Car Thing was Spotify's first hardware product, a simple touchscreen music player for car dashboards that piped tracks from the online service. After three years, it all became e-waste, discontinued by Spotify and cut off from the tunes.
Spotify stopped making Car Thing just five months after it launched due to low product demand and supply chain issues. Existing Car Thing accessories continued to function as expected, until this week. Back in May, Spotify announced that it was discontinuing Car Thing, and earlier this month, it told customers that the device would stop working at some point in December. Spotify says that Car Thing was discontinued in an effort to streamline product offerings.
Car Bricks may be briefly saved from the landfill, though, through the wonder of hacking.
Folks in the official Car Thing subreddit and elsewhere on the internet have figured out how to get around the annoying launch screen that locks them out of a once-operational device they spent $80-$120 on not too long ago. Since the expiration date, some Car Thing devices have been rendered unusable, forcing users to a splash screen with a long goodbye. There are a few ways to get beyond the splash screen or avoid it altogether to keep the dying device on life support. It all depends on how much you're willing to work to resuscitate it.
The key tip for avoiding brickification is "don't let it connect to the internet," but that poses new questions. If you bought one of these, maybe keep it around a while and see if more compehensive hacks are developed. You can also return it to Spotify to 'discuss your refund options.'
