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Worth pointing out that when this complaint was filed Spotify was publicly complaining about the lack of equal access to the HomePod and Apple Watch.[0] Apple

Worth pointing out that when this complaint was filed Spotify was publicly complaining about the lack of equal access to the HomePod and Apple Watch.[0] Apple addressed this with API’s at WWDC the following year.[1] Yet here we are, almost 4 years later and Spotify have yet to implement support whereas competing services have.[2] [0] https://newsroom.spotify.com/2019-03-13/consumers-and-innovators-win-on-a-level-playing-field/ https://newsroom.spotify.com/2019-03-13/consumers-and-innova... [1] https://developer.apple.com/videos/play/wwdc2020/10061/ https://developer.apple.com/videos/play/wwdc2020/10061/ [2] https://www.macrumors.com/2021/05/06/deezer-announces-voice-control-support-for-homepod/ https://www.macrumors.com/2021/05/06/deezer-announces-voice-...

Terretta 3y ago
They* don't have to hustle to compete when they're the in-market dominant player. * I mean Spotify.
matthewfcarlson 3y ago
Drives me nuts. Apple even added this weird sort of work around where if you ask for it on Spotify, it connects to your phone and the phone airplays Spotify to the HomePod.
shuckles 3y ago
Right: complainants can argue they should have access to all of Apple’s hardware devices for free while they themselves are an Apple-level monopoly in their market. I wonder how many billions of dollars in exclusive podcast deals for formerly openly distributed content consumers are missing out on because of these anti-steering rules.
danpalmer 3y ago
The APIs don't allow applications quite the same access as Apple Music has. I imagine that using them would weaken Spotify's complaints, while also resulting in a sub-par user experience. Users lose out in the short run, but I wouldn't necessarily blame Spotify for this.
- granzymes 3y ago
  It would result in a significantly improved user experience… I really have no sympathy for Spotify intentionally refusing to improve their HomePod experience in order to avoid “weakening their complaint.”
  - danpalmer 3y ago
    This point in time is probably the peak of it not being worth it, assuming that this multi-billion dollar fine causes Apple to change strategy somewhat. I'd imagine it's likely to only get better from here, as Spotify implement whatever Apple gives them and Apple hopefully gives them more. Because of this, I wouldn't judge Spotify at this point as this decision will probably look better over time. Maybe it's still not worth it in the long run, but at some level it will become worth it.

Terretta 3y ago

They* don't have to hustle to compete when they're the in-market dominant player. * I mean Spotify.

matthewfcarlson 3y ago

Drives me nuts. Apple even added this weird sort of work around where if you ask for it on Spotify, it connects to your phone and the phone airplays Spotify to the HomePod.

shuckles 3y ago

Right: complainants can argue they should have access to all of Apple’s hardware devices for free while they themselves are an Apple-level monopoly in their market. I wonder how many billions of dollars in exclusive podcast deals for formerly openly distributed content consumers are missing out on because of these anti-steering rules.

danpalmer 3y ago

The APIs don't allow applications quite the same access as Apple Music has. I imagine that using them would weaken Spotify's complaints, while also resulting in a sub-par user experience. Users lose out in the short run, but I wouldn't necessarily blame Spotify for this.

granzymes 3y ago
It would result in a significantly improved user experience… I really have no sympathy for Spotify intentionally refusing to improve their HomePod experience in order to avoid “weakening their complaint.”
- danpalmer 3y ago
  This point in time is probably the peak of it not being worth it, assuming that this multi-billion dollar fine causes Apple to change strategy somewhat. I'd imagine it's likely to only get better from here, as Spotify implement whatever Apple gives them and Apple hopefully gives them more. Because of this, I wouldn't judge Spotify at this point as this decision will probably look better over time. Maybe it's still not worth it in the long run, but at some level it will become worth it.