Spotify blames Apple for breaking its Spotify Connect feature

Spotify and Apple’s complicated relationship is facing another challenge. In the latest dispute, Spotify claims Apple has broken its Spotify Connect feature in one key way: volume button control.

Volume button change may be violation of DMA

Volume button behavior may seem like a small thing to argue about, but when you make an audio app, it’s quite important. And according to Spotify, a recent change from Apple caused this functionality to break for its Spotify Connect feature.

Sarah Perez reports for TechCrunch:

When streaming to connected devices via Spotify Connect on iOS, users were previously able to use the physical buttons on the side of their iPhone to adjust the volume. As a result of the change, this will no longer work.

To work around the issue, Spotify iOS users will instead be directed to use the volume slider in the Spotify Connect menu in the app to control the volume on connected devices.

Spotify claims that this puts Apple in violation, yet again, of the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA). The specific portion of the DMA is article 6(7) which states, “The gatekeeper shall allow providers of services…free of charge, effective interoperability with, and access for the purposes of interoperability to, the same hardware and software features accessed or controlled via the operating system…as are available to services or hardware provided by the gatekeeper”

Apple’s volume privileges for HomePod and Apple TV

Spotify’s case is that Apple’s own HomePod and Apple TV integrate with the iPhone in a unique way. You can use the iPhone’s volume buttons to control volume for those devices. While that used to be possible with Spotify Connect, a recent change made the feature no longer work.

Perez again:

The streamer says that it made requests to Apple to introduce a similar solution for third-party developers comparable to what is already offered to users of the Apple HomePod or Apple TV devices. However, Apple told Spotify that it requires apps to integrate with HomePod to access the technology that controls the volume on iPhones.

It is unclear whether Spotify integrating more fully with the HomePod or Apple TV would solve its problem with Spotify Connect, but it’s an interesting proposed remedy.

In anticipation of this change negatively affecting users, Spotify has built a new feature into its iOS app. It will detect a volume button press when Spotify Connect is being used. Then, it will send a notification that directs you to the in-app volume controls.

9to5Mac’s Take

Considering Apple’s increasingly cozy relationship with Google, it would be nice if Spotify and Apple could come to a place of greater partnership too. Unfortunately, stories like this continue to show how unlikely that seems. Here’s hoping whatever response Apple has to these claims leads to a better experience for users.