Spotify Is Testing A New Driving Mode Feature With Some Users

Some Spotify users report seeing a new automotive-centric feature that changes the app's interface after tapping a car-shaped icon. The driving mode, as it is currently being called, offers a simplistic interface on the Android app that includes basic swiping motions to sort through music, a large microphone icon for using voice commands, and large arrow buttons for skipping songs.

Some Spotify users on Reddit are reporting seeing this feature, which at the moment only seems to be available for very few users. The Reddit user who drew attention to the matter, 'Chris54721,' reports that not all of the features are usable, with a 'Listening' function resulting in an eventual error. When/if it does work, though, it seems the app will listen for voice commands from the user.

The app's driving mode requests access to the smartphone's microphone, and uses a combination of vertical and horizontal swiping for navigation. Swiping vertically takes the user through music categories like 'Featured' and 'Recents,' while swiping horizontally takes the user through the music albums and various playlists.

It is possible that the feature is not supposed to show up for users, as it includes a 'feedback' button that takes users to a Google Docs page where people with an '@Spotify.com' email address are encouraged to offer feedback. It doesn't appear the company has commented on the discovery at this time, so it is unclear how far into the test the company has progressed. It is possible such a feature, should it launch for everyone, will look quite different when it arrives.

You can view the album of screenshots here.

SOURCE: Reddit