Almost a year after announcing it and allowing a limited number of users to try it out, Spotify is launching “Car Thing”, its official car accessory. It is now available for purchase directly from Spotify in the US only, for $ 89.99. It should also be noted that its use is limited to the premium subscribers of the music service.
Car Thing is a kind of miniature tablet, which also incorporates a physical roller. It comes with a touch screen and microphone, and its entire purpose is to allow easy control of the Spotify app on vehicles where there is no built-in solution for it. This is done whether through a large and clear display of albums, songs and podcasts, or through voice command. Car Thing has no batteries, and must be connected to the vehicle’s standard voltage input.
It is also important to emphasize that Car Thing does not connect to the audio system at all. It’s just a sort of remote, with the music or podcasts continuing to play from the phone itself. As Spotify explains, “If you can connect your phone to a car, you can easily do the same with Car Thing.” However in cars without AUX or Bluetooth built-in, the Spotify accessory offers no solution.
It seems that the main purpose of Car Thing is to make life easier for older vehicle users, who do not come with a large touch screen that supports CarPlay or Android Auto (or in the case of Tesla vehicles, with its own Spotify app). It is of course exclusive to Spotify services, and can not be used to control competing music apps.