Spotify’s simplified Car View mode is being ‘retired’ | Engadget

When Spotify introduced its stripped down Car View mode in 2019, it appeared like a wise approach to stop drivers from being distracted on the street. Whenever you linked to your automobile over Bluetooth, it will take away extraneous parts like menu buttons and album artwork. Instead, it gave you giant buttons to pause and play music; soar to the earlier or subsequent monitor; or like a particular tune. Nifty! But hope you did not get too connected, as Spotify has confirmed it is “retiring” the characteristic, in response to a recent support thread (via Android Police).

A Spotify moderator, who was replying to a person who observed the characteristic had disappeared from his Android app, famous that Spotify is “actively exploring a variety of new ways to deliver the best in-car listening experience.” They added that eradicating automobile view is important to “make way for new innovations.” That’s affordable sufficient, although it would not excuse dumping a genuinely helpful security characteristic with out a clear substitute. 

The moderator advised utilizing Google Assistant (or Siri on iOS) to regulate Spotify hands-free, one thing that might additionally work whereas navigating with Google or Apple Maps. And, to be honest, that is how many individuals (together with myself) find yourself controlling tunes on the street. 

It may very well be that Spotify is de-prioritizing Car View just because there are such a lot of different methods to deal with music playback in automobiles. If you’ve got bought a contemporary automobile with CarPlay or Android Auto assist, you may solely be interacting along with your in-dash show and can by no means see Car View in motion. Many autos made within the final decade even have some form of media management on their steering wheels.  

Of course, there is a extra nefarious goal, as some Spotify customers talked about within the discussion board thread. It may very well be that the corporate is attempting to push folks in the direction of Car Thing, its $80 show accent. We discovered it to be a helpful improve for older automobiles, but it surely additionally appeared superfluous when you can simply mount your telephone and management Spotify instantly. Without Car View mode, although, that unusual gadget unexpectedly appears extra useful. In circumstances like this, although, the only clarification often comes all the way down to firms realizing sure options aren’t getting used a lot.

We’ve reached out to Spotify for a full clarification about Car View’s retirement, and can replace after we hear again.