What do you want to know
- Spotify announced that as of December 9, 2024, it would abandon Car Thing and make all existing hardware useless.
- The company began selling Car Things in early 2021, stopped production in 2022, and will now release Car Thing into the wild by the end of 2024.
- Car Thing is a connected accessory that relies on a connection to your smartphone, so there’s no additional strain on Spotify’s servers by supporting it any longer. It’s unclear exactly what Spotify’s motivations are for abandoning the product.
In a surprise move, Spotify announced on Thursday (May 23) that it would completely drop support for Car Thing later this year, breaking all devices sold. Car Thing was Spotify’s first hardware product, announced in early 2021. It served as an intermediary between your smartphone and your car, specifically aimed at cars that didn’t have Android Auto or Apple CarPlay support. The small touchscreen device was marketed as an easier and safer way to listen to Spotify tracks while driving.
When Car Thing debuted, the general consensus was that it was an interesting idea with no clear goal. In fact, in our own Car Thing review, we came to the same conclusion. It had a quality design, a simple user interface and voice control – but was it really necessary as more and more cars began to come with proprietary infotainment systems, Android Auto support and Apple CarPlay capabilities?
Spotify apparently came to the same conclusion. The company made the Car Thing widely available in February 2022 and stopped making new ones five months later. Now, as of December 9, 2024, Spotify is completely removing support for Car Thing. This doesn’t just mean that it won’t provide Car Thing software updates or after-sales support. He is actively destroying every hardware device he has ever sold. Car Things will work perfectly on December 8th and will become electronic waste on December 10th.
Spotify’s removal of Car Thing isn’t a typical end-of-life shutdown
Every device will eventually reach its end-of-life status, so Spotify dropping support for Car Thing isn’t egregious in itself. However, products and accessories that rely on server-side support to function are in a whole different category and must follow a separate set of rules. When you buy something like Car Thing, which relies on the Spotify service to provide value, there is an expectation that the service will be maintained for a reasonable length of time.
Spotify stopped making Car Things at the end of July 2022 and sold off existing inventory for a while afterward. Let’s say you purchased a Car Thing in July 2022. In this scenario, Car Thing will only have been supported for about 17 months. This is a good time to also point out that thing sold for $90. Again, Spotify isn’t just ending software support or customer service for Car Thing; this renders the device completely useless.
It’s the gamble of purchasing hardware products that can’t function without the backing of a company. In these situations, it could be argued that there is an implicit agreement between the buyer and seller that support will be offered for a certain period of time.
Spotify removing support for Car Thing is different than, say, Apple removing iOS support for an iPad. The oldest Internet-connected device I own is the first-generation iPad, which was released in 2010 and received its last iOS update (5.1.1) in 2012. All features supported by Internet and server do not work on this iPad; in fact, many of them don’t work at all. But I can still use the iPad, access all my apps and games, and even connect to the internet. The equivalent of Spotify’s decision would have been if Apple had simply told me to throw away my iPad in 2012.
In fact, Spotify says in its announcement that it recommends “disposing of your device safely by following local e-waste guidelines.”
The glaring aspect of Spotify’s choice to brick Car Things is that these devices require no additional maintenance on the company’s part. Car Thing is a connected device that requires a smartphone to operate and connects to the Spotify app on your phone. There is no public knowledge of any Car Thing feature or service that requires additional server support or infrastructure to function beyond what everyone uses when connecting to a Spotify client . In other words, I don’t see any practical reason why Spotify would kill Car Thing other than because it can.
Spotify’s official support document and email sent to users appear to confirm my version of events. The email begins with a single sentence: “We’re shifting gears.” Spotify wants to put the Car Thing behind it and will build devices to that end.
“We have made the decision to shut down Car Thing. This means that Car Thing will no longer be operational,” Spotify explained in a support document. “This decision was not taken lightly and we want to assure you that our commitment to providing a superior listening experience remains unchanged.”
I’m not the only one dismayed by Spotify’s actions
At first, I thought I was the only one disgusted by Spotify’s treatment of the Car Thing. My reaction was partly because I think Car Thing was a really cool concept that could have taken off. However, I was surprised to find that there is a small but passionate cohort of Car Thing users who are just as disappointed by Spotify’s actions. In social media posts, some have highlighted their dissatisfaction with the lack of refunds offered by Spotify for their Car Thing purchase.
hey @Spotify I would like to be reimbursed for my perfectly functional car that will stop working at the end of this year, thanksMay 23, 2024
Hi @Spotify – since you are discontinuing Car Thing and the existing ones will no longer be functional after the end of this year, are you refunding those of us who purchased it directly from you?May 23, 2024
Others have declared their love for Car Thing and seem to still use the product in their cars to this day.
Spotify drops Car Thing in December! It sucks, I love this thing. pic.twitter.com/pSlR1SLKhWMay 23, 2024
I realize I’m one of 5 people who actually uses Car Thing but…why? The decision maker connects to my phone via Bluetooth and puts no strain on @Spotify’s servers. Just let the people who use it continue to do so. pic.twitter.com/kpLwgxJRisMay 23, 2024
Finally, some users questioned whether regulators should step in and make actions like Spotify’s illegal in the future.
So when will there be a law against selling something that relies on a cloud service and then simply removing the cloud service? https://t.co/Ae5YEKsy2LMay 23, 2024
Beyond these messages, there were many others that conveyed similar sentiments with much more profanity. Deep down, people are crazy, and for good reason.
Does the Spotify Car Thing have a place in 2024?
It’s worth asking whether Car Thing had a place in 2024, a time when most cars come with some sort of built-in infotainment system. I think Car Thing had a reason to exist since there are many older cars without media control support. Google claims there are more than 200 million cars on the roads with Android Auto, and that sounds like a lot until you realize there are just under 1.5 billion cars on the roads in the world, according to 2024 figures from Hedges & Company.
But it doesn’t matter that Car Thing has to exist, because Spotify has already stopped making the hardware. This only concerns the software. As we mentioned previously, there is no clear reason why Spotify should discontinue software support for Car Thing. Whether Car Thing is a good idea or not, the bottom line is simple: Spotify sold them, so it has an obligation to support them.
What can we learn from Car Thing?
First, I want to point out that there is still time for Spotify to right this wrong, and I hope that the negative sentiment around the company’s actions will cause it to rethink its approach. We just saw Sony backtrack on its decision to require PSN accounts for the game Helldivers 2 following public pressure, so it’s possible. While refunds for Car Thing are probably unlikely, I think Spotify offering a credit that could be used toward Spotify Premium subscriptions would be a fair solution to the problem.
Moving forward, Spotify’s treatment of Car Thing should remind consumers to be wary of purchasing hardware from software companies, especially when said hardware relies on services, because that usually doesn’t end well. If this situation doesn’t make you reconsider your support for Spotify as a company, let this at least be a warning for purchasing server-supported hardware in the future.