What do you like most about Car Thing?

[Mario]

Hey everyone,

Since announcing the launch of our new smart player Car Thing last week, the enthusiasm we keep receiving in response has been as awesome as the thing itself. 

More than just a player, it’s your own soundtrack curator when in the car while it allows you to completely focus on driving.

Now, a question for you, dear Community folks: 

What are the features of Car Thing you like most so far? 

Car Thing has many awesome features - like the voice control, the steering dial, or the super-efficient display - which might make it hard to pick only “one” best feature. 

So don’t hesitate to let us know “all” the features you think are great or the best ones!

If someone asked what I personally consider one of the best features (aside from those already mentioned above), my reply would be: “the four preset buttons”. I love the idea of having super easy shortcuts to my own personalized mixes of my favorite artists, playlists, stations, and podcasts while driving!

So, Community, what do you like most about Car Thing?

Let us once more share we’re super happy to be seeing this positive response and thank you from the bottom of our hearts. Your inputs will help us make nice things great and awesome ones, fabulous.

Don’t be shy and let us know what you enjoy in the comments 🙂 We’ll be checking in regularly!

[Nlaughton]

I love how I can’t use it while wearing sunglasses, you guys don’t offer a refund, an d have quietly stopped production and lowered the price to $30 because this thing sucks so much. Does that answer your question, Mario?

[b0fn1-jj5_52j]

This is Day 1 for me

Setup was beyond easy. I was expecting a long drawn out ordeal but I was up in seconds.

My car is a 2005 Prius. I’m connecting to my speakers with a Bluetooth FM adapter. The Car Thing connected with no issues. It feels like my car got a major upgrade. 

I like the preset idea but I wish the buttons were on the bottom. When I want to put my car thing away I end up pressing the preset button. I’m not sure where a better location would be though.

I love the voice feature. Being able to call out a playlist without fumbling with my phone is great. 

[NakotaDinzeo]

There is two things, that could make the Car Thing go from excellent to Legendary...

One is just desk mounting options, maybe with support for pairing with desktop Spotify clients. I've been seeing a lot of people sticking these around their desks.

But the big one, the one that would make me upgrade to a V2 immediately... An audio output jack.

When I got it, I got two. One for myself, and one for my sister. Her car just doesn't have Bluetooth, but it has an AUX port and one of those annoying head units that can't be easily replaced because they integrate the climate controls into the radio as a single module. I have a 2015 Kia Soul with the base radio which does have Bluetooth, it's just really slow to pair up with my phone and won't swap to Bluetooth automatically. When I saw Car Thing, I kinda assumed it had an audio output...

Don't get me wrong, everything else about it is perfection. The interface is simple and easy to control without being distracting, the build quality is amazing, and it held up to the summer heat without an issue. I just wish it had that audio output haha.

If I somehow am reaching the ears of someone who may be thinking of making a V2, consider giving it two modes. line-level and headphone like. Line-level would be like the output CD players in the day had, where the output volume is locked for AUX ports and other amplified inputs. The headphone like would allow the output volume to be adjusted with the knob like it is now, for people using things like cassette adapters which need a little more oomph to get adequate volume or for people using it in a creative way outside the car. Being paired with unpowered PC speakers to make a Spotify-only Bluetooth speaker in places like Mechanic's shops where being able to change your music without touching anything would be useful.

[amadesu]

The notifications for feature reminders SUPER SUCK! PLEASE TURN THEM OFF!

[dirgeon]

Try this: Rightmost button on top > Options > Onscreen tips => Off

[afunk]

The car thing is great, but it certainly has use-cases beyond just car stuff.

I bought this device hoping to use it as a Spotify controller for devices that I can 'cast' to in my home.  Sono speakers, Chromecast, etc.  This is not possible given the current UI/UX.  

FEATURE REQUEST:

If there was a button (could be togglable in settings) that allowed me to select 'Current Device' just as I can from web, mobile UI, then this device would open up countless, interesting use cases.  A Spotify controller on the living room wall, attached to the bedside table or in the kitchen all become possibilities.  I understand there may be current hardware restrictions due to the way in which the Car Thing connects to a Spotify account (via Bluetooth).  But, assuming hardware is not an issue, the ability to select a device to play from via the Car Thing's UI, it would greatly expand its functionality at low technical overhead.

Anyways I hope someone reads this and finds it useful too.  If you do, drop a reply.

[im_england]

I appreciate how my Car Thing connects automatically as soon as I turn on my car, but I'm frustrated that it immediately starts playing the last thing I was listening to. Even if I close the Spotify app, Car Thing will launch it and start playing music. I've tried looking it up online, but the solutions I've found don't address my problem. All I want is for Car Thing to default to pause instead of play when it connects.