The popular music streaming platform Spotify’s much-anticipated in-car gadget, a voice-controlled music player known as the Car Thing, has just surfaced in a handful of in-app renders discovered by MacRumors contributor Mr. Steve Moser in Spotify’s app code.
These renderings closely match with photographs of the real mockups sent to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) as part of filings.
The evolved Spotify Car Thing design, which includes a big knob on the right, a color screen, and four buttons on top, is much cleaner thanks to these renders. The official company renders from when the product was first launched in 2019 revealed a much smaller screen.
Spotify’s nature has since shifted far closer to that of a smart display, which makes sense given that it now looks more like a miniature infotainment screen found in a modern car. The screen and a potential interface design and various mount designs for connecting the device to various parts of the dashboard are seen in these new renders.
There’s no way of knowing when or even whether Spotify will officially introduce the product. The Car Thing was unveiled in 2019 as a test product to help Spotify better understand users’ listening habits while on the go, and the company’s February event, where it outlined its latest Hi-Fi streaming tier, came and went without any new details on the device.
So far, there’s no official product name, release date, or other specifics showing whether this will ever leave Spotify’s testing lab and into a consumer’s vehicle. However, the updated design, FCC filings, and now the in-app renders all point to the product having a future. We don’t know what it looks like at the moment.
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