Apple could be about to completely change how Spotify looks on an iPhone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The company’s first foldable iPhone is expected to be unveiled as part of Apple’s September 9, 2026 event, although Apple has not yet officially confirmed the device.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Currently referred to as the iPhone Fold or potentially the iPhone Ultra, reports suggest the phone will use a book-style design with a screen measuring roughly 5.5 inches when closed and around 7.8 inches when fully opened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That’s important for Spotify.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When unfolded, Apple’s new device would have a screen only slightly smaller than the 8.3-inch iPad mini.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And Spotify has just redesigned its tablet application.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The result could be the biggest change to Spotify on an iPhone in years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Spotify introduced a completely redesigned tablet experience in April 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rather than simply making the smartphone interface larger, Spotify says the new tablet app actually reconfigures itself depending on the available display space.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The company specifically designed the interface so listeners can browse content while continuing to see what is already playing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Spotify added several features that suddenly make a lot more sense when you consider Apple’s upcoming foldable phone:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
adaptive layouts<\/p>\n\n\n\n
a collapsible sidebar<\/p>\n\n\n\n
parallel browsing<\/p>\n\n\n\n
improved video playback<\/p>\n\n\n\n
different portrait and landscape interfaces<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Spotify said the tablet interface doesn’t simply resize when the screen changes orientation. Instead, the layout reorganises itself to make better use of the available space.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That could be exactly what Spotify needs for an iPhone that changes from a small smartphone into a tablet-sized device every time you open it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This may be the most interesting part of using Spotify on the iPhone Fold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When the phone is closed, Spotify could look almost identical to the application we already use today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You might see the familiar Home, Search and Library interface with album artwork and playback controls filling most of the screen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Open the phone, however, and Spotify could transform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Instead of simply stretching the existing interface across a bigger display, Spotify could switch into something much closer to its new tablet layout.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That could mean:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
your library on one side of the screen<\/p>\n\n\n\n
your currently playing track on the other<\/p>\n\n\n\n
recommendations beside your current playlist<\/p>\n\n\n\n
lyrics alongside album artwork<\/p>\n\n\n\n
your queue permanently visible while listening<\/p>\n\n\n\n
music videos playing while you browse other music<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This would make the transition from closed to open feel more like moving between an iPhone and an iPad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One of Spotify’s biggest opportunities would be redesigning its Now Playing interface.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On today’s iPhone, most of the screen is dominated by album artwork.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To see lyrics, the queue or additional information, users normally need to move between different parts of the interface.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A 7.8-inch foldable display creates enough space to show several of those things at once.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Spotify could display album artwork on one half of the screen while showing synchronised lyrics on the other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Another option could show the current song alongside the upcoming queue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For podcasts, Spotify could display video on one side while episode information and chapters appear alongside it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It would effectively bring a desktop-style Spotify experience into your pocket.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Spotify’s tablet redesign introduced a collapsible sidebar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The sidebar allows listeners to navigate and discover content while keeping playback visible on another part of the screen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On the iPhone Fold, this could become particularly useful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Open Spotify and your playlists, albums and library could remain available down the left side while the main section of the display changes depending on what you select.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It would dramatically reduce the amount of jumping backwards and forwards between screens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For heavy Spotify users, that could make the application feel much faster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Spotify calls another feature in its tablet interface “parallel browsing”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It allows users to continue viewing music or video on one part of the screen while exploring their library or recommendations elsewhere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Imagine listening to a new album.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On a normal iPhone, opening another artist or playlist generally replaces what you are currently looking at.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On the foldable display, Spotify could keep your current album permanently visible while allowing you to browse through other recommendations beside it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For music discovery, that could be genuinely useful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Instead of Spotify becoming a sequence of pages, it starts behaving more like a music dashboard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lyrics could also become considerably more useful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Spotify currently displays synchronised lyrics inside its mobile application, but they compete with everything else for limited screen space.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
An unfolded iPhone could change that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One side could display the album artwork and playback controls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The other could show full synchronised lyrics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For listeners who regularly follow lyrics while listening to music, the experience could resemble having a tiny dedicated lyric display next to the player.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The new Spotify tablet interface already uses split-screen layouts extensively, suggesting the company is comfortable displaying multiple pieces of listening information simultaneously.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Spotify has been gradually expanding music video support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The company’s redesigned tablet interface puts its “Switch to Video” control more prominently inside Spotify, specifically because larger displays make video more useful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The iPhone Fold would give Spotify another large-screen mobile device.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On a normal iPhone, many users may still prefer YouTube when they want to watch a music video.