Verithiathe honest score on any app
Updated July 2026 · real, multi-region App Store reviews
Head-to-head

Spotify vs Google

Spotify 4.8★ · Free to download 75
Winner Spotify
Google 4.6★ · Free to download 50

Spotify is the better choice for music streaming, offering a vast library and good personalized playlists, despite significant free-tier limitations, while Google struggles with recent updates, AI integration, and privacy concerns.

Full reviews: Spotify · Google

Spotify excels as a music streaming app with a wide selection and personalized content, though free users face numerous ads and restricted features. Google, while a powerful search engine, is currently hampered by buggy updates, intrusive AI, and user privacy worries.

Head to head

Features & Content edge: SpotifyR1R2R7R8
Spotify Spotify is praised for its extensive music library and personalized playlists, with users loving the variety of music available R8R11R23. However, some users report issues with song rotation, hearing the same songs repeatedly even with large libraries R2R7, and daylists changing unexpectedly R1. The app also offers podcasts, which some users appreciate , but others complain about unwanted podcast autoplay and the lack of a dislike button .
Google Google is valued for its core search functionality, providing quick answers to questions . Users enjoy mini-games like Snake and Pac-Man R74. However, recent updates have removed or made it difficult to access previously useful features like reverse image search, translation, and read-aloud functionality R70R100. The new AI mode is a major point of contention, with users finding it buggy, unhelpful, and prone to hallucinations R74R85.
Ease of Use & Reliability tieR11R19R23R26
Spotify Many users find Spotify easy to use and reliable for playing music R11R23R26. However, some report significant technical issues, including the app freezing, switching to unselected content, and slow loading times R19. There are also complaints about the app putting users in offline mode despite having a strong internet connection .
Google Google is generally considered user-friendly for basic searches . However, recent updates have introduced numerous bugs and made the app less reliable. Users report issues with recent searches not working correctly , the app disappearing , and slow loading times for searches . The AI mode is particularly problematic, often becoming unresponsive or muting itself R85.
Price & Value edge: SpotifyR3R6R9R10
Spotify Spotify is a free-to-download app, but many users feel the free experience is severely degraded, calling it "trash" and "terrible" without premium R9R10. Free users face excessive ads R3R6R13, limited skips, and inability to pick specific songs R21. Some find premium expensive R13 and feel non-premium users are treated unfairly R9R21.
Google Google is a free app, but users express concerns about privacy and data tracking, feeling that their information is used for targeted ads and sales R63R72R73R76. There are complaints about unwanted "rubbish" and ads being pushed . Users also find it difficult to log out of their Google account, suggesting a deliberate attempt to keep subscriber numbers up for ad revenue .
Pick Spotify if

You are looking for a dedicated music streaming service with a vast library and personalized playlists, and are willing to pay for a premium subscription to avoid ads and unlock full features R11R23.

Pick Google if

You primarily need a powerful search engine for quick information retrieval and are comfortable with Google's data practices and recent, potentially buggy, AI integrations .

Evidence note: Reviews for Spotify are heavily skewed towards complaints about the free tier's limitations, particularly the high frequency of ads and restricted functionality, which is common for free versions of paid services. Google's recent negative reviews focus on significant issues with new features, particularly its AI, and long-standing privacy concerns.

Frequently asked

Is Spotify free?
Spotify is free to download and use, but the free tier comes with significant limitations, including frequent ads (every 1-2 songs), restricted skips, and the inability to select specific songs, leading many users to describe the free experience as "terrible" R3R6R9R10.
Does Google track my data?
Yes, many Google users express strong concerns about the app tracking their information and location, leading to targeted ads and sales of personal data R63R72R73R76.
Are there many ads on Spotify?
Yes, free Spotify users report a high volume of ads, often appearing every 1-2 songs, which significantly detracts from the listening experience R3R6R13R21.
What are the main issues with the Google app?
The main issues with the Google app include buggy new features, particularly the AI mode which users find unhelpful and prone to errors, removal of previously useful functions like read-aloud, and ongoing concerns about privacy and data tracking R70R74R85R100.

What reviewers actually said

Built only from these 120 real reviews (foreign ones translated). Superscripts jump to the quote here. Apple has no per-review links, so [ref] opens that app's reviews on the App Store.

