Chhavideep Singh
Source: HBS Digital Initiative
Apple users are so used to saying ‘Siri’ after ‘Hey’ that it will be difficult to adapt to ‘Hey Spotify’. Good news from Spotify though, the audio streaming platform is rolling out its own voice assistant that will allow users to quickly play something. Just say ‘Hey Spotify’ -the keyword, followed by your song request and the streaming service’s in-app voice assistant will play music or podcasts on your demand.
Isn’t that a great feature for Spotify? Although, the in-app voice assistant’s functionality will only be limited to Spotify and there is no other applicability of Spotify’s ‘Hey Spotify’ voice assistant unlike Siri or Google Assistant.
As mentioned in a report by Engadget, the user will need to grant permission to Spotify so that it can access the device’s microphone to enable this voice command feature. However, the streaming service will only store transcriptions and recordings of your respective searches after you enable it by saying the keyword- ‘Hey Spotify’ or simply tap on the voice command option, according to a report by GSM Arena.
Voice command features have a wide scope of functionality and users honestly love to use it wherever they can. Imagine you are on a running workout and you want to change the song to a particular choice, there you will not be able to tap on your headphones or earphones to play that song. Obviously, you will have to stop for a second, take your smartphone out of your pocket, browse the song and then play it to resume your workout. This is the old option! Simply say, “Hey Spotify” while you are on the run and request the application for any song, podcast or playlist you wish to listen to and you don’t even have to stop. If that’s not a functionality feature then nothing is.
Siri and Google Assistant will work exactly the same way, but not if you are using Spotify as your streaming service. ‘Hey Siri’ will only work for Apple Music service and not Spotify which is very annoying for most users. According to multiple reports, Spotify has been testing the feature for quite some time now and it is now ready to roll out the service to a wider audience.
Spotify Car application can very well use this new voice assistant feature which is speculated around the market for months now. This feature by Spotify could directly rival Apple’s CarPlay and Android Auto. Anyhow, Spotify will soon roll out its voice assistant update for users to enjoy a hands-free Spotify experience.