[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

[bwool1]

Google was in a similar situation with their Stadia Controllers - hardware which was going to be bricked due to a discontinued service. They issued refunds for everything and also released a free software patch to turn the controllers into generic Bluetooth controllers rather than e-waste.

The precedent has already been set. Do the right thing, Spotify, and let us keep these out of the landfill. It'd be a shame to waste such good hardware.

[ElHombreTerrible]

Allow Car Thing to be an open source device vs. telling users to simply chuck it at an electronics recycler. It would be nice for all subscribers who invested in this device to not feel like they've been left holding a brick at the end of the year.

[shimsim]

If anyone at Spotify is listening to its customers or cares about the environment (think of all the unnecessary e-waste), this would be an excellent way to 'do the right thing'. Please show that you are not one of those monolithic corporate entities that has lost touch with humanity, I mean, you are supposed to care, after all you are enabling the sharing of music.

[OptoDino]

I get that Spotify doesn't want to pay for the servers to collect our data anymore, but maybe just shut off that part instead of bricking the whole thing? Now the focus, for me at least, is that this product's primary function was actually data collection instead of being a convenient accessory. Not a great look!

[supershibe]

Please make an SDK available. The fact that the current plan is to make the car thing ewaste is so shamelessly shortsighted and wasteful.

[CajunSasquatch]

Please release an SDK for Car Thing. Spotify should be responsible and not brick a perfectly usable device, and contribute to a growing E-Waste problem.

[Chandoggie]

I fully support this - rather than disabling devices and turning them into e-waste.

As mentioned by a previous poster, Google Stadia allowed users to update their Stadia controllers to become a generic Bluetooth controller. This was something that I did with my controller to avoid it becoming useless e-waste, plus it's a nice piece of hardware that does what it's built to do. I'd expect similar from Spotify should they continue with their decision, however, sunsetting all active support and allowing the existing devices to continue to function would be a more ideal outcome for Car Thing users (Spotify Premium subscribers).

[nmcezb5dydyxgae7629j]

I consider the car thing a device that promotes not touching your phone while driving. My old 2006 mini cooper can’t accommodate a CarPlay receiver and this device has updated the entertainment system keeping my phone in my pocket. It’s a sad day. I’d definitely mod it if there was access. Don’t add to the tech waste problem. Help us keep these out of the landfill!

[Shepple]

Please make this possible. I use this every day in my car. Not to mention you guys are just creating piles of E Waste pulling this stunt. If I can't have this I'm cancelling my membership, I already pay for youtube premium but this device was the main reason for me to pay another entire subscription for a music service and use spotify. 

[shimsim]

I am seeing a lot of coverage on this, most of the big tech channels have already written articles. Louise Rossmann has covered it on his YouTube channel, and I see so many people posting that they are reporting Spotify to various consumer protection groups. I know they say that there is no such thing as bad press, and sure, it gets people talking about Spotify, but there is no way they will get away with simply disabling a product that customers paid for without issuing a full refund.

Whilst most of the news covering this doesn't even understand how useful the Car Thingy was, those of us who are posting here obviously do, and whilst a full refund would be ethical, I think its fair to say that we would rather have a working Car Thingy because it was a really useful device. Not all of us have a car that integrates well with Spotify and likewise, not everyone wants to have their phone as an interface for their music when driving, so there is a genuine need for this device.

I really hope Spotify come to its senses and either keeps the Car Thingy functional or open-source it.