Which one do I want to install for N9: MeeSpot or the official Spotify client?

What are the main differences? Can they co-exist? Do they share any data or do they use their own cache/data/database files? Does either of them support playback controls in lock screen (ie. when the phone is locked with the power button)?

Both can coexist.

MeeSpot App will let you listen to music being streamed live from Spotify using your data connection (be it wiFi, 3G, etc). So you're listening constantly from 'the cloud'.


Spotify on the other hand, on top of letting you do the above, in addition will let you cache your music playlists (read: store in your phone's local storage) so you can keep you collection of songs always with you and listen to them off line, avoiding streaming and thus not using data connection (useful if for example you have a limited data usage plan).


For this off-line feature, you will need to have a "Premium Plan" (10 bucks) instead of the "Unlimited Plan" (5 bucks), HOWEVER, both MeeSpot and Spotify require the Premium Plan in order to work in "mobiles" (cell phones).

I think you are wrong: according to webpage MeeSpot also supports offline playlists/playing. So there is no difference in that respect.

Any actual differences? Many users seem to praise MeeSpot.

regardless, if you do not have a premium acccount for spotify, both are useless on the N9

C'mon guys: of course I will pay for the premium account! Why else would I be asking this question. I simply would like to hear about the differences between the two clients. I know the differences between various Spotify plans, thank you.

You're right, I have checked and MeeSpot also supports offline cache (for some reason, I was under the impression it didn't, maybe on its first releases it didn't?).

So if you are *dying* to satisfy your mind with an explanation of why MeeSpot exists when the official Spotify app is available, the explanation might be rather simple (is just a theory):

MeeSpot was created/available before Spotify.That's it.

As of today (just checked):

Creation date for Spotify official App for N9: 24-Oct-2011 (current version v0.1)

Creation date for MeeSpot App for N9: 20-Oct-2011 (most recent and current version v1.2, so prior releases had to be before such date, and way before Spotify's official app first availability).

Does this help to ease your angst?

I even knew that. (That MeeSpot was created because there was no official Spotify client).

Nevertheless, I still would like to know some answers to my original questions so if someone has actually tried both of them, please share your experience. I'll repeat them here so we can concentrate on topic:

1. What are the main differences?
2. Can they co-exist?
3. Do they share any data or do they use their own cache/data/database files?
4. Does either of them support playback controls in lock screen (ie. when the phone is locked with the power button)?

EDIT: Yes, it seems that I should try myself. But I actually have not found my Sennheiser headphones so I have some work to do before I can try the clients

The official app is not available in the store here in switzerland (the service is since last week). However I don't care because MeeSpot is a pretty slick app. I use it daily (mostly offline) and so far it works great. A few things are still missing though. E.g. library view and support for playlist folders. I guess they're in the making though.

Edit: Spotify is pretty cool btw. I don't have to sync music anymore, just mark the playlists you want offline on your N9 and MeeSpot will make sure those songs are available offline.

The features are pretty much the same. They both offer offline playlists and last.fm scrobbling.
However, MeeSpot has a "Now Playing" bar always visible at the top of the screen that allows you to see the current song and has playback controls. In addition it has a search functionality in playlists while Spotify doesn't. One could also say that MeeSpot has a more 'MeeGo-ish' style.
On the other and, the official client support local files and has social features (share tracks).

Yes they can.

No, each stores its own settings, cache and offline tracks separately. (It's technically not possible to share it, or at least not when both applications are running at the same time)

None of them supports that since there is currently no public API to do it.

Thanks for your detailed answer and reading comprehension! I installed MeeSpot and it looks good and works quite well. But, it crashed one time switching the whole phone off. At least I think MeeSpot was the reason. But I have to test more to see if MeeSpot was to blame.