You've probably used Spotify's “Add to Queue” feature countless times. Although it's a little clunky, it gets the job done. But did you know that the app also supports a much faster queue feature that allows you to add songs to your queue with just the swipe of a finger? Here's how it works and why you should start using it.
How Spotify's Swipe to Queue Feature Works
The Swipe to Queue feature has been a core feature of Spotify's mobile apps for some time now. It works quite simply; much faster and more elegant than the regular “Add to Queue” function, which can be accessed by clicking the three-dot menu.
Instead of going through two steps (clicking on the three-dot menu and then adding a song or album to the queue), you only need to swipe right on the song you want to add to the queue. That's all. You can do this from almost anywhere in the app, including artist and album pages. playlistsand much more.
You can even add songs to your current play queue straight from the queue. Simply open your queue and swipe left on the song you want to add. The only songs you can't add include the song that's currently playing and songs you've already added to the queue, which are marked with a green “Add to Queue” icon, like in the screenshot below.
Swiping right adds a song to the queue, swiping a song left results in two different actions depending on the context. When you're on the queue screen, swipe left removes a song from the queue. On an album, single, or EP page, swiping left adds the song to your Liked Songs playlist.
Unfortunately, the swipe left gesture is not available everywhere. As far as I've noticed, you can't swipe songs left on artist pages or playlists – either ones you've created or ones you've added to your library.
I use swipe to queue all the time because it's cool.
I've been using the “Swipe to Queue” gesture all the time since I discovered it because, frankly, it's one of the best features of spotify there.
This is especially useful when I want to add double albums to the queue. Spotify considers double LPs to be one album and always adds both “discs” to the queue when you use the “Add to Queue” option in the three-dot menu. This is far from ideal, since most of the time the second disc contains instrumentals or concert songs that I don't usually care about.
It's about Mastodon hacked Skyea double album, the second disc of which includes instrumental versions of the album's songs. Instead of adding both discs using the Add to Queue feature, I simply swipe right on the songs from the first disc to add them to the queue, which ends up taking me less time than adding the entire album and then manually removing songs from the second disc.
It's the same story with special albums. remastersand so on, which are often accompanied by a bunch of bonus songs. Instead of adding an entire album and then manually removing songs I don't want to listen to, I just swipe through the songs I want to listen to.
Swipe turns is also handy when I'm listening to an artist's radio or playlist and come across a great song by a band I haven't listened to before. I can simply visit their artist page, scroll through a few popular songs found on their artist page, add them to my library if I like what I hear, and continue listening to the playlist.
Swipe to take turns is especially convenient for the Spotify Jam feature
There is another situation where it is convenient to use the “Swipe in turn” function. You've probably heard (and used) Spotify “Jam” feature. I use this feature almost daily with my partner when we cook, and Swipe to Queue is the perfect tool for this.
I usually create a jam and invite her (the auto-invite via Wi-Fi and Bluetooth is spotty, so I share the link with her instead) and then we add songs to the general queue while we cook. We usually add songs one at a time, so the queue plays my song, then hers, and so on. However, you can add multiple songs one after another, and then another person can add multiple songs if that's what you prefer.
With Swipe to Queue, we can add songs in the blink of an eye, filling the shared queue in just a few seconds with enough songs to last us until we finish cooking the dish.
The Jam feature combined with the Swipe to Queue gesture is also great for parties, as you can create a Jam and share it with everyone in attendance, and then everyone can contribute to the overall queue by swiping through the songs they'd like to add. Jamming together allows all participants to add songs as well as remove them; Removing songs isn't limited to the person who created the Jam.
The good news is that you're not limited to using the Jam feature with people who are in the same room as you. You can invite your friends, family or partner regardless of their location, allowing you to share the music experience no matter how physically distant you are.
The Swipe to Queue gesture has become the single action I use most often in Spotify. It's easy to use and convenient whether you're an album listener, a playlist listener, or a song-focused listener. Plus, the Swipe to Queue feature and the Jam feature create the perfect combination when you want to enjoy shared listening with both loved ones close to you and those far away.
