Spotify’s mystery Car Thing media player shows up in hidden app code
And paid podcast subscriptions appear again
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
The Spotify Car Thing media player has beenin the worksfor several years at this point, but it might finally be about to be launched: new images of the device have been found hidden in the latest Spotify app for iOS.
As reported byMacRumors, the pictures show a gadget with a large rectangular screen and a chunky control dial, and we also get a peek at a couple of mounts that could be used to attach the Car Thing to a vehicle’s dashboard.
There’s one image of the software interface on board, which doesn’t reveal anything unexpected – it shows details of what’s being played, along with playback controls, a shuffle button, and a button to like the current track.
Spotify has previously acknowledged the existence of this in-car media player, but up until this point has labeled it as a test device. “Our focus remains on becoming the world’s number one audio platform – not on creating hardware,“Spotify saidin May 2019.
That focus may have shifted just a little bit, if these newly discovered images are anything to go by. What’s more, a devicematching Car Thing’s descriptionshowed up at US regulators in January of this year, a significant step on the way to a consumer launch.
Other details teased out of the Spotify iOS app code by MacRumors contributorSteve Moserinclude reference to a paid subscription for podcasts, which is a move that Spotify has beenrumored to be thinking aboutfor a while.
Spotify has been investing heavily in podcasts in recent years, and the code in the latest app also suggests that users will soon be able to add comments on individual podcast episodes, which is a feature that isn’t available at the moment.
Get the best Black Friday deals direct to your inbox, plus news, reviews, and more.
Sign up to be the first to know about unmissable Black Friday deals on top tech, plus get all your favorite TechRadar content.
We don’t have any indication of when these new podcast features or the Car Thing device might be announced officially, but presumably it’s going to be sooner rather than later – and we will of course keep you fully updated.
Dave is a freelance tech journalist who has been writing about gadgets, apps and the web for more than two decades. Based out of Stockport, England, on TechRadar you’ll find him covering news, features and reviews, particularly for phones, tablets and wearables. Working to ensure our breaking news coverage is the best in the business over weekends, David also has bylines at Gizmodo, T3, PopSci and a few other places besides, as well as being many years editing the likes of PC Explorer and The Hardware Handbook.
Spotify Wrapped 2024 – our release date predictions plus what to expect
Spotify finally lets you create playlist art – and it’s already my favorite new feature since Daylists
NYT Strands today — hints, answers and spangram for Sunday, November 10 (game #252)
