Spotify is Rumored of Testing out "Hey Spotify" Voice Activation Along with Bizarre Omissions

Christine Roger, Tech Times 06 March 2020, 02:03 am

Spotify is working on “Hey Spotify” voice activation pic.twitter.com/PqZI01WZre — Jane Manchun Wong (@wongmjane) March 4, 2020

Discovered by software researcher Jane Manchung Wong who is known for reverse engineering app code to dig out hidden features within it. Spotify has reportedly been developing a voice assistant for the app, using "Hey Spotify" as its wake word.

Users are able to summon or call on Spotify with a simple command

The application will definitely have the capabilities to listen for the keyword "Hey Spotify" but you can also just use Spotify's lock-screen to control the app. This wake word allows users to open the Spotify Voice screen wherein they can search for specific albums, songs, playlists or artists, which can be useful whenever they are driving, or just simply cannot get a hold of their devices. Users can enable this by looking for the "Voice" section under the Settings tab.

The screenshot that was shared by Wong displays a new Voice menu inside the Spotify application where it asks users permission for Spotify to use their microphone. This is basically how the company sees this voice assistant going to be.

It has not been released yet it already has issues that worry the public

Another thing about this voice assistant is that users can only call on Spotify and launch it when the app is open on the screen and not otherwise which makes it odd and different from other digital assistants like Amazon's Alexa and Siri. Though it is understandable that the feature will only be limited to the app itself, it is very peculiar and bizarre that they decided to omit a feature wherein users will be able to use the wake word even when the app is minimized or whenever the device is on lock. All of this contradicts the whole "hands-free" mantra that they are going for and it just does not make sense completely.

The extent of the voice assistant feature is still quite unknown, and that the company has not released any kind of statement or announcement about this new potential feature that is coming to their application. Assuming it would enable users to search and playback controls if ever.

It has been reported that Spotify is currently developing another feature as well, an in-car music device with voice control, making "Hey Spotify" not the only new element coming to the app. Wong had also previously found out that Spotify had started doing tests on "Create Podcast" button on the app. Combining both of these potential features would make Spotify a much more interactive application and could mean that content creators can theoretically record and publish podcasts without lifting a finger and touching their phone.

It would be very interesting to see what the future hold for Hey Spotify and what it could bring to the table where other prominent digital assistants are already sitting around on.