DEV Community: Techike

Tired of Ads? Here's How to Unlock Spotify Premium Free (2025 Edition)

Techike — Mon, 30 Jun 2025 09:21:41 +0000

If you can't survive without music, you're not alone at all. If you've got Spotify and you're out of skips and fed up of the ads, then you'll be pleased to know that there are more than a few methods to acquire Spotify Premium Free in 2025! If you simply wish to acquire it for a bit temporarily or would like to spoil yourself with a few months, then there are more than a few methods to do so that are legit, safe, and most of them are official.

Here are 13 genuine methods to acquire Spotify Premium Free without spending a dime.

1. Make a New Account

Spotify will always leave an open free 3-month Premium trial for new accounts. As long as your email address is new, and your payment source is new, you will be fine.

Here's how you do it:

Go to the official Spotify website

Sign up with a new email
You would have to add a new payment card/method
Start your free trial

Cancel before the trial period, and attempt again using a different email if necessary

Yes, it is 100% legal and repeatable.

2. Apply Family Plan Member

Do you have a family plan holder? You can add up to 6 people on a family plan provided that all reside in the same address.

How to get on:

Request the plan owner to invite you
Log in and accept the invitation
Ensure that you both share the same home address

And ta-da – now you're listening to Spotify Premium Free.

3. Utilize a Spotify Gift Card

Gift cards are also an easy option to use Spotify Premium without attaching your primary credit card.

How to claim:

Visit spotify.com/redeem
Insert your gift card code
Enjoy unlimited Premium Gift certificates may be layered on each other for time frames of 18 months or less in duration like this. Just know that they may be applied only to single plans.

4. Through a Modded Spotify App (Only for Android)

Modded Spotify APKs give Android users free access to the Premium features. I.e., listen ad-free and download offline.

How to install the modded APK:

Search for a trustworthy website that is hosting the Spotify Mod APK
Download and install it on your phone
Log in and start listening Be careful, none of it is endorsed by Spotify and may neither be valid nor trustworthy.

5. Look for PayPal Offers

Historically they provided new users with 3 months of Spotify Premium through PayPal and some nice members-only deals. In 2024 they recently provided this free, but are there more offers to come?

Tip: Monitor PayPal's offers on a regular basis so you won't miss the next.

6. Starbucks Employee Bonus

If you work at Starbucks, you are entitled to a free Spotify Premium account under the employee perks.

How you do it:

Go to the Spotify + Starbucks partnership website
Log in with your employee ID
Check your credentials
You will be given access to your service in 48 hours

Even if you leave your job, you are not going to lose your playlists.

7. Get it with Microsoft Rewards

You can accumulate enough points within days of web browsing using Bing to receive 3 months of Spotify Premium Free.

Steps:

Join in on Microsoft rewards
Use Bing to search for more than 3 days
Activate your Spotify Premium promotion code

This is only for those who have never had Premium.

8. OnePlus Red Cable Club (India Only)

If you happen to be in India and have a OnePlus phone, free Spotify Premium for 6 months is yours with the Red Cable Club.

This is how:

Subscribe to Red Cable Club from the settings of the device
Go to offers
Click "Claim Now"
Activate your free Premium code This is until the 19th of March, 2026.

9. Xiaomi Device Perks

Xiaomi shoppers can receive 4 months of Spotify Premium for free when buying an eligible device.

Here's how you redeem:

Go to Xiaomi Spotify offer page
Enter your exact device details
Get your free Premium code
Redeem on the Spotify website Offer expires August 8, 2026.

10. Walmart Canada Deal

If you shop at Walmart.ca, you can receive 4 months of Premium for free (this is a fabulous bonus for new shoppers who are just starting out on Spotify)!

Here's how you redeem it:

Go to Walmart.ca or app and sign in
Locate the Spotify Premium details
Follow instructions to become activated Offer expires August 3, 2025.

11. Just Eat Points = Free Premium

Do you love ordering food? You can convert orders into music with Just Eat! It's easy for you.

Steps:

Earn 30 points by ordering food
Go to the Just Eat Spotify offer page
Click "Start Free Trial"
Use your points to redeem Premium Offer expires February 28, 2026.

