The thing that kills Spotify for me is how pushy it is combined with the frequent unnecessary UI changes.
The lack of an API that allows track playback is a huge, huge bummer too (look up the saga of libspotfy if curious) — shockingly, Apple Music is more open in this regard, with multiple alternative third party clients being available thanks to JS and native Mac/iOS SDKs.
I'm curious what UI changes you're talking about. I can't remember the last time there was a UI change, and I've been using them for 5+ years.
In fact, as I was reading these comments I was thinking they've been totally stagnant UI-wise, and the only hate I for the iOS app is the pop ups for events, etc. I make a point to never read any text in them and dismiss immediately.
The big one pinning podcast recommendations to the home screen above the fold with no option remove it. Same with unremovable "recommended" playlists that mix music with podcasts. Podcast settings are at the top of the list in settings too.
But because podcasts are treated equally to music on every page and user backlash to remove podcasts, they added [Music] and [Podcasts & Shows] filter buttons to the header of those pages, wasting page real estate. But the slap in the face is it doesn't even remember to keep those filters applied.
Plus, even if you actually like some podcasts, it'll randomly swap out [Your shows] section for podcast [Recommendations] instead.
In the last year there was a rather large UI overhaul on the desktop client [0] that was met with mixed reactions from its users (doing a search in their community forum can locate some such threads). I for one was left with a bad taste in my mouth when it launched due to some pretty major changes of how libraries and albums were handled. Though some things have been fixed, I'm still sour on a lot of the changes.
The lack of an API that allows track playback is a huge, huge bummer too (look up the saga of libspotfy if curious) — shockingly, Apple Music is more open in this regard, with multiple alternative third party clients being available thanks to JS and native Mac/iOS SDKs.