Entertainment
Spotify Wrapped 2024 arrives: 5 new features to check out
‘Tis the season of colorful graphics, embarrassing stats, and personalized data stories! That’s right — Spotify Wrapped has finally landed on your Spotify app. The 2024 edition is chock-full of new features, from a Wrapped AI Podcast that editorializes your year in music to the moods and emotions that captured “Your Music Evolution.”
The much-anticipated annual event offers fans a glimpse into their most-played tracks, artists, and genres, wrapped in vibrant visuals and shareable stats. It’s a nostalgic trip through the soundtrack of your year, and it even boasts stats from the podcasts and audiobooks you listened to.
In 2024, it’s not just about what you heard — it’s about how music shaped your story. Here’s what that means for this year’s Spotify Wrapped and all the fun surprises you can expect.
Your Music Evolution

Credit: Spotify
Listen, we all go through phases. Sometimes you want to be a brat and other times you’re an “Otaku Hot Girl.” Spotify knows your listening habits can be mercurial, so they’re introducing “Your Music Evolution” with this year’s Wrapped.
This new data story reveals the musical phases that defined your year. You’ll receive up to three musical phases for 2024. For example, I started the year in my “Light Academia Soft Piano Classical” era, but by spring, I re-emerged as a “Roller Skating Pop” princess. (What can I say? The pop girlies were releasing bangers.) And I’m ending the year in my “Hallyu Catwalk K-pop” phase, which sounds right.
Your Music Evolution will also be available in playlist form, found in the Wrapped feed on Home in the Spotify app. Tracks within the playlist include both your go-to favorites and algorithmic picks related to your musical phases throughout the year.
Mashable Top Stories
Your Longest Listening Streak
Every superfan wears their “Top Listeners” stat with pride. (The stat reveals the percentile of listeners you’re in for your favorite artist. I’m in the top 3 percent of Stray Kids listeners worldwide — what about you?) This year, Spotify is taking it one step further with your “Longest Listening Streak,” capturing your journey with the most-played artist in your Top 5.
Your Spotify Wrapped AI Podcast

Credit: Spotify
The biggest new feature of this year’s Wrapped is the launch of your Spotify Wrapped AI Podcast. Built with Google’s NotebookLM, this personalized pod tells the story of your year in music with colorful commentary from two AI hosts who attempt to make sense of your top songs, artists, and genres.
Per Spotify, this unique feature will be available in English for eligible Free and Premium users for a limited time across the U.S., the U.K., Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Ireland, and Sweden.
Top Audiobooks of 2024

Credit: Spotify
Last year, Spotify gave its Premium users 15 hours of free audiobook listening time per month. Now, with over 300,000 titles in its catalog, Spotify is becoming a destination for avid readers — er, listeners. So it only makes sense that this year’s Wrapped data would include the Top Audiobooks of 2024.
While there isn’t any personalized data on your top audiobooks of the year, there is a separate editorial hub for the year in audiobooks on the app and desktop. Spotify’s inaugural top author globally is Sarah J. Maas, whose A Court of Thorns and Roses series went mega-viral across social platforms this year. As such, A Court of Thorns and Roses was also the most-streamed audiobook of 2024. Coming in second and third are The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien and I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy, respectively. Rounding out the Top 5 is A Court of Mist and Fury by Maas at No. 4, and It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover at No. 5.
Authors will also have access to their own Spotify Wrapped for Authors hub, which will show insightful data on the listening habits of their readers.
You can share your Wrapped directly on your FYP