12. Xbox Game Pass Members Get It Too

Xbox Game Pass provides 6 months of Spotify Premium Free to players.

How to avail it:

Open Xbox Game Pass app (console, PC or phone)
Navigate to the Perks tab
Claim the Spotify offer
Use the provided code or link New to Premium membership only.

13. AT&T Unlimited Perk

If you are on AT&T Unlimited & More Premium, you can choose Spotify Prime as an add-on for free.

How to claim it:

Log into your WatchTV account
Select Spotify as your entertainment option
Then redeem your complimentary 6-month subscription

Will also work if you are already a Premium subscriber, just first cancel the previous plan.

Bonus Tip: Save Music Forever with AudiCable

All of the above solutions are temporary. If you wish to retain the music that is your favorite songs after the trial period has expired, use AudiCable Audio Recorder.

This is what AudiCable does:

Record Spotify music like MP3, FLAC, WAV, etc.
Retain the original quality as well as the metadata
Spotify Free & Premium Features
Also supports Amazon Music, YouTube Music, etc.
Ideal to store your music offline forever.

Conclusion

You don't need to subscribe on a monthly basis in order to access the amazing features that Spotify can offer. With a new account, invited on a family plan, got a bonus with a device, there are several ways that you can access Spotify Premium Free in 2025.

Give a few of these a try and listen to some ad-free music the smart way. And AudiCable is worth a shot if you wish to keep your songs forever.

FAQs

Q: How much does Spotify Premium cost for a year?

About $120 annually unless you use promotions or partner discounts.

Q: Is Apple Music inferior to Spotify?

Spotify is for playlists and discovery. Apple Music sounds better and integrates into iOS better.

Q: How does Spotify verify Family plan addresses?

They verify the address through the IP location and subsequently request users to confirm they possess the address.

Q: Is Spotify Premium worth the price?

If you hate ads, want to be offline, and want to be in control, then it absolutely is worth it.

Q: Is Spotify better than Amazon Music?

Spotify has more interactive playlists; Amazon Music is optimized for Prime members and for HD audio.

Apple's Liquid Glass UI: A Revolutionary Leap into the Future of Design

Techike — Sat, 28 Jun 2025 07:20:37 +0000

Introduction: Apple's Bold Move at WWDC 2025

Apple has boldly stepped into the future of user interface design at WWDC 2025. Within the initial three days of the conference, vendors and Apple fans alike are abuzz with what can only be termed as the most revolutionary design refresh since iOS 7 with Apple's entirely new Liquid Glass UI.

This is more than a mere innocuous little adjustment to the look. Yes, it will affect what Apple consumers see on the screen, but it will change the way they will be interacting with their Apple products, such as depth, transparency, and motion to control the way an audience experiences an Apple device in a more fluid, human-centered experience.

What is Liquid Glass UI?

Liquid Glass UI is Apple's newest design system with glass imagery as its top priority. With smoothly moving reflections, flexible and transparent layers, and context-aware visuals, not much was said about it at the WWDC 2025 keynote. Apple VP of Human Interface Design Alan Dye called it "a universal design across platforms" in his post-keynote comments.

No mistake, this is a once-in-a-lifetime change, as Apple has never made any major changes to its UI design since it debuted the flat aesthetic a decade ago in iOS 7. And although Apple has long taken pride in its realistic icons and detailed interface, Liquid Glass UI takes that pillar even further to explore the true physics of glass in the real world.

What is Liquid Glass UI's Uniqueness?

It's okay to create a UI that looks really nice, but Liquid Glass is built on concepts that marry appearance and functionality.

As Apple's senior designer Andrew Cunningham puts it, "Liquid Glass acts like real glass — it flows, it reacts to light, and it is layered."

The 4 Design Principles of Liquid Glass:

**Transparency: **Distinguishes with background and foreground, so that the user can better focus.

Responsiveness: The user interface is responsive to variations in user input and lighting levels.

Flexibility: It works and looks great on all platforms and devices.

