Spotify and Apple have already faced off in court on several occasions, with a satisfactory outcome for the music service to the detriment of the Apple company’s questionable practices that have led to multi-million dollar fines. The company that makes iPhones and other devices has a tendency to try to torpedo its competition, and with Spotify there have already been several cases where they try to favour Apple Music over any other alternative.
It seems that they are back to their old ways now, and Spotify has accused Apple trying to boycott its service againthis time to implement a change that blocks the Spotify app from controlling volume from the physical buttons. While playing music on an iPhone or iPad through the streaming service is fine when it comes to turning up or down the volume, Apple no longer allows the Spotify app to turn up or down the volume of music playing on other devices. by using Spotify Connect with the physical buttons on the terminal.
It is best understood with an example: If we open Spotify on an iPhone and select music playback on a external speaker or device connected with Spotify Connect (an Alexa Echo dot for example), we will no longer be able to control its volume with the iPhone volume buttons.
This is a deliberate change by those in Cupertino, since until now it was possible to do so and the company allows it to be done if an Apple TV or an Apple HomePod is used. “Interestingly,” This problem does not exist if you use Apple Music.
Spotify has denounced that this move goes against the regulations of the Digital Markets Act (DMA) of the European Union, since it forces the company to give access to third parties and promote interoperability with the operating system, so it would not be surprising if another fine were imposed on Apple if it continues with this strategy.
While Apple continues to enforce this ban, Spotify’s solution has been to display a notification when the user presses a volume button on the device. This notification opens a virtual volume bar in the Spotify app itself.
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Antonio Delgado
Computer Engineer by training, editor and hardware analyst at Geeknetic since 2011. I love to dissect everything that passes through my hands, especially the latest hardware that we receive here to do reviews. In my free time I tinker with 3D printers, drones and other gadgets. For anything you need, here I am.
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