Spotify’s Car Thing is officially out of date. Long live Spotify’s car. Yesterday was the last day to enjoy The Car Thing as Spotify intended, as a way to try and catch up with playlists and podcasts for those of us with old cars that don’t have headphones. But that’s not stopping writers from keeping the dream of Spotify’s Car Thing alive.
People on the official Car Thing subreddit and elsewhere on the internet have figured out how to get around the annoying startup screen that locks them out of the once-functional utility they spent $80-$120 on not too long ago. Since the expiration date, some Car Thing devices have been rendered unusable, forcing users to see the screen with a long goodbye. There are several ways to bypass the splash screen or avoid it altogether to keep a dying device on life support. It all depends on how much you are willing to work to revive it.
Android Authority has discovered that some users can get to the termination screen by canceling the update on their device. Remember the Car Thing I reviewed three years ago? I took it out of the storyboard and I can still use the interface like things are working. Even Spotify’s voice service has come in handy a few times. Some people have been able to bypass the splash screen by holding down the settings button, the back button, and the first preset button while booting up.
So far, the biggest tip from the community seems to be not connecting Car Thing to the Internet. At the same time, Spotify encourages you to contact customer service to discuss your “refund options” before January 14, 2025. I’m curious to know what the service will offer me because Gizmodo bought the device directly for writing in 2021. I saw widespread reports on Reddit that the company offers a premium subscription instead of a full refund. I reached out to Spotify for more explanation.
What do you do with the Sotify Car Thing when you have it and it’s been rendered useless? You can try diving into the listening community to see what you find. I came across the Desk Thing, which lets you lift the Car Thing off the desk for quick access to media, and the Glance Thing, which lets you add app shortcuts and additional controls for Spotify. Nocturne again does the same and provides a different take on the Car Thing interface. All hacks require some knowledge of jailbreaking and command line entry. I was hoping to work hard before posting this piece, but we need focus, which I can’t provide within an hour of work. Another route that has come up a bit is this random third-party dongle. It came up in the comments on a subreddit dedicated to hacking the Car Thing. Adds button and knob functionality if you have Android Auto or Apple CarPlay already available.
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