It’s finally possible to purchase an audiobook from Spotify’s iPhone app with just a few taps. On Monday, Spotify announced that Apple approved an update that allows users in the US to see audiobook pricing within the app and buy individual audiobooks outside the App Store. The update also lets Spotify Premium subscribers purchase additional audiobook listening hours. This change follows last month’s Epic Games vs. Apple ruling, which upended the iPhone maker’s control over the App Store. Under the ruling, Apple can’t collect fees on purchases made outside the app store, nor can it govern how developers point to external purchases. Spotify submitted the update last week, but now it’s official. The music streaming service pulled audiobook purchases from its iOS app in 2022 after accusing Apple of “choking competition” with App Store rules that made it more difficult to purchase audiobooks. Spotify also started letting iPhone users purchase subscriptions outside the App Store earlier this month. The iOS apps for Kindle, Patreon, and Delta’s emulator have also taken advantage of the court ruling, but Epic Games is still fighting to bring Fortnite back to the App Store. “This change lowers the barriers for more users to embrace their first — or tenth — audiobook, while allowing publishers and authors to reach fans and access new audiences seamlessly,” Spotify said in its announcement.

In early 2023, Spotify launched DJ, an interesting feature that leveraged a text-to-speech LLM to deliver… traditional radio, pretty much. Now, Spotify has announced that, much like traditional radio, DJ can also take requests. Hey, Mr. DJ Snark aside, the idea for DJ is pretty cool. The incredibly convincing-sounding AI was trained on the voice of Xavier “X” Jernigan, Spotify’s Head of Cultural Partnerships (who has a great voice for the task, by the way). It “picks” the tunes it thinks the user might be in the mood to hear. Occasionally, DJ X will show up between songs to make contextually fitting comments based on the user’s listening history, which users appear to enjoy. According to Spotify, DJ engagement nearly doubled over the past year, so it decided to take it one step further and add a layer of real-time interaction to the mix. Now, users can prompt DJ X for specific songs, artists, or mood-based playlists. Here’s Spotify: DJ can handle a combination of genre, mood, artist, or activity-related requests. For example, you could try, “Surprise me with some indie tracks I’ve never heard before,” or “Give me some electronic beats for a midday run.” You could even request something like, “Play me some cry-in-the-car songs. This interactive version of DJ is rolling out in English for Spotify Premium users in the countries and regions where DJ is available. It can be found by searching for DJ in the search field, and then pressing and holding the DJ button to talk. Alas, Spotify warns that while DJ can be used to control music playback, it doesn’t work (yet?) with audiobooks and podcasts. The company explained that its AI is still in beta, and was trained to produce results for music-related requests only. Add 9to5Mac to your Google News feed.  FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.You’re reading 9to5Mac — experts who break news about Apple and its surrounding ecosystem, day after day. Be sure to check out our homepage for all the latest news, and follow 9to5Mac on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to stay in the loop. Don’t know where to start? Check out our exclusive stories, reviews, how-tos, and subscribe to our YouTube channel

Credit: Spotify Spotify is turning up the volume on personalization with a new feature that lets Premium users make real-time music requests using just their voice. The music streamer has officially launched DJ requests, an interactive update to its AI-powered DJ feature, now available in over 60 markets worldwide.According to Spotify, this upgrade comes in response to growing user demand for more control and interactivity during listening sessions. Now, instead of passively enjoying a curated mix created by AI, listeners can shape the vibe on the fly, asking for anything from a specific genre or artist to a soundtrack that fits their current mood or activity.How DJ requests workTo try it out, Premium users can simply go to the Search tab in the Spotify app and type in "DJ." After pressing play, the AI DJ kicks off a personalized mix complete with commentary. When it's time to switch things up, users can press and hold the DJ button in the lower right corner until a beep sounds. That’s the cue to speak a request, such as:"Play me some electronic beats for a midday run.""Surprise me with some indie tracks I’ve never heard before.""Play modern country songs for my cowboy era.""Play something chill for a rainy afternoon.""Give me K-pop hits with strong choreography vibes." If you’re not sure what you want, Spotify has you covered: a quick tap of the DJ button skips to the next section for a fresh vibe without needing a specific command. Mashable Top Stories Stay connected with the hottest stories of the day and the latest entertainment news. Sign up for Mashable's Top Stories newsletter By clicking Sign Me Up, you confirm you are 16+ and agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Thanks for signing up! As audio platforms race to deepen engagement, Spotify’s voice-interactive DJ could redefine how users experience music on demand. By merging personalization, ease of use, and interactivity, the company aims to keep Premium users tuned in and tuned up, wherever they go.Sure, voice recognition in a music app isn’t groundbreaking tech, and early users may find that the novelty wears off if the feature doesn’t consistently understand or deliver on more nuanced requests. Still, Spotify's move into voice interactivity signals a larger trend in streaming: shifting away from passive listening toward more dynamic, AI-driven engagement. For Premium users, it’s another tool in an increasingly complex listening toolkit, one that aims to turn Spotify from a simple music streaming platform into a more conversational, almost companion-like experience.So whether you're heading out for a run, hosting a dinner party, chasing a vibe, or just need the perfect track for your "main character moment," your Spotify DJ is now ready to take your requests, no searching required. Just say it, and let the DJ handle the rest. Crystal Bell Digital Culture Editor Crystal Bell is the Culture Editor at Mashable. She oversees the site's coverage of the creator economy, digital spaces, and internet trends, focusing on how young people engage with others and themselves online. She is particularly interested in how social media platforms shape our online and offline identities. She was formerly the entertainment director at MTV News, where she helped the brand expand its coverage of extremely online fan culture and K-pop across its platforms. You can find her work in Teen Vogue, PAPER, NYLON, ELLE, Glamour, NME, W, The FADER, and elsewhere on the internet. She's exceptionally fluent in fandom and will gladly make you a K-pop playlist and/or provide anime recommendations upon request. Crystal lives in New York City with her two black cats, Howl and Sophie.

Premium subscribers can hold down on the AI DJ button at the bottom-right of the feature to give it voice commands. Spotify is giving users more control over which songs are spat out by its AI DJ feature. Starting today, Spotify Premium subscribers can now use English voice commands to personalize what music they want DJ to play instead of relying on the ever-changing playlist that it curates based on their listening habits. Users can access these new capabilities by pressing and holding the ‘DJ’ button located in the bottom right corner when using the AI DJ feature and listening for a beep. Users can then verbally tell the DJ bot what they want to hear, such as “play me some electronic beats for a midday run,” or “surprise me with some indie tracks I’ve never heard before.”  Prior to the update, this button would just randomly switch up whatever song you were currently listening to and didn’t allow users to control what would be played next. Now, Spotify says that users can direct it to play specific artists, genres, and moods. It also borrows some of the quirkier vibe-based music recommendations from the AI Playlist building feature that Spotify launched in beta last year, which creates a tracklist based on text prompts. For example, users can ask the AI DJ to “play me some music to soundtrack my life as a movie.” This new voice command update is currently the only means for users to have any control over what tracks the AI DJ will play, however, which is a bit awkward if you’re using the feature in an environment where you can’t be chatty.