Car View missing

[jordypeatpeat]

Plan

Premium

Country

New Zealand

Device

Samsung Galaxy S20+ 5G

Operating System

Android 11 

My Question or Issue

As of today the 'Car Mode' is missing from my settings. I have it on all the time for driving before and after work, but when I started playing music this morning it defaulted to the main play view with no sign of the setting.

Is this feature removed or is it a bug? Does anyone else have this problem?

Thanks!

[jordypeatpeat]

Hey @jordypeatpeat,

Thanks for posting here.

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.

Please bear with us for the time being. While we work backstage on improving the experience, one alternative would be to listen hands-free via Google Assistant. This feature also works with Google Maps so you can navigate while listening to Spotify. In order to do that, you can link your accounts and say ‘Hey Google, play Spotify’.

If available to you, Android Auto and Apple CarPlay both have Spotify integrations that you can link to your phone and a specifically designed for a driving environment.

We hope you understand. Stay tuned for further developments!

All the best and safe driving.

[Markjharvey]

Using Spoify in the car now means that every time I want to either skip a track on my playlists, or replay a track, I curse Spotify.......no easy or safe way of doing it without Car View, unless I try and use Google Assistant.....come on Spotify, sort this out , it is such an easy thing to do.

[bukowski23]

is it possible to load an old apk (removing the auto update) and solve this?

[Jura_]

I tried that. After installation, it is present, but after the restart it is gone again.. Not update, just restart. I guess they can control the settings remotely.

[Markjharvey]

This misses the point entirely. Spotify had removed the feature without providing an alternative, making the service worse. This is not innovation and is bad application management as well as appalling customer service. Please reinstal the feature until the innovation comes through. Don't leave your customers in this ridiculous limbo. Its dangerous!

[Markjharvey]

I totally agree, bring back the service until its replacement is in place.

[Dewil]

Why this setting have been removed.

I used this in my office, home or bathing to keep screen always on while using Spotify app. I hit next song or forward, etc.

Bring it BACK!

[Jamfreddie]

Makes driving more difficult at night too. Having to look past a bright album cover (instead of the car view dark screen) to see a corner of the road means your eyes are not adjusted to the conditions outside the car. Had to turn it off the other night when driving in the countryside as it was becoming dangerous. 

[Markjharvey]

Totally agree, come on Spotify, please sort this out.

[Markjharvey]

Totally agree

[warhamster]

I tried some other services in attempts to find a better car mode than Spotify had. Amazon has a car mode, but it is a **bleep** where more than half of the screen is taken with "recommendations" they try to push down your throat, and the rest of the app is not really better. Youtube doesn't have a car mode at all, it is supposed that you will be using Android Auto. Deezer has a car mode in the beta version, but it really is a beta and totally unusable (not even because of bugs, but because the layout is absolutely ridiculous and the features are very limited, I actually doubt they even work on it at all).

By the way, Google has recently updated the "Android Auto on screen" app which hasn't been updated for so long that I thought it is abandoned. So it still can be used with Spotify as well and gives a similar functionality, but it also adds inconvenience because you have to switch it off when you are not really driving (it forces "do not disturb" mode and uses a different view of Google Maps).

But since I have to use Android Auto for literally every service anyway, I don't see a good reason to stay on Spotify. I personally have canceled my Spotify premium and now trying Deezer, looks fine for me so far, all my playlists have been imported (only a dozen of tracks in ~10000 couldn't be found) and I have 3 free trial months.

[Markjharvey]

Thanks, looks interesting, will check out DEEZER.

[catedesmonica]

Thanks Warhamster for that info. I too am looking and alternatives and your comment was really helpful. Seems deezer is the way to go,I'll be giving them a trial 👍

[Isfahaninejad]

It's been over two months and nothing. Why do you guys remove features without having replacements ready to go? It's completely nonsensical.

[Markjharvey]

Totally agree. This is a ridiculous situation. Come on Spotify, sort this out. Its got to be an easy issue to resolve.

[user-removed]

I'm pretty sure the pitifully political response posted on here is beating around the bush. Spotify wants people to buy Car Thing, and I'm sure the removal is as simple as that. I would not be surprised if Car Mode is a permanent removal from the app, with no "new innovations" on the way.

[catedesmonica]

There is no replacement, they want you to buy their car thing which is only available in USA. Dodgy as !!

[Falco1994]

Please bring it back, there is no other solution for me. I have a carkit with a parrot in my car, so bring it back please! Here in Europe we couldn’t buy a carting and with de google assistent is not fine!  So give the car view back in the app!

[Markjharvey]

If this is about Car Thing, then it looks to be a major flaw in Spotify's plans to dominate music streaming. If you need hardware, why not just use your phone.....come on Spotify, think about it....then restore Car View. You know it makes more sense.....

[Rideabout]

Car View is excellent.

I can easily see what’s playing in my classic car if I don’t recognize the music.

Please keep it available.

[jester350]

Removed so they can push a bit of hardware which is only available in the US, and I say available very loosely as the waiting list for Car Thing is huge due to the chip shortage