[Car Thing][Developer] SDK for Spotify Car Thing

[manish181992]

Hi Team,

Car thing is very nice piece of hardware, specially the controls. I am sad to see it going away. I want to ask the team to release an SDK for it, so the homebrew developers can keep it alive for longer. Please consider it before killing the device support.

Thanks

[BaileyH]

Exactly what is says in the title, open source car thing/ make it just interact with the Android notification that allows you to pause and skip if you have to remove your car thing servers.

[apgrovas]

It is sad that Spotify has decided to brick Car Things on December this year as many of us have only had this device for a couple of years. The decision to do this by Spotify is causing unnecessary ewaste of a device that could have been used for a number of years. Given that we live in a planet whose resources we, as a species are already depleting, myopic decisions like this only make the situation worse. Because of this I ask Spotify to find al alternate solution to allow these devices to continue to be used in one way or another and simply turn them into paperweights.

[kayluhb]

Please do this, I bought two of these things and use them everyday. I would hate for them to be complete e-waste..

[trademark7]

I’m currently paying for Spotify (family plan premium) and Apple Music and debating going one way or another. I’ll be honest, the decision on whether or not Spotify open sources this or decides CarThing is eWaste will be the determining factor for me. 

[luckymike]

As per your company pages of “wanting to be part of the solution” to climate change, open sourcing would be a vote aligned with your values by reducing your ewaste impact

https://www.lifeatspotify.com/diversity-equity-impact/climate-action 

[pingpongdog]

Better this than have the majority of people who purchased the soon-to-be bricked device change to another streaming service… do the right thing for the consumer, for yourselves, and for the environment!

[darxstarr]

Your decision to intentionally brick a functional product that many use and not offer a refund is a gross practice and makes many customers like myself lose trust in you. How do we know you're not going to continue to deceive us and disable any new devices or services we pay for? I hope the Spotify team can reconsider and do things the right way. I've been a loyal customer for 10+ years and this feels like a giant slap to the face and makes me want to reconsider keeping my premium family plan with you. Please do better!

[spotifyman16]

Multiple memebrs of my family and I all have Car Things and they're fantastic little devices. I find it really hard to believe that there is some sort of server-side software that is required to keep these devices alive and working. They're local and connect to the phone via bluetooth, why on earth would you decide to just brick all these devices? All this accomplishes is 1) making a lot of people angry and 2) creating metric tons of e-waste that is in no shape or form in alignment with your claims of company sustainability. Allowing the devices to continue to function as is, even without the voice capability, and possibly open-sourcing the software behind it for the community of makers and tinkers would go a long way. People will vote with their wallets, and I've been on the fence about moving to Tidal for some time now becasue you won't develop a Hi-Fi version of your service and it's pretty annoying. This may be all I need to make the switch away from Spotify.

[Boris92]

Do it Spotify, Daniel Ek also used open source to build this company. We can also experiment.

[DevinWS]

In the wake of Spotify’s decision to discontinue the Car Thing device, a wave of customer dissatisfaction has emerged, particularly due to the lack of refunds or open-source alternatives12. A proactive approach to mitigate customer frustration could involve maintaining support for the device for a predetermined period or, alternatively, releasing it as open-source software. This would not only preserve the device’s functionality for current users but also foster a community-driven development environment. By doing so, Spotify could transform a potential public relations setback into an opportunity for community engagement and customer loyalty. Open-sourcing the Car Thing could lead to innovative uses beyond Spotify’s original scope, potentially unlocking new markets and uses for the device. Moreover, it aligns with a sustainable ethos by preventing unnecessary electronic waste, thereby reinforcing Spotify’s commitment to both its customers and the environment.