As the other one said, they won’t be spending their holidays together. Apple vs Spotify, episode 42. The Swedish giant this time accuses Apple of having altered a key feature of Spotify Connect: volume control via the physical buttons on the iPhone.
Spotify relies on DMA
While it may seem trivial, the functionality of volume buttons is essential for an audio app. According to Spotify, a recent change made by Apple has compromised this functionality for Spotify Connect.
Sarah Perez from TechCrunch explains that when When streaming to connected devices via Spotify Connect on iOS, users could previously use the physical buttons on the side of their iPhone to adjust the volume. Due to the change, this no longer works.
As a workaround, Spotify users will be prompted to use the volume slider in the Spotify Connect menu of the app to control the volume on other connected devices, see definition by Spotify.
Spotify claims this situation places Apple in violation of Article 6(7) of the EU Digital Markets Act (DMA), which states:
6(7): The gatekeeper shall enable service providers and hardware suppliers, free of charge, effective interoperability with the same hardware and software features that are accessed or controlled through the operating system or virtual assistant listed in the designation decision in accordance with Article 3(9) and that are available for the services or hardware provided by the gatekeeper, as well as access to those features for the purposes of interoperability.
In addition, the Access Controller shall enable business users and alternative providers of services provided in conjunction with or in support of the Core Platform Services to benefit free of charge from effective interoperability and access for the purposes of interoperability to the same operating system, hardware or software functionalities, whether or not such functionalities are part of the operating system, as those available or used by the Access Controller when providing such services.
Apple favors its own devices
Spotify claims that Apple reserves a special integration between its own devices, such as the HomePod and Apple TV, and the iPhone, allowing the use of volume buttons. This feature, previously available through Spotify Connect, has been disabled following a recent change.
Spotify asked Apple to provide a similar solution for third-party developers, but the American firm responded that apps must integrate directly with the HomePod to access the volume control technology on iPhones. This smacks of a small blow under the belt from Apple, which has been constantly putting spokes in the wheels of the number one in streaming since the latter attacked it on several fronts in Europe. In particular the commission and access to private APIs.
While it’s unclear whether deeper Spotify integration with the HomePod or Apple TV (which has been expected for years) would fully solve this problem, it does represent an interesting avenue for customers.
Meanwhile, Spotify has introduced a new feature in its iOS app that detects a press of the volume buttons when using Spotify Connect and redirects the user to the volume controls built into the app.
Hopefully Apple will prioritize customer experience in this story…
