Spotify said users can see the listening activity of others even if they have not enabled their own, as long as the other person has opted in. Tapping on a contact’s activity allows users to play the track, save it to their library, open additional options for the song, or react using emojis. The feature is designed to stay limited to existing message connections, and Spotify said users can turn it off at any time.

How to enable Listening Activity

• Open Spotify and go to Privacy and social settings from the side drawer
• Turn on Listening Activity
• Activity appears in the chat list and at the top of Messages conversations
• Tap a contact’s activity to interact with the track

Request to Jam: Turning listening into a shared session

Alongside Listening Activity, Spotify is introducing Request to Jam, a new way to invite contacts into a live Jam session directly from Messages. The feature builds on Spotify’s existing Jam functionality, which allows multiple users to listen together remotely.

 

With Request to Jam, users can see when a contact is already listening and send a request to join. If accepted, the recipient becomes the host of the Jam session, and both participants can add tracks to a shared queue and listen in sync. Messages can be exchanged while the Jam is active.

 

Spotify said Jam sessions display participants’ names and suggest tracks based on combined listening preferences. Users can leave a Jam at any time, and unanswered requests expire after a few minutes.

How to use Request to Jam

• Open a Messages chat
• Premium users can click on Jam in the top-right corner
• Send a Jam request
• The recipient can accept or decline

Notably, free users can join only when invited by a Premium user.