Awareness: The UI reacts to the content underneath it, like actual glass.

How Liquid Glass UI Will Revolutionize the Apple User Experience?

The appearance is fluid, drawing from Apple's visionOS — its mixed reality operating system. With motion response and real-time rendering, you'll see that icons, menus, and overlays will have a living feel to them. No more button clusters, but instead float and change with your scrolling and switching.

Apple has assured that Liquid Glass UI will be used on all the platforms — iOS, macOS, iPadOS, tvOS, and watchOS. That should provide a consistent look and brand throughout the Apple world.

What Can Be Expected of New Graphics:

Icons and Windows
Apple will no longer offer a frosted-glass look and will offer refractive icons and interface elements in clear. Get ready to have the menu bar for macOS 26 (Tahoe) completely transparent, as well.

Human-Computer Interaction
Popups, alerts, and dropdowns will also shimmer and change based on the background, providing a pleasant soft 3D-like effect.

Lock and Home Screens
Photos will actually "pop" to the front and notifications will simply fade back in and get blurry. Users will also be given a choice of coloring the icons to match their wallpaper colors.

Control Center
Basic controls will hover around as transparent floating windows.

Apple Core Apps
All Apple flagship applications, Safari, FaceTime, Messages, Music - all of them will get the Liquid Glass UI.

iPadOS Menus
Menus and sidebars will float with soft drop shadows that will improve the user's ability to multitask.

Developer Tools for the New UI
Apple will also release developer tools as an updated Human Interface Guidelines (HIG) and new Icon Composer so that developers will learn about them quicker prior to their release. Developers will have immediate access to beta versions so that they can easily make apps with focus on the Liquid Glass design language.

Liquid Glass UI and Apple Intelligence

Besides, Liquid Glass UI is also expected to be in sync with Apple's AI platform, which goes by the name Apple Intelligence. Both were designed to complement each other with the AI features embedded into the new UI.

Features That Liquid Glass UI Offers:

Clear Bubbles for calls, messages, and FaceTime that translate or provide live captions

Hold Assist, so you have your call information in front of you with a light glass panel

Genmoji, allows you to make customized emojis in a floating window

Smart Shortcuts stay in narrow, floating menus

The reason for these sessions is to give you that body sensation, rather than the software.

Design or Usability? Not Everyone Loves It

Whether you enjoy the Liquid Glass UI or not is your call. Although it was highly acclaimed for the look and feel, it is not for everyone.

Some of the Designer and User Problems on X (ex-Twitter):

Issues with Legibility: Transparency makes readability more difficult.

Eye Strain: Users reported having headaches if they looked at too much glass effect.

Jobs Departure -Eras Simplicity: The majority of long-time fans feel that there is a departure from Steve Jobs' core design philosophies of simplicity and clarity.

Sample Responses:

"They've made this (Liquid Glass Design) worse-looking than anything Apple has ever done."

Vitek Havlis

"They put interns in a room with crayons."

Ash

"The glitzy glob look is actually painful to my eyes."

Tipster

However, this range of opinion would suggest that Apple did cross the line in design vs. accessibility. But there are solutions for that, such as: blur adjusted settings, improved contrast settings, and developer APIs for readable overlays.

What Comes Next?

As said earlier, Liquid Glass design has been officially announced to be launched in 2026 on all platforms:

iOS 26

iPadOS 26

macOS 26 (Tahoe)

watchOS 26

tvOS 26

The “26” is just the release year of the version that takes its name from the series -- which will be used to alert users to updates.

Conclusion: Is Liquid Glass the Future?

Whatever you feel about it — whether you love it, or you think it can't be a thing — Liquid Glass UI is their (Apple's) most progressive action towards transforming how we interact with technology.

Liquid Glass is not just a new look - it's much deeper — it is now drawing a new direction towards immersive, fluid, responsive, and unified experiences.

If Apple is able to considerately balance beauty and accessibility in this interface, then they will have once again revolutionized the idea of the interface design model in the same manner that they revolutionized it with Aqua in the early part of the 21st century.

