Spotify may not be acknowledging it yet, but it has already started rolling out its own app-specific voice assistant for iOS and Android devices. The popular music streaming service was already accessible by mainstream voice assistants like Siri, Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant. It seems, however, that Spotify wanted to take matters into its own hands, or rather voice.
Spotify, one of the leading music platforms in the world isn't the only music streaming service that has recently implemented its own version of an existing technology. Amazon Music, for example, recently rolled out Car Mode in a bid to make it easier to access music while on the road through a simplified interface, which is a similar strategy employed by Apple's CarPlay and Google's Android Auto. In a somewhat like-minded move, Spotify has now introduced a voice assistant to handle music-focus commands in-house.
As confirmed by TechCrunch and The Verge, among others, Spotify is releasing its own voice assistant to iOS and Android devices which uses the "Hey Spotify" wake phrase. Spotify will need to be open on a user's phone for it to work, but they can then ask Spotify to play certain songs, albums or podcasts. Or, if they have Spotify Connect-enabled speakers on their Wi-Fi network, they can use voice commands to tell Spotify to cast music to those specific speakers.
As TechCrunch speculated, the unannounced rollout of "Hey Spotify" could be a sign that a new piece of Spotify-branded hardware is on the way. The publication reported that the origins of "Hey Spotify" date back to an unreleased device for cars that Spotify called "Car Thing." In apparent confirmation of this device, MacRumors found images of Car Thing in the Spotify app's code. The question now is, if and when Car Thing does arrive, how will it differentiate itself from the functionality of a Spotify-enabled smartphone? Now that "Hey Spotify" is (un)officially coming to mobile devices, it seems like both smartphones and Car Thing may be capable of carrying out similar functions - that is, adjusting volume, changing tracks, and accessing Spotify hands-free.
To be fair to Spotify's unconfirmed, impending auto device, it may prove to be an easier tool for music control inside a car. Smartphones can only access "Hey Spotify" when the app is open, so maybe Car Thing will have a kind of always-on microphone allowing drivers to use their voice to change music whenever they want. Maybe Car Thing's controls will also be more simple to access compared to a smartphone, in the same way car stereos are typically safer to use while behind the wheel. These are all hypotheticals, of course, but it is clear that Spotify's Car Thing will need to have more functionality than the average smartphone to make it a worthwhile purchase.
Source: TechCrunch, The Verge
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