It seemed like a smart way to prevent drivers from being distracted on the road when it was announced that the stripped down Car View mode was going to be available in 2019. Menu buttons and album art would be removed whenever you connected to your car over the internet. Instead, it gave you large buttons to pause and play music, jump to the previous or next track, or like a specific song. Nifty! According to a recent support thread, the feature is "retiring", and hope you didn't get too attached.
A user who noticed that the feature had disappeared from his app replied to a Spotify moderator who said that the service was exploring a variety of new ways to deliver the best in-car listening experience. They said removing the car view is necessary to make way for new innovations. It doesn't excuse dumping a useful safety feature without a replacement.
While navigating with Apple Maps, the moderator suggested using the Google Assistant to control Spotify hands-free. That's how many people end up controlling tunes on the road.
There are so many other ways to handle music in cars, that it could be that Car View is being de-prioritized. If you have a modern car with a dash display that supports CarPlay or Android Auto, you won't be able to see Car View in action. Many vehicles made in the last ten years have some sort of media control on their steering wheels.
There is a more sinister objective, as some users mentioned in the forum thread. The company may be trying to get people to buy Car Thing. It was a useful upgrade for older cars, but it wasn't necessary when you could control it directly. It seems more helpful without Car View mode. The simplest explanation usually comes down to companies realizing certain features aren't being used much.
When we hear back, we'll update you on the full explanation of Car View's retirement.
