Less than two years ago, Spotify added support for a “Car View” to its mobile app on Android and iOS, which would display a simplified UI while driving. Unfortunately, Spotify is now ending support for that feature.
“Car View” previously offered support for Spotify to simplify its interface by only showing playback controls, song titles, and other relevant information. The interface also featured significantly larger touch targets and no distracting elements such as the “Canvas” videos, lyrics, and others. The simplified interface would automatically appear when connected to a car over Bluetooth, and could be managed in the Settings.
Now, Spotify is pulling the plug on this feature. The company confirmed the choice to retire the feature on its community forums, as highlighted by Android Police.
We can confirm that we’re retiring the car view feature. This however doesn’t mean we don’t want to improve on how our users listen to Spotify while driving. On the contrary, we’re actively exploring a variety of new ways to deliver the best in-car listening experience. Think of retiring car-view as something that needs to happen in an effort to make way for new innovations coming down the track.
In that post, Spotify highlights its integration with Google Maps and Assistant as alternatives to Car View.
Of note, too, is that Spotify is currently testing its “Car Thing” device as a way to control playback in the car. The $80 device is dedicated solely to Spotify and has both physical and voice controls.
More on Spotify:
- Spotify adds real-time lyrics on Android, Google TV; expands podcast support to more countries
- Spotify offline playback is now actively rolling out to Wear OS users
- Spotify adds ‘Car View’ mode on Android, automatically activates when paired to a vehicle
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