  1. [R1] Spotify 1/5 · US Disappointing: I listened to some really good songs in my curated daylist while driving however by the time I got to my destination my daylist changed and I couldn’t pull up the songs I had just listened too. Now I can’t pull them up and they are gone forever
  2. [R2] Spotify 4/5 · US Shuffle/ dj: Needs to be actually mixed. He needs to stop playing the same thing.
  3. [R7] Spotify 1/5 · US No proper rotation of songs: I have over 7,000 songs and it fails to cycle through , I hear the same 40 songs all the time
  4. [R8] Spotify 5/5 · US IDK: It plays music
  5. [R11] Spotify 5/5 · US Simply the best!: Love Spotify! It’s the absolute hands down best music streaming app!
  6. [R19] Spotify 2/5 · US Tech issues: I have always experienced tech issues on this platform. I love Spotify, just wish it worked more smoothly. I will be watching a podcast , then it switches to another one I didn’t pick. It tends to freeze up, then hop to another screen when it finally works again. Very glitchy platform
  7. [R23] Spotify 5/5 · US Quality of App: This app has never let me down! It has always had the songs I’ve been looking for! And the personalized playlists are pretty good!!
  8. [R26] Spotify 5/5 · US how much I love 𝓲𝓣: it’s the best app in the world
  9. [R3] Spotify 3/5 · US Anuncios: Muchos anuncios cada dos canciones
  10. [R6] Spotify 3/5 · US Eh: It’s great but maby lil less ads
  11. [R9] Spotify 3/5 · US Be nicer to free listeners: Without premium it’s trash so it’s bad for children or people without money.
  12. [R10] Spotify 1/5 · US Terrible without premium: This app is terrible without premium
  13. [R63] Google 3/5 · US It’s Just Okay!: I prefer a different search engine that doesn’t change the screen if you leave it and come back to it. I also prefer one that doesn’t track your information or location. I also don’t like having suggestions based on something that I looked up because I wasn’t sure what it was.
  14. [R72] Google 3/5 · US Too many ads, privacy cookies and sales of personal data.: Way too much! People forget there are other, safer ways to search. Anytime I google something, it ends up in ads and emails with an hour. Not everyone wants a Gmail account.
  15. [R73] Google 1/5 · US Wow…: If anyone thought Google was bad before, being biased and all, just wait until you learn about Reckless Ben. Evidently google doesn’t care one bit about anyone’s privacy. They will give ALL your emails and information over to any corporation that asks for it. SHAME ON YOU GOOGLE. You can put those legos somewhere dark and lonely, Google.
  16. [R76] Google 2/5 · US Google way: I can’t stand how difficult you make it to sign in and then steal all available information about me you can get your T1000 hands on. Its just absurd and completely violating
  17. [R13] Spotify 2/5 · US 2 many commercials: Too many commercials and expensive
  18. [R21] Spotify 3/5 · US No lo sé: Yo me pregunto por qué hay muchos anuncios? Apenas le doy skip y ya hay otro Osea solo por que uno no tenemos premium no significa que nos traten muy diferente, Y lo de que lo máximo deberían skips no me gusta es molesto, y lo máximo de escoger las canciones es muy molesto.
  19. [R70] Google 1/5 · US Why are the features I used now just an AI Mode button?: I use the Google app for just two things, reverse image search and translation. I can sort of get to the reverse image search if I’m ok with Google having camera access, but the translate button is gone, presumably to make room for the very unwelcome AI Mode button. There may be a setting to change this, but it’s not clear in the settings, a
  20. [R74] Google 4/5 · US Good buttttt…..: I like google and the fact that I can play snake, pac man and catch Pokémon, it’s cool! But, the ai overview is kind of a liar, on my moms tablet, I was playing Infinite Craft and I asked the ai overview thing how to make a thing in infinite craft and it LIED! Please fix it!
  21. [R85] Google 1/5 · US Your AI sucks: Do you ever find yourself with a question racking your brain that you just have to talk out and do you ever find yourself while talking desperately desiring for the AI you’re talking to to just mute you and stop listening delete the whole conversation you were having and start from the ground up if that’s the case, then Google AI is for you outside of a two sentence question you’ll
  22. [R100] Google 1/5 · US Update removed read aloud: After the update there is not read aloud option

Synthesized from 120 recent App Store reviews · updated July 2026 · View on the App Store