Spotify announced on Tuesday that it has acquired Heardle, the music trivia game version of Wordle.
According to a press release, the music streaming platform said that purchasing Heardle — the cost of which Spotify declined to disclose — will help improve the discoverability of songs old and new. In other words, it will help players rediscover their old favorite hits and introduce them to new artists, as well as link them to their music on Spotify whether they guessed the songs correctly or not.
“We are always looking for innovative and playful ways to enhance music discovery and help artists reach new fans,” said Jeremy Erlich, Spotify’s global head of music. “Heardle has proven to be a really fun way to connect millions of fans with songs they know and love and with new songs . . . and a way to compete with their friends as to who has the best musical knowledge. Since its debut, the game has quickly built a loyal following, and it aligns with our plans to deepen interactivity across the Spotify ecosystem.”
If you’ve been playing Heardle up until now, it used Soundcloud as a music player. Now, Heardle‘s logo font has changed to match Spotify’s, along with integrating the platform’s music player, but the game remains the same.
Heardle will remain a free game and a standalone website — at least for now. Players will get to try out the new Heardle in the U.S., U.K., Canada, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand before it expands to other countries and languages.
Spotify said it plans to integrate Heardle “more fully” into the app, but it didn’t say how or when that will happen. Considering that it has integrated Genius trivia cards underneath some songs, Heardle and Spotify are a match made in music heaven.
Google Play is borrowing one of the Nintendo Switch’s most useful little tricks. A new Sidekick tool called Playbacks captures a short clip after something interesting has already happened, sparing players from running a screen recorder throughout an entire game.
Playbacks is part of Google Play Store v53.8 and keeps saved clips on the phone. Google first announced it earlier this month, but the new Play Store update marks its arrival for players. Anyone who has watched a perfect win vanish because the record button came too late already understands the appeal.
Samsung’s scandal over its Game Optimizing Service, or GOS, has returned with a bill attached. South Korea’s Fair Trade Commission has tentatively fined the company 20.1 billion won, or about $15.1 million, over gaming claims made for the Galaxy S21, Galaxy S22, and Tab S8.
The regulator says Samsung promoted the devices as gaming powerhouses without disclosing that GOS placed preset CPU and GPU limits on certain demanding games. Samsung disputes that conclusion, calling GOS a legitimate way to manage heat.
Apple's next cheaper iPhone could get a brand-new processor while keeping its most stubborn display compromise. Digital Chat Station tips the iPhone 18e for a 2027 release with a 2nm A20 chip and a 6.12-inch OLED screen still limited to 60Hz.
The rumored camera setup includes a single 48MP rear camera and a possible 24MP selfie camera. There's new hardware to consider, but buyers hoping Apple would extend that upgrade generosity to smoother scrolling could be disappointed.