“Hey Siri, play Pink Floyd on Spotify!” Something like this could be the command you give your smart speaker from Apple’s HomePod series if the streaming service from Sweden finally used Apple’s API. However, this is not the case – and it could stay that way for a long time.
Siri reportedly not asked
Like the company to the financial news agency Bloomberg announced that there will initially be no native Siri support for the HomePod. You also get few complaints about it – despite a corresponding one Entry in the support community with almost 6000 likes.
Apple did not explicitly support external music services when the HomePod was launched in 2018. But since 2019, Siri has also been able to play Spotify on the iPhone, and a year later the integration of Apple Music competitors was brought to the HomePod. On a website that lists Spotify’s criticism of Apple, there are complaints that the smart speaker didn’t support the streaming service at the start. But since implementing the necessary API, the Spotify developers haven’t had the time (or inclination) to submit the feature later.
Better AirPlay 2 than Siri
Instead, Spotify apparently prefers to use AirPlay 2 transmission technology, which can also be used to control HomePods – from the iOS app, for example. But that is not currently supported either, although the corresponding APIs have been available here for a long time. “Spotify remains committed to supporting AirPlay 2 at some point in the future. We’re moving towards that, but we can’t say when that will be at this point,” the company told Bloomberg only succinctly.
Spotify is a particularly loud voice in the EU Commission’s current competition proceedings against Apple. The company has campaigned for the European Union to take action against the iPhone manufacturer, although the scope of the investigation has recently been restricted. The only focus now is that Apple prohibits other companies and developers – especially in the music segment – from directly referring to alternative options for taking out a subscription in their apps. According to the Commission, this is still an unfair trade practice. However, Apple is not abusing its dominant market position by using the in-app payment interface.
(bsc)
