What is the Spotify Canvas "Safe-Zone"
In many of our Spotify Canvas style descriptions, you'll notice that we often mention what we call the Spotify Canvas "Safe Zone"
To clear up any confusion or ambiguity, we wanted to clarify exactly what we mean by this.
Spotify enables Canvas playback on all mobile devices that support the Spotify mobile application. However, all these devices have different screen sizes, for example, iPhone 6 vs iPhone 13 vs Galaxy Note, etc. As a result, when Spotify plays back canvas videos, it appears slightly differently on each device. In many of our Spotify Canvas template preview images, we show two variants of how your canvas videos will appear on legacy iPhones vs newer iPhones (rectangular screens vs notched screens). You can notice that in the case of this album art style the amount of padding on either side of the album artwork is less than what appears on the older iPhone style.
The other factor that defines the "safe-zone" is the positioning of the playback controls. These are the Spotify app controls that allow the user to move forward or back through their playback queue or playlist, and perform other basic music streaming application functionality.
This interface will be overlayed over your canvas by default, primarily positioned towards the bottom of the screen, with minimal text information on the very top of your screen. This leaves an unobscured space in the top third of your screen that will be visible no matter at all times. That area, combined with the area that appears on all devices, is what we designate as the safe zone.
That means that no matter if the playback controls are in focus, and no matter what device your listener is using, this area will be completely visible. Thus, we often use this area as the optimal location to place visual elements of interest in many of our Spotify Canvas styles. This ensures the maximum visibility of your principle visual elements no matter where your fans are listening, and helps make an excellent impression on new listeners.