[iOS] Implement Native HomePod Support

[robotoman22]

Details

Just this week at WWDC (June 22, 2020), Apple announced support for third party music services on the HomePod.  I'm requesting that Spotify implement native support for the HomePod such that one or even multiple HomePods will appear in the "Connect to a device" menu on any Apple device WITHOUT having to connect through Airplay.  This will also allow users to ask Siri to play songs from Spotify on their HomePod(s). 

Apple is opening up the HomePod, and I know there are many other HomePod users that would love to have native Spotify support on their speaker. 

Resources

• WWDC 2020 video and further resources about this topic: https://developer.apple.com/videos/play/wwdc2020/10061
• More details on this site: https://developer.apple.com/siri/
• Form to request music service integration from Apple: https://developer.apple.com/contact/request/sirikit-media-intent-for-homepod

Please upvote this idea to garner attention for it.  Thank you Spotify and the Spotify community.  Let's get this implemented so it's ready for general iOS 14 release this September!

[aamprivate]

Hello Spotify support

Thank you for supporting airplay 2. However this is not the same as proper support for Apple HomePod. Spotify even runs on Apple watch, so cannot see why supporting HomePod is taking such unnecessary time. 

At the end of the day, content (and ease of use) is king, and Spotify has always supplemented this with excellent device-agnostic hardware support -  But Apple music content and ease of use is no peasant either, and given the same content, Apple music is the king on HomePods. Surely Spotify would want to keep their customers not lose them out of a political fight with Apple. The more Spotify delays supporting the HomePod, the more the small but steady loss of customers to Apple Music. And once gone, I am, sure there would be few turning back to Spotify.

Please take note and at least provide a time line. In the meanwhile, alas, I am de-premiuming my Spotify account in favour of Apple Music. 

Thank you.

[tryingtothink]

Spot on.

[Argonaut_1967]

Totally agree with the above…seriously considering moving back to Apple Music. I bought a HomePod mini recently expecting it to support Spotify as all my other devices do (iPhone, iPad, apple CarPlay etc..) however I can only use airplay. I really hope this support is added soon. Spotify playlists etc in my opinion are far better than Apple Music, I believe native HomePod support is a top-of-the-list feature seeing how popular HomePods are now especially since the release of the HomePod mini where a lot of people have multiple devices in their homes.

[manurojasv]

Since the release of tvOS 14.0 (HomePod runs a derivative version of tvOS) the ball has been on Spotify's court. We rightly put the blame on Apple for restricting the HomePod to Apple Music before the release of tvOS 14.0, but now we've been waiting for more than a year and there's no native Spotify support for the HomePod on the horizon. We've been hearing the same reason for a while now: that Spotify is in the middle of an antitrust complain against Apple. But, leaving In-App purchases aside, Spotify just can't keep claiming that Apple is not giving access to third-party music streaming services when Deezer, Pandora and iHeartRadio are working natively on the HomePod. Either Spotify is lying about supporting the HomePod or they don't care.

[Mrricearonie]

I find it funny how Spotify complains about how Apple doesn’t allow them on their platforms, while they turn around and come out with Car Thing that only allows Spotify. Sure, I agree that it wasn’t good when the HomePod came out and only supported Apple Music (which is why I avoided it until they announced tvOS 14), but complaining about a company doing one thing while you do something similar is not a great look. Especially once the company you are complaining about starts allowing you to do the thing you wanted them to do. 

[tryingtothink]

I'm starting to wonder whether the only way Spotify could be made to engage
would be for Apple to remove them from the App store until they elect to
support the product. Hurting us does not appear to be hurting them

[Argonaut_1967]

There’s probably some legal reason why they can’t…you know how these things go, pity though. I guess the only way if for more people to cancel their subscriptions and move to another service that supports this feature, but if they take too long implementing it people probably won’t return.

[tryingtothink]

Yes. I wonder.. Although I believe they have banned Fortnite and I think at
one point they were going to ban Facebook.
Maybe because they compete with Spotify they fear a backlash. Or maybe as
Spotify is in effect recruiting for Apple then Apple is happy. Unlike us.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-58669512
https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2021/10/25/apple-once-threatened-to-ban-facebook-over-mideast-maid...

[Argonaut_1967]

Yeah they are able to ban apps but maybe only for going against the App Store agreement, and not including a feature such as this wouldn’t do that I wouldn’t think….

If I go into the settings on Spotify the only option I have to link a Voice Assistant device is Amazon Alexa, however the fact that Spotify works with Apple CarPlay…surely HomePod support can’t be that much different or harder to implement.

[Inframan]

We have several Homepod Minis around the house. Spotifys poor support of the Homepod will eventually dry out our Family Premium subscription. It is not possible to play Spotify in all rooms on all Homepods at the same time. With only Airplay supported, you can only play in one of your rooms, not simultaneously. This is a deal breaker for me, by by Spotify.