Technologies
Change These Spotify Settings to Amp Up Your Music
Here’s how you can make listening to your favorite playlist even better.
With more than 205 million subscribers, Spotify is arguably one of the most popular music streaming platforms in the world. CNET also ranks Spotify as one of the best music streaming services on the market, and gave it an Editor’s Choice Award.


Spotify lets you listen to music wherever you are, recommends new songs based on your activity and provides fun, personalized streaming data at the end of every year. You can also make and share playlists with friends on social media, or with the whole world through the app.
If you feel like something is missing from your listening experience, though, Spotify lets you take control of various settings to make your music sound more superb. That way whether you’re in a quiet library, on your morning commute or pumping some iron in the gym, your music will always fit the mood.
Here’s how to crank your Spotify listening experience up to 11 no matter what the situation.
Adjust your base volume to match your environment
Volume is pretty easy to figure out, but did you know Spotify lets premium users adjust the base volume of the app depending on their environment? You can select either Quiet, Normal or Loud, and each has its own benefit.
Quiet will make songs a little quieter and sound cleaner, making it a good choice if you’re relaxing at home. Normal makes songs play at a medium base volume, and the sound is less crisp than Quiet. This is a good choice for most people and situations. Loud is — you guessed it — louder, but you might lose some audio quality because of the loudness. This option is good if you’re at the gym or other similarly noisy environments.


Changing your Spotify settings takes no time and can improve your whole listening experience.
Getty ImagesHere’s how to adjust the base volume on your iPhone:
1. Open the Spotify app.
2. Tap the gear icon in the top-right corner of your screen.
3. Tap Playback.
4. Under Volume level there are three options: Loud, Normal and Quiet.
If you’re using the Spotify app on a Mac, here’s how to adjust the base volume:
1. Open Spotify.
2. Click the down arrow in the top-right corner.
3. Under Audio Quality, you should see Volume level.
4. Click the drop-down bar to the right of Volume level.
5. From here, you see the same Loud, Normal and Quiet options. Pick whichever one works for you.
Here’s how to adjust the base volume if you’re using the Spotify app on an Android device:
1. Open Spotify.
2. Tap the gear icon to access Settings.
3. Under Playback you should see Volume Level.
4. Next to Volume Level you should see the Loud, Normal and Quiet options. Pick the one you want.
Finally, here’s how to adjust the base volume in Spotify while on a Windows computer:
1. Open Spotify.
2. Click your account name in the top-right corner.
3. Click Settings.
4. Under Audio Quality, you should see Volume level. Click the drop-down bar to the right.
5. Select either Loud, Normal or Quiet.
Use the Spotify Equalizer for more control
If you prefer being more hands-on with how your bass and treble come across in each song, you can adjust the in-app equalizer. Adjusting your bass affects lower-frequency sounds, making your music sound deeper with increased bass or flat with less bass. Treble affects the higher sound frequencies, making your music sound brighter and crisper with increased treble, or duller and kind of muddied with less treble.
Here’s how to access the equalizer on your iPhone:
1. Open Spotify.
2. Tap the gear in the top right corner to access Settings.
3. Tap Playback.
4. Scroll down and tap Equalizer.
Here’s how to access the equalizer on your Android device:
1. Open Spotify.
2. Tap the gear icon to access Settings.
3. Under Audio quality, tap Equalizer.
This opens the equalizer page on both systems. Here you can find the manual equalizer slider and a handful of premade genre-based equalizers.
You should see the manual equalizer slider that looks like a line graph with six dots. When you first get to this page, the equalizer should be flat.
Each dot on the graph can be adjusted for more or less sound. The far left bar represents your bass, the far right bar controls your treble and the middle bars control — you guessed it — your midrange. You can tweak the bars as you see fit.
There are also genre-based equalizers on this page. You can pick which genre you’re listening to and the app automatically adjusts the sliders to optimize for that style of music. After picking one, you can further adjust the sliders for the perfect listening experience.
If you want to reset the equalizer, there’s a genre-based equalizer called Flat. This will reset the equalizer to its default.
The Mac and Windows versions of Spotify don’t have an in-application equalizer. But you can search for an equalizer application to help you in your journey to find the best sound.


