Spotify’s ‘Car Thing’ Is Officially Dead
Credit: Spotify
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Spotify’s odd but ambitious in-car accessory is now singing its swan song. The streaming giant has officially killed off the Car Thing, leaving loyal early adopters who enthusiastically purchased the device with what are now essentially bricks.
When it was released in early 2022, Spotify’s Car Thing piqued our interest as a unique step for the streaming company, which had never before released a hardware accessory. The dash-mounted streaming control was a single-purpose device that, as Spotify said, “has one job and does it awesomely,” providing a simple interface to let the service’s fans enjoy their music on the road without fiddling with their mobile phones.
To be clear, Car Thing wasn’t a streaming device by itself; merely a remote controller for the Spotify app on your smartphone. As you might expect, it was exclusive to Spotify; however, it was really only for folks who didn’t already have CarPlay or Android Auto in their vehicles.
Car Thing arguably provided a nicer and more streamlined interface than the Spotify app running on a standard Apple or Android-powered infotainment system. It also added “Hey Spotify” voice control. Still, few people would be eager to strap a Car Thing onto the dashboard beside a CarPlay screen.
It’s hard to say where the Venn diagram of drivers without CarPlay and Spotify fans intersects, but clearly, Spotify felt it had the market to pull it off. Sadly, it was wrong.
Car Thing lasted about five months before the company abandoned it. The official line was that it built the device to “better understand in-car listening and bring audio to a wider range of users and vehicles,” but was forced to stop production due to “product demand and supply chain issues.” Translation: It seemed like a good idea at the time.
Nevertheless, even as Spotify announced that there would be no more Car Things, it promised those who had purchased one that “existing devices will perform as intended.” For early adopters, it seemed they’d be privileged to own an exclusive Spotify accessory. However, that all changed in May when Spotify announced that the existing devices would, in fact, stop performing as intended on December 9, 2024.
We have made the decision to discontinue Car Thing. This means that Car Thing will no longer be operational. This decision wasn’t made lightly, and we want to assure you that our commitment to providing a superior listening experience remains unchanged.Spotify
The company initially added insult to injury by telling folks to reset their Car Thing to factory settings and then toss it in the trash. Fans were not impressed, and while the device didn’t take off the way Spotify accepted, there was a niche community of strong fans who began contemplating a class action lawsuit. Following that negative backlash, Spotify rethought its decision and decided to institute a refund process for Car Thing.
Car Thing users are now seeing the following message on their devices:
Car Thing is discontinued and no longer operational. Thank you for being on this journey with us, safe travels. For more information, visit carthing.com. Contact customer service by no later than January 14th, 2025 to discuss your refund options.
Even today, those folks who excitedly bought into Car Thing are mourning its demise and decrying the lack of alternatives. Some feel that Spotify has treated them so badly they’re talking of switching to Apple Music and aftermarket CarPlay systems. More ambitious tinkerers are looking for ways to repurpose Car Thing, but it doesn’t seem to be for the faint of heart. It doesn’t have the horsepower to be a full Android device, although there’s a grassroots DeskThing project to repurpose it as a remote PC controller.
In the end, Car Thing was a cool idea that was probably too niche to have had a chance. Despite Spotify’s wild popularity among streaming services, there simply wasn’t enough of a market for it in an era where the majority of vehicles made in the last five years have CarPlay or Android Auto, and plenty of reasonably affordable third-party solutions are available for those that don’t.