Looking to the future of possibilities, speculations on the Glasswing—presumably an iPhone 2027 redesign—portend the start of a design era.

OpenAL: What is it, Why You May Need It, and How to Remove or Repair It (2025 Guide)

Techike — Fri, 27 Jun 2025 08:20:22 +0000

What is OpenAL?

OpenAL, or Open Audio Library, is an open-source API that delivers 3D sound simulation to video games and interactive programs. It enables more realistic audio using 4-Dimensional sound from potentially infinite directions—just like real life.

Originally developed by Loki Software and now owned by Creative Technology, OpenAL gives any game or software a spatial sound experience that feels immersive and lifelike.

Why OpenAL is Important to Game Development

Why is OpenAL essential in game sound design?

Because it brings realism and situational awareness through audio—allowing sound to behave naturally in 3D space. Players can perceive direction and distance, such as footsteps approaching, distant explosions, or ambient environmental noise.

More than 100 popular games have relied on OpenAL for immersive sound environments, including:

Minecraft

Quake III Arena

Unreal Tournament

Battlefield 2

Marble Blast

Top Features of OpenAL

Here’s what makes OpenAL a go-to solution:

Cross-platform support (Windows, MacOS, Linux, Android, iOS)
Immersive 3D positional audio
Responsive dynamic sound that adjusts to movement
Open-source flexibility for custom builds
Simple integration backed by detailed documentation
Strong community support for updates and assistance

What is openal32.dll?

openal32.dll is a lightweight file (~0.1 MB) that enables 3D sound functionality in OpenAL-powered apps and games.

Created by Nvidia and Creative Labs

Works with Windows 10, 8.1, 8, 7, Vista, XP

Downloaded over 58,000 times with a 4.3/5 rating

How to Repair openal32.dll Error

Follow these steps if you encounter an OpenAL error:

1. Copy to System Directory
Download the .zip file

Unpack and paste openal32.dll into your system directory

2. Copy to Program Folder
Locate the software folder

Paste the file directly into that folder

3. Reinstall the Application
Uninstall the problematic app

Restart your computer

Reinstall the app

4. Run System File Checker
Open Command Prompt (Admin)

Type: sfc /scannow

Restart your PC when complete

5. Update Windows
Go to Settings > Update & Security

Apply updates needed for OpenAL compatibility

Do I Delete OpenAL?

Some users notice OpenAL appears after installing new graphics drivers and wonder if it’s safe to remove.

In short:
It’s not a virus

You can uninstall OpenAL if you don’t use 3D audio software or games

If required by an app, removing it may break sound functionality

How to Remove OpenAL (By OS)

Windows 10 / 8 / 8.1

Go to Settings > Apps

Search for “OpenAL”

Click Uninstall

Windows 7 / Vista

Go to Control Panel > Uninstall a Program

Locate OpenAL

Click Uninstall

Windows XP

Go to Start > Add or Remove Programs

Find OpenAL

Click Remove

How to Download openal32.dll

If you need to reinstall openal32.dll, follow these safe steps:

Visit a reputable DLL website
Click the green “Download” button
Follow the installation guide provided
Place it in the system or program folder as directed

Pro Tip: Always scan downloaded files with antivirus software before installation.

Pro Tip: Should You Keep OpenAL?
If you're a gamer or developer creating immersive content—YES, OpenAL is essential for realistic sound.

If you never use 3D audio software—you can safely uninstall it.

Closing Remarks

OpenAL usually runs quietly in the background, and users don’t notice it until it’s gone. It creates deep, layered audio environments that make virtual experiences feel authentic.

Now you know what OpenAL does, why it matters, and how to troubleshoot or uninstall it if needed.

FAQs

Q: Is it okay to delete OpenAL?
A: Yes, if you don’t use any 3D audio software or games that depend on it.

Q: Why is OpenAL on my PC?
A: Often auto-installed with games or graphics card drivers.

Q: What are some uses of OpenAL?
A: Games and apps like 0 A.D., Alpha Protocol, America's Army, American Truck Simulator, etc.

Q: Does OpenAL slow me down?
A: Not at all—it enhances sound performance without affecting system speed.