Spotify makes it easier to sing along on your phone with real-time lyrics

Spotify
(Image credit: Spotify)

A growing number of Spotify users are reporting that they have access to song lyrics that are synchronized to the tracks they're listening to.

Spotify tested this feature with a small number of people towards the end of last year, bringing its services in line with both Apple Music and YouTube Music. But now it seems that song lyrics are rolling out to increasing numbers of users meaning that more and more people will be able to use Spotify as a portable karaoke machine.

Android Police reports that numerous Spotify users are tweeting about the arrival of lyrics in the mobile app, but it's not clear quite what determines who has access to the feature. While one user has lyrics available in Spotify Beta 8.5.46.848, others with the same version do not have the feature. It seems to be something that Spotify is enabling on a server-side basis for a selection of users, and it's not tied to any particular part of the world.

Sing-along-a-Spotify

Lyrics come courtesy of Musixmatch, and there are also reports from some users that the lyrics feature has arrived in the desktop version of Spotify -- but this does not seem to be anywhere near as widespread as for Android users:

You can check to see if you're one of the chosen ones by swiping up while playing a song – if you're lucky, you'll see lyrics, but if not, you will just have to wait a little longer.

Via Android Police

Sofia Elizabella Wyciślik-Wilson
Freelance writer

Sofia is a tech journalist who's been writing about software, hardware and the web for nearly 25 years – but still looks as youthful as ever! After years writing for magazines, her life moved online and remains fueled by technology, music and nature.

Having written for websites and magazines since 2000, producing a wide range of reviews, guides, tutorials, brochures, newsletters and more, she continues to write for diverse audiences, from computing newbies to advanced users and business clients. Always willing to try something new, she loves sharing new discoveries with others.

Sofia lives and breathes Windows, Android, iOS, macOS and just about anything with a power button, but her particular areas of interest include security, tweaking and privacy. Her other loves include walking, music, her two Malamutes and, of course, her wife and daughter.

You can find her on Twitter and Mastodon.