Spotify is undoubtedly one of the most high-profile music streaming apps out there, with a large music library and a slew of useful features that make it easier to listen to and save your favorite songs. However, the way the service allows you to save music to your favorites list and add it to specific playlists are two different actions. Spotify recognizes how cumbersome these disjointed tasks can become, so it is replacing its long-standing heart icon with a new button style that combines those actions.

The music streaming service announced in a blog post that it's replacing the heart icon with a "plus" button to streamline the way you organize your favorite songs. The new button is located on the right side of the "Now Playing" view, and you can tap it to add the currently playing song to your "Liked Songs" collection (or "Your Episodes" for podcasts).

When you tap the button, it changes to a green checkmark, indicating that you've successfully saved a song. You can tap the same button again to pull up an additional option that lets you add the same song to multiple playlists. In addition, the plus button can be found on the left-hand side of the action bar below the cover art for albums, playlists, or audiobooks. Tapping on it automatically saves that particular collection to "Your Library."

Spotify-plus-button
Source: Spotify

Favoriting a song and adding it to a playlist were previously two distinct operations that resided in separate locations, with the latter action tucked away under the three-dot menu. Spotify notes that the latest tweak makes saving your favorite songs less time-consuming. The company chalked this up to the users' "ability to add to multiple playlists at once," citing findings from its own research. Yes, prior to this announcement, Spotify tested the feature in a limited capacity last year.

The heart icon's replacement is now rolling out globally on Android and iOS, and it's expected to go live for everyone in the coming weeks. Spotify's decision to remove a staple feature may irritate long-time subscribers who have grown accustomed to it. That said, the service is confident that it'll help entice users to listen to their saved songs and podcasts again, thus increasing engagement for artists.