Spotify Hardware Acceleration: Should I Enable It Or Not

If you always listen to Spotify on your computer, you may have noticed that there are 2 built-in options in the Spotify app - hardware acceleration. What is Spotify hardware acceleration? What does hardware acceleration do in Spotify? Should I enable or disable it? If you are worried about this feature or want to learn more about it, this post is here to help you better understand Spotify hardware acceleration and give you more tips on how to get the most out of it.

Part 1. Overview of Spotify Hardware Acceleration

The following is divided into 2 aspects to introduce hardware acceleration on Spotify for you, so that you can understand its role and significance before deciding whether to use it or not.

What Does Spotify Hardware Acceleration Do?

Spotify hardware acceleration is a useful function for Spotify Free and Premium users to control the music streaming performance of Spotify. It usually has 2 options: the one under "Advanced User Settings" and the one in "View/Playback Preference". The effects of Spotify hardware acceleration will give you a better Spotify listening experience.

These kinds of effects will also be reflected in your daily use of the Spotify app. For example, if your music is all of a sudden skipping to another or moving faster than others, Spotify hardware acceleration is unexpectedly enabled. And if your music is abruptly playing slowly, the Spotify Hardware Acceleration on your computer is unintentionally disabled.

Should I Turn Spotify Hardware Acceleration On or Off?

Spotify hardware acceleration is turned on by default when installing the software, which uses your computer's hardware components, like the GPU, to handle certain tasks instead of relying solely on the CPU. Enabling it could lead to smoother playback, faster download speed, and a more responsive user interface, especially if your computer has a capable GPU. So if you care about your Spotify daily usage and want to enjoy better properties, you should turn it on.

However, whether this positive help is achieved or not depends on the type of computer you are using. Not all systems are created equal, and sometimes enabling hardware acceleration may cause some problems, like compatibility issues, operation glitches, visual artifacts, and even battery degradation. If you notice any weird behavior mentioned above, you might need to turn it off.

Now, let's look at the operation of the whole settings of Spotify hardware acceleration.

Part 2. How to Enable/Disable Hardware Acceleration on Spotify

Whether or not you have a Spotify Premium subscription, you can follow the simple 3 steps listed below to find the Spotify hardware acceleration option to enable or disable it.

Step 1. Launch the Spotify Desktop App

Now, you need to open the Spotify app on your computer. When it is running, click on the Down-arrow button to enter the Setting pages.

Step 2. Enable/Disable Spotify Hardware Acceleration

When you have entered the Settings page, you need to scroll down to the bottom of the General Settings and click "Show Advanced Settings > Compatibility" to disable or enable hardware acceleration on Spotify.

The other option is under the "Playback Preference" or "View" menu. Just press the button "Enable Hardware Acceleration" to enable or disable the hardware acceleration running on your computer.

Tip: Play Music Offline with Spotify Hardware Acceleration Effects

The steps to turn Spotify hardware acceleration on or off are simple and easy to follow. But while it's also available for free, you'll still need to subscribe to Premium to enable the offline feature for a better download experience with it. Hence, if you want to unlock Spotify downloads for free and enjoy the high performance of hardware acceleration, you can turn to a third-party program.

TuneFab Spotify Music Converter is what you need. With its built-in Spotify web player, you can easily access the whole Music library, and download songs from Spotify to MP3, WAV, or other common formats on your Windows/Mac device. Also, it offers up to 35X faster download speeds, allowing you to get Spotify downloads in bulk while perfectly retaining the original sound quality and all ID3 information for further use.

The steps to downloading Spotify Music via TuneFab are also very simple to handle as follows.

Step 1. Download, install, and run TuneFab Spotify Music Converter on your computer. Log into your Spotify account (no need for Premium), and then search for the songs you want to add to the "Converting" list.

Step 2. On the "Converting" tag, you can tweak output settings like "Output Format" and "Output Folder" to save Spotify songs as you like. For more advanced options like parameters, you can just click the "Menu" button on the top-right corner to enter the "Preference" page.

Step 3. Once finished with all the settings, you can easily convert your added Spotify songs into common DRM-free audio files and check them on the "Finished" screen.

After that, you can play these Spotify downloads on any device and media player, or just upload them back to the Spotify app to listen to them while enjoying the best effects that Spotify hardware acceleration brings to you.

Final Words

Above all, Spotify hardware acceleration will give you a better experience, such as faster download speeds and smoother playback effects, but it also depends on the device you are using, and the download feature requires you to subscribe to Spotify Premium. Therefore, using TuneFab Spotify Music Converter to gain the free Spotify download feature, and then use Spotify hardware acceleration to enhance the user experience.