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On a roughly 7.8-inch screen, Spotify’s own music videos suddenly become much more attractive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Spotify could potentially display the video across most of the screen while keeping playback controls, lyrics or the queue visible beside or underneath it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If Spotify wants to compete more aggressively with YouTube for music video viewing, foldable smartphones could become an important part of that strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There is another possibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Spotify could potentially design experiences around the physical position of the iPhone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Foldable devices don’t always have to be completely open or completely closed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A phone can potentially sit partially folded, almost like a tiny laptop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If Apple gives developers access to this information, Spotify could potentially adapt its interface to the angle of the device.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For example, a partially folded iPhone sitting on a desk could show album artwork or video on the upper screen while playback controls appear on the lower section.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Apple has not confirmed that Spotify or other developers will receive this functionality, so this remains speculation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But foldable hardware creates interface possibilities that simply don’t exist on a conventional iPhone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Another important clue comes from iOS 27.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During WWDC 2026, Apple told developers they should stop thinking about apps in terms of specific device sizes and orientations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Instead, Apple said developers should design applications for a “dynamic range of sizes and aspect ratios”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Apple has also made iPhone applications increasingly resizable across its platforms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The company says apps should dynamically adapt to whatever amount of screen space is currently available rather than relying on assumptions about whether the device is an iPhone or iPad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Officially, many of these changes also help features such as iPhone Mirroring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But they would be extremely useful for a folding iPhone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Spotify could therefore potentially transition smoothly between its compact smartphone interface and its larger tablet interface as the device opens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is where things become particularly interesting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Spotify launched its new responsive tablet interface in April 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Apple’s foldable iPhone is expected only months later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There is no evidence Spotify redesigned its tablet application specifically for Apple’s foldable device.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But the new interface happens to solve nearly every major problem Spotify would face on a folding iPhone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It adapts to different orientations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It rearranges rather than simply stretches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It supports multiple pieces of content on screen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It has a collapsible navigation system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It makes greater use of video.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was built specifically to take advantage of larger screens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Spotify may therefore need surprisingly little work to make its app feel native on Apple’s new hardware.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This may ultimately be the simplest way to think about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Closed:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Spotify behaves like Spotify for iPhone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Open:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Spotify behaves more like Spotify for iPad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Apple’s foldable is reportedly expected to have a roughly 7.8-inch internal display with a 4:3 aspect ratio, giving it proportions much closer to an iPad than most existing folding phones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That could make Apple’s device unusually well suited to applications that already have strong iPad interfaces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Spotify now has exactly that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Possibly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A bigger screen doesn’t automatically improve every smartphone application.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Listening to music doesn’t require a 7.8-inch display.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You can press play with the phone closed and put it back in your pocket.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But Spotify has become much more than a play button.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The service now contains:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
music<\/p>\n\n\n\n
podcasts<\/p>\n\n\n\n
audiobooks<\/p>\n\n\n\n
lyrics<\/p>\n\n\n\n
music videos<\/p>\n\n\n\n
artist information<\/p>\n\n\n\n
discovery<\/p>\n\n\n\n
recommendations<\/p>\n\n\n\n
playlists<\/p>\n\n\n\n
social features<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The more Spotify adds, the harder it becomes to fit everything comfortably onto a conventional smartphone screen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A foldable device gives all of those features more room.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That could make Spotify one of the applications where opening the iPhone genuinely changes the experience rather than merely making everything bigger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We won’t know for certain until Apple announces the device and Spotify reveals its plans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But Spotify may already have shown us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Its new tablet application offers a strong indication of what the larger-screen experience could look like:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
a collapsible sidebar<\/p>\n\n\n\n
split-screen browsing<\/p>\n\n\n\n
persistent playback<\/p>\n\n\n\n
larger album artwork<\/p>\n\n\n\n
better lyrics<\/p>\n\n\n\n
improved music videos<\/p>\n\n\n\n
and an interface that changes dynamically depending on screen size.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If Apple’s reported 7.8-inch foldable iPhone launches as expected, Spotify could essentially turn the device into a pocket-sized Spotify tablet every time you unfold it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that might be considerably more interesting than simply having a bigger iPhone screen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Apple could be about to completely change how Spotify looks on an iPhone. The company’s first foldable iPhone is expected to be unveiled as part of Apple’s September 9, 2026 event, although Apple has not yet officially confirmed the device. Currently referred to as the iPhone Fold or potentially the iPhone Ultra, reports suggest the phone will use a book-style design with a screen measuring roughly 5.5 inches when closed and around 7.8 inches when fully opened. That’s important for Spotify. When unfolded, Apple’s new device would have a screen only slightly smaller than the 8.3-inch iPad mini. And Spotify…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3967,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2048],"tags":[947,2333,2237,2236,2407,1366,1759,190],"coauthors":[2],"class_list":["post-3966","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tech","tag-apple-2","tag-foldable-phone","tag-iphone","tag-iphone-fold","tag-mobile-phone","tag-music-streaming","tag-phone","tag-spotify"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n