Got an SSD? Spotify's desktop app might be killing it
Recent reports indicate that the desktop version of Spotify is taking a lot out of the lifespan of SSD devices. Sources like Reddit, Ars Technica, Hacker News and even the Spotify Forum talk about the presence of a bug in the Windows, Linux and Mac versions of the application. It seems that on desktops, Spotify writes gigabytes of junk data, only to delete them and rewrite them again, which is a real problem for those who use Solid State Drives.
In case you don't know how this excessive data-writing could be a problem, I recommend reading our story called "Find out how much life is left on your SSD". As you will find out from that article, Solid State Drives might be a lot faster than traditional hard-disks, but the trade-off is a reduced lifespan, only being able to write and rewrite a limited amount of data before breaking down. This means that an app like Spotify, which needlessly loads your storage device with tons of junk data, only to start over again each time you use it, will make your SSD reach its writing limits much quicker than it should.
As far as I know, Spotify is aware of this problem and is already working on a fix, but in the meantime if you want to keep using the streaming service without shortening the life of your SSD, you can find some manual fixes in the answers from the Spotify Forum.
If you spend a lot of time using streaming services, you might also enjoy reading: "The best tricks for Netflix users" or "All you need to know about the new YouTube Red service".
