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Spotify launches a simplified Car View for controlling your music while driving

Spotify launches a simplified Car View for controlling your music while driving

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Easier to use behind the wheel — if you’ve got Android

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Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

Spotify has launched a new Car View mode to let users more easily control their music when behind the wheel. The feature is automatically enabled when the app detects a Bluetooth connection with a vehicle, according to the company. For now it’s only available on Android. 9to5Google first spotted its roll out, and Spotify says it’s in the process of making its way to users globally.

Car View basically just supersizes the song info, track controls, and other critical buttons like shuffle. Album art is not displayed in Car View. Spotify has been testing an in-car mode for some time now. In July 2017, the company was toying with an early version that added a microphone icon for voice commands alongside the enlarged playback icons. (There’s no microphone or voice control component to the Car View rolling out now, however.)

Car View can be dismissed “until your next drive” or disabled completely in Spotify’s settings if you’re not a fan of the simplified controls. You can also toggle it on from there if you connect to your vehicle’s audio system through the aux jack or if your Bluetooth system doesn't automatically trigger it. (Spotify notes that technically this feature is only meant for Bluetooth systems, however.) The company already supports Android Auto and Apple’s CarPlay. But if your car lacks support for those platforms, now you can have a more efficient in-vehicle experience using the main app. Car View seems to be rolling out on Android first.