After a year away from Spotify in favour of Apple Music, I am back on the app with the green icon.
My reasons for a switch were fair. Apple bundles services into one monthly payment, so I wanted Apple TV+ and needed a little extra iCloud storage and with those it was less to add Music than the monthly fee for Spotify. I also have an Apple HomePod and you cannot play from Spotify via voice commands. I am firmly entrenched in the Apple ecosystem so it's a no-brainer, right?
I just cannot take the UX of Apple Music anymore. I'm amazed I made it a year without switching back. The app does not always show what's actually playing, no synchronisation between devices, tracks disappearing from playlists (because if you remove a song from the library it also removes it from any playlist), and so many more issues that make it hard to trust. I maintain playlists for each year to help me remember the albums that were released, and I can never be sure that I won't lose content without even realising.
Only an hour after going back to my Spotify account, updating my playlists, and listening to some music that was released since my time away, I was presented with some recommended albums that are amazing, and never suggested by Apple. That's all the confirmation I need that Spotify is just better. It's not perfect, but it's just more effective for how I like to consume and discover music.