Adjusting these settings can really make your music pop
James Martin/CNETAdjust the quality of your music for a clearer sound
You can also adjust the audio quality of your music. This is handy if you’re using mobile data and don’t want to bump up your phone bill. Reducing the audio quality will use less data.
Here’s how to change the audio quality on mobile and tablet:
1. Open the Spotify app.
2. Tap the gear icon to access Settings.
3. Tap Audio Quality.
4. Under WiFi streaming and Cellular streaming, you can select Automatic, Low, Normal or High. The Automatic option adjusts the audio quality to whatever your signal strength is. If you’re a paid subscriber you’ll see a fifth option under both WiFi streaming and Cellular streaming called Very high.
How to change the audio quality on your desktop:
1. Open Spotify.
2. Click the down arrow in the top-right corner.
3. Click Settings.
4. Under Audio Quality, click the drop-down menu next to Streaming quality.
6. Choose between Low, Normal, High or Automatic options, and paid subscribers also have the Very high option.
For more on Spotify, see which Spotify plan is best for you and how Spotify stacks up against Apple Music.
Technologies
Verum Messenger Goes Desktop: Launches macOS Version as Part of Expanding Digital Ecosystem
Verum Messenger Goes Desktop: Launches macOS Version as Part of Expanding Digital Ecosystem
The team behind Verum Messenger has announced a new update, introducing a full-featured macOS version of the application.
The launch of the Mac version marks a significant step in the platform’s development, enabling users to access Verum Messenger not only on mobile devices but also on desktop environments.
The macOS version ensures seamless synchronization across devices while maintaining the platform’s core principles: security, stability, and independence.
Unified Digital Experience
With the release of the macOS version, users can now:
— communicate on a larger screen
— manage chats and files more efficiently
— use the messenger in a full desktop environment
— access core features without limitations
This is particularly valuable for users who rely on messaging platforms for both communication and professional use.
Expanding Capabilities
Verum Messenger continues to evolve into a multifunctional platform combining:
— secure communication
— financial tools (Verum Finance)
— digital asset operations, including Tether
— investment features such as Verum Gold
Toward a Full Ecosystem
The macOS release reflects Verum Messenger’s strategy to become a universal digital platform available across all major devices.
According to the team, the goal is to provide users with continuous access to communication and financial services regardless of device or environment.
Verum Messenger continues to build technologies focused on security, usability, and global accessibility.
Technologies
Google, Meta and Amazon Join Global Pact to Fight Rising Online Scams
The companies will share fraud intelligence and coordinate responses as AI makes scams faster, cheaper and harder to detect.
Modern online scams operate across multiple platforms, perhaps spanning social media, messaging apps, email and online marketplaces. Google, Meta and Amazon are among 11 tech, retail and payments companies that have signed a new agreement to combat online scams by sharing threat intelligence across platforms, Axios first reported Monday.
The initiative, called the Industry Accord Against Online Scams & Fraud, is designed to improve how companies detect and respond to fraud that spans multiple services. Participants say they will exchange signals, such as scam-linked accounts and fraudulent domains, and coordinate enforcement actions.
By sharing intelligence in near real time, companies hope to identify these scams earlier and stop them before they spread.
The effort reflects how modern scams operate. A victim might encounter a fake celebrity investment ad on social media, move to a messaging app where the scammer builds trust, then faces prompts to send money through a fraudulent website, payment app or crypto wallet — spanning multiple companies’ ecosystems.
Google said it now blocks hundreds of millions of scam-related results every day using AI, underscoring how both attackers and defenders are increasingly relying on the same technology. Meta removed more than 159 million scam ads in 2025 and is expanding AI tools to detect impersonation and warn users.
Online scams are growing rapidly, in part because generative AI has lowered the barrier to entry. AI can be used not only to produce realistic phishing emails but also to clone voices and deepfake videos that impersonate executives, public figures and even family members.
The agreement is voluntary and doesn’t create new legal obligations, but it comes after regulators’ increased pressure on tech platforms to address fraud more aggressively. The companies say they will begin building frameworks for reporting and intelligence-sharing, though it’s not yet clear how quickly those systems will be deployed or how effective they will be in practice.
Technologies
Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Wednesday, March 18
Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for March 18.
Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? Click here for today’s Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.
Need some help with today’s Mini Crossword? I thought it was a fairly easy one, but read on for all the answers. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.
If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.
Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword
Let’s get to those Mini Crossword clues and answers.
Mini across clues and answers
1A clue: Word before «card,» flood» or «photography»
Answer: FLASH
6A clue: Joust weapon
Answer: LANCE
7A clue: Brain, heart or lungs
Answer: ORGAN
8A clue: «Frozen» reindeer
Answer: SVEN
9A clue: What can be found on frozen roads or frozen margaritas
Answer: SALT
Mini down clues and answers
1D clue: Follow a dentist’s recommendation
Answer: FLOSS
2D clue: Baby bug
Answer: LARVA
3D clue: Shape made in the snow
Answer: ANGEL
4D clue: Very little
Answer: SCANT
5D clue: Egg layer
Answer: HEN
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