Spotify is still the biggest music streaming platform today. The service now offers videos, podcasts, and audiobooks. However, it still lags behind other services, such as Apple Music and Tidal, when it comes to offering lossless audio. Now, Spotify is finally opening the door a crack to start letting in lossless audio onto the platform.

Lossless audio has been a holy grail for the streaming platform for years and years now. Formerly, the feature was exclusive only to the more premium or the more niche platforms like Tidal or Qobuz. Now, the feature is already a default for bigger ones like Apple Music. To respond, Spotify said that lossless audio will ship out eventually. That was back in 2017.

Today, in 2025, Spotify is finally adding lossless audio. However, it’s a slow rollout. The feature is available only for users in Australia, Austria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Japan, New Zealand, Netherlands, Portugal, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

Other territories will get the feature by the end of October.

It’s also turned off by default and can be turned on via the settings. The decision was likely made to the bill shock from the higher bandwidth requirement of lossless audio downloads.

On the plus side, Spotify isn’t following the expected trajectory of offering the feature through a more expensive subscription tier. Lossless audio is available to all those with Premium subscriptions.

SEE ALSO: Spotify adds a DM feature

Call me old fashioned, but I prefer keeping my conversations all in one platform. If, however, you prefer the poly-DM-orous life, Spotify is adding a new DM feature to let you message all your friends, acquaintances, and lovers about your eclectic tastes in music.

A lot of platforms today offer users the ability to message other users on the same platform. Sometimes, this feature comes to apps that don’t really need a messaging function. Take, for example, GCash or Shopee. Technically, you can move the conversation to dedicated messaging platforms, but these apps now allow you to talk to people right on the same platform.

Today, Spotify is adding a messaging function for both Free and Premium users. Users can send messages by pressing the Share icon and selecting a friend to share a song with. Besides song recommendations, the feature also supports text conversations with emojis. This, of course, opens the possibility of rizzing it up with someone using a well-chosen song.

On the flip side, Spotify does offer security measures for those unwanted advances. Users can reject message requests and report harmful content. The platform will also proactively scan messages for illegal content. Alternatively, users can just opt out of the messaging feature entirely.

The feature is available by accessing your profile by clicking your profile photo. It is currently rolling out to select markets worldwide.

SEE ALSO: Spotify Music Pro might be available this year: report

For those who lived through the early days of the iPhone and the iPad, sideloading was a valuable skill to have. It allowed users to download storefronts outside of the official App Store and, essentially, pirate paid apps. Because it facilitated piracy, Apple disallowed sideloading before eventually making it legal again in Europe last year. Now, the other side of the fence, Android, has revealed a controversial turnaround in the sideloading debate.

Compared to iOS, Android is less hostile towards sideloading. After all, the mobile operating system thrives on its open-source nature. Though the Play Store has its own security measures to scan for potentially malicious software, installing apps from APKs downloaded online isn’t a terribly difficult task.

Now, Google is making it more difficult to install apps outside of the Play Store. Technically, sideloading still isn’t illegal. However, the company will now require third-party developers to verify their identity before allowing apps to be sideloaded onto systems. According to them, users get over 50 times more malware from sideloaded apps, compared to those found in the Play Store.

Google likens the new measure to “an ID check at the airport”. Like those in charge of checking IDs at airports, their job isn’t to check luggage. The company says that they will not check the content of the proposed apps.

Though the system adds an additional layer of security, it can potentially give Google the authority to block developers and apps they find disagreeable. However, the company assures developers that they will not prevent developers from distributing their software on other storefronts.

The new security measure is rolling out in Brazil, Indonesia, Singapore, and Thailand in late 2026. A wider release will start in 2027.

SEE ALSO: Android 16 is here!