Credit: Spotify
Big news for those who like publicly posting their Wrapped results across all social platforms: You can now share your Wrapped directly on TikTok.
Entertainment
The 75-inch Hisense U8 Mini LED TV is officially the cheapest its ever been at 50% off
SAVE $1,250: As of April 22, the Hisense 75-inch U8 Mini LED ULED 4K TV is on sale at Amazon and Best Buy for just $1,249.99. That’s a savings of 50% from its original list price of $2,499.99 and its best price ever.
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If a new TV with a big screen, stunningly bright picture, and affordable tag is what you’re after, the 75-inch Hisense U8 TV is a great pick — especially now that it’s at a record-low price.
As of April 22, the Hisense 75-inch U8 Mini LED ULED 4K TV is down to just $1,249.99 at both Amazon and Best Buy. Its original list price is $2,499.99, which means you’ll save 50% or a full $1,250. That’s officially the best price we’ve ever seen on this model. Previously, it dropped to $1,297.99 during Cyber Week, but this price beats that one by nearly $50.
CNET (Mashable’s sister site, also owned by Ziff Davis) reviewer Ty Pendlebury called the 2025 U8 TV the brightest TV he’s ever reviewed, but added that it “complements that brightness with excellent contrast and well-saturated colors.” It’s remarkably vibrant no matter the environment and no matter what you’re watching. The ice during the NHL Stanley Cup playoffs will be absolutely glistening on this TV, with its 5000 nits peak brightness, up to 5,600 local dimming zones, and support for HDR in Dolby Vision, HDR10, HDR10+, and HLG. The 165Hz native refresh rate doesn’t hurt either. It won’t have any of the glitching and stuttering your old TV did.
It’s not just great for watching sports, either. Those dim-lit scenes in your favorite shows and movies will actually pop with the U8’s ultra-bright Mini LED panel. It’s even IMAX-enhanced for cinema-like picture quality. The Google TV smart platform provides a streamlined interface covering all the major streaming services, as well as Google Cast, Apple AirPlay, and Google Assistant for hands-free control.
Mashable Deals
On a normal day, we’d say the 75-inch Hisense U8 TV is too expensive for most folks, but as of April 22, it’s finally down to a price that won’t cause sticker shock.
Entertainment
Apples excellent AirPods Pro 3 are back on sale for just $200 — a $50 savings
SAVE $49.01: The Apple AirPods Pro 3 are 20% at Amazon and Walmart as of April 22. Snag a pair for just $199.99 (normally $249).
Our very own Stan Schroeder is fresh off reviewing the new AirPods Max 2, Apple’s updated over-ear headphones. While he thought their noise cancellation has improved since the last generation, they still can’t block out sounds as well as the AirPods Pro 3: “Wearing them on a busy street makes the outside noise vanish in a spectacular fashion,” he writes of the earbuds.
So, if you’re an Apple user looking for best-in-class ANC, stick with the AirPods Pro 3. Right now, they happen to be on sale for just $199.99 at Amazon and Walmart — that’s a savings of nearly $50 and one of their best deals to date. They briefly hit $184 on Amazon back in February, but never since. (And they were $219.99 everywhere last Black Friday.)
For comparison’s sake, the AirPods Max 2 are up to $350 pricier depending on the color.
The AirPods Pro 3 actually have the same H2 chip as the AirPods Max 2, so they support the same suite of smart features like Adaptive Audio and Live Translation. On top of that, they come with a built-in heart rate monitor that “worked perfectly,” per Mashable contributor Adam Doud. (Read his full review.)
Mashable Deals
On their own, the AirPods Pro 3 will net you up to eight hours of battery life per charge with their ANC enabled. Their included charging case adds an extra 24 hours of use.
I can personally assure you that you won’t find the AirPods Pro 3 on sale for anywhere cheaper — even if you go for a used pair. In new condition, they’re $239.99 at B&H Photo and full price at Best Buy and Target. Then there’s Best Buy’s open-box AirPods Pro 3, which are are $204.99 in fair condition. Pass.
Entertainment
LA public schools pass screen time limits for students in a first
Los Angeles public school students may be returning to the age of college-ruled notebooks and Scantrons, following a Tuesday school board vote that will limit the use of computers, laptops, and tablets in classrooms.
Titled “Using Technology with Intention,” the new resolution mandates the creation of grade-level and subject-specific screen time limits across Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) schools, including a complete ban on device usage for kindergarten and first grade. The use of one-to-one devices, like individual Chromebooks, will be discouraged for second through fifth grades, as well.
Revised guidelines will also address video-aided lesson plans, access to video streaming platforms like YouTube, and expanded restrictions on gaming and social media platforms.
District staff must present the revised tech use policy by June, which will go into effect for all LAUSD students beginning with the 2026-2027 school year. Guidelines will be reevaluated every year, and schools are tasked with tracking and sharing student screen time numbers with parents.
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The resolution cites increasing concern about the effect of screen time on young minds and alleged screen addiction, including recent Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) studies that show a correlation between high screen time and adverse health effects. The board was unanimously in favor of the tech restrictions, with one recusal.
“We know that tech is not going away and can be a powerful tool in the classroom. This is not about going backwards. This is about rethinking school time and screen time in schools to ensure we are doing what actually helps students learn best,” board member Nick Melvoin said during Tuesday’s meeting.
“This is not about going backwards. This is about rethinking school time…”
Advocates, parents, and even students have spent the last year lobbying for greater tech restrictions following the passing of a 2025 bell-to-bell cellphone ban restricting the use of personal devices during school hours. Schools Beyond Screens, a national classroom tech safety coalition founded by LAUSD parents and teachers, helped craft the resolution in collaboration with board members and co-sponsors Melvoin, Karla Griego, Tanya Ortiz Franklin, Jerry Yang, Kelly Gonez, and Rocío Rivas.
“Now is the time for a safe and science-backed approach to classroom technology, one that is not guided by Big Tech talking points like screen value over screen time,” the organization wrote in a press release following the decision.
“There is much work to be done, and this is only the beginning, but today, we are proud, grateful, and – for the first time in a long time – hopeful. Our kids may yet have the kind of public education that they deserve — one that is proven effective and free of undue digital distraction, harmful content, and corporate exploitation.”
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