Spotify announced the Car Thing feature back in February. Recently Spotify also added new capabilities to its Car Thing to do more things.
This update will allow you to use it for more than just controlling music on Spotify. Now, the infotainment device can answer phone calls, control other apps, and more.
This new addition is very useful especially in the month of Ramadan. For those of you who will soon be traveling to establish friendship with extended family, you can use these new features while stuck in traffic in the car.
All these features added by Spotify are sure to come in handy, and users are already praising the update. Features that allow users to answer calls and control other media apps are rolling out to iOS devices, while Android users will get them later. Here's what you can do now with Spotify Car Thing.
Answer Phone Call
The software update allows users to view incoming calls on their phones live on Spotify Car Thing. As long as your phone is connected to Car Thing via Bluetooth, the calls you receive will appear on the screen. Along with the name and number, the screen will display two large buttons that will allow you to accept or reject the call.
Other Media Controls
One of the biggest elements included in this update is the possibility to control other media apps, effectively taking that extra step in expanding the use of Car Thing beyond Spotify.
As long as the media is playing on your connected phone, Car Thing will act as an audio output and let you play, pause and skip tracks.
Add Song to Queue
One of the most frequently requested features by Car Thing users is the ability to add songs or podcasts to the queue from the device. Sure, doing this from your phone would be super easy, but the point of this device is to get past it.
Adding new content to a queue can be done in a few different ways. The first way is to tap on the Add to Queue icon that appears next to the songs in your list.
Another way is to use the dial. While you normally press the button once to play a song, you can also press and hold the button to add it to the queue when the track is highlighted.
Or if you have to pay more attention to the road that it's almost impossible to manipulate the Car Thing with your hands, you can also use voice commands. “Hey Spotify, queue [song name]”.
Plus, you can use your voice to have Car Thing show your queue. “Hey Spotify, open my queue” will bring up all the tracks in your list. Or, while in “Now Playing”, you can press and hold the call button.
Voice Request Playlist
You just need to ask for whatever genre of music you want to listen to. For example, you could say, “Hey Spotify, play some broken heart music,” or if you want to reminisce with old songs, “Hey Spotify, play some 90s Indonesian.”
