Spotify is now whining about the iPhone’s volume buttons
The latest point of contention between Spotify and Apple is the iPhone’s physical volume buttons, which no longer work with Spotify Connect.
Beginning September 3, Spotify users will have to use in-app controls to adjust the volume of connected devices instead of the physical buttons on their device, like before. One user wrote on Reddit they saw this change a couple of weeks ago. Update your copy of the app by clicking the Update button on Spotify’s App Store page to get the in-app control if you don’t have it already.
This only affects Spotify Connect, a feature that allows people to control hardware devices using the Spotify mobile app. Spotify’s support page points the finger of blame at Apple, claiming the iPhone maker has “discontinued” this feature (technically incorrect) and saying it’s working with the iPhone maker “on a solution.”
While you can ask Siri to play Spotify on a HomePod, it’s basically a workaround that invokes AirPlay to stream Spotify audio to the speaker. The truth is that Spotify has never bothered to opt into Apple’s HomePod Siri music API. If it did, you could stream Spotify directly from the HomePod with direct Siri and volume control.
How to change the volume on connected Spotify devices
With Spotify playing music in the background (while you’re using another app or the device is locked) on a connected device like a nearby speaker or a smart TV, press the physical volume button. You’ll see a “Want to change the volume?” alert.
Touching the notification automatically takes you right back into the Spotify app, where you can adjust the connected device’s volume using the in-app slider. Ensure notifications from the Spotify app are turned on in Settings > Notifications.
The software volume slider will automatically appear if you press the volume button while in the Spotify app. Alternatively, invoke the in-app volume slider by touching the Connect menu in the Now Playing bar at the bottom of the screen.
Predictably, Spotify blames Apple
Spotify said on Reddit this is because of “updates on iOS,” blaming Apple for the annoying workaround. The Verge points out that the Sonos app also lost this functionality recently. However, people can still use the physical volume buttons on Apple Music to adjust the volume of third-party devices.
“We’ve made requests to Apple to introduce a similar solution to what they offer users on HomePod and Apple TV for app developers who control non-Apple media devices,” Spotify said. “Apple has told us it requires apps to integrate into HomePod in order to access the technology that controls volume on iPhones,” it added.
Spotify wants you to believe it’s been sleeping under a rock, totally oblivious that Apple’s API has been available since 2021. No one’s stopping Spotify from adopting the API. It made a conscious decision not to use the API in furtherance of its own claims that Apple continues to violate the EU’s Digital Markets Act. To make its case in the court of public opinion, Spotify has not shied away from weaponizing its users against Apple. That’s what’s been going on here, pure and simple.
Source link: https://www.idownloadblog.com/2024/08/30/spotify-connect-iphone-volume-buttons-in-app-control/
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