Is Your Spotify Car Thing a Paperweight Now? Here’s Why

We all remember the Car Thing that Spotify launched just a few years ago. Spotify’s brief fling with hardware, that promised to make your in-car music experience oh-so-smooth. Well, the romance is officially over. 

Spotify’s Car Thing hit the market less than two years ago and, sadly, it’s about to be completely shut down. Yes, as of December 9th, your Car Thing will be nothing more than a dashboard paperweight. 

People who bought this $90 gadget are getting emails with the bad news: no more updates, no subscription credit, and no refunds. 

So, what’s Spotify’s advice? Hit the factory reset and recycle it responsibly. It’s like they want us to break up with Car Thing and just move on.

In a rather corporate-sounding FAQ, Spotify explained, “We’re discontinuing Car Thing as part of our ongoing efforts to streamline our product offerings.” This means that they’re focusing on new features and enhancements for the rest of us. 

Sadly, there’s no hope for a Car Thing 2.0. The company confirmed that there are no plans for a replacement. So, if you were dreaming of a new and improved version, it wouldn’t be happening anymore.

Car Thing first made its debut in April 2021 on an invite-only basis. It hit the wider market by February 2022, but the production line stopped just five months later. Despite its sleek design and promise, it was more of a fancy remote control for your Spotify app and not a standalone player. 

It did find a small, loyal fanbase, but in the end, it wasn’t enough to keep it alive.