After Apple's iOS 13 update, Spotify adds support for Siri

AppleInsider · October 7, 2019 11:10AM

It's now possible to ask Siri to play music on Spotify as easily as on Apple Music -- though only on iPhones and iPads, and not HomePod or Mac.

Spotify can now be controlled via Siri

Apple has introduced a long-awaited ability to let users control Spotify music via Siri, in much the same way they already can with Apple Music. It's limited to being used on iOS devices, however, and is not currently available via HomePod or Mac.

To use the service, users must have the Spotify app installed on their iPhone or iPad, and must be logged in to the music service.

Thereafter, users can just say, "Hey, Siri, play Spotify." It's also possible to make more specific requests to do with artists, albums or particular tracks.

Once you have the app installed, you can play Spotify via Siri on your iPhone

Once Spotify is playing, basic requests can now be made by just saying "Hey, Siri, skip," or pause, resume and so on. To play any artist or track, Siri needs to be told specifically to play it "on" or "via" Spotify.

The very first time Siri goes to play anything on Spotify, it will permission. "I'll need to access your Spotify data to do that," it asks. "Is that OK?" If a user doesn't have the app or you do but it's logged out of the Spotify service, Siri will prompt them to correct that.

That's more than it will do on either HomePod or Mac, though. Asking HomePods to play Spotify just gets you the response "sorry, I'm unable to do that." This may change when the HomePod update associated with iOS 13 arrives, though.

On the Mac, invoking Siri and asking for Spotify, regardless of whether it's installed or not, gets a reply saying, "That's beyond my capabilities at the moment."

This move to allow a third-party app, and a rival to Apple Music, access to Siri controls directly, instead of a Siri Shortcuts workaround, follows ongoing complains from Spotify which Apple has previously refuted.

Keep up with all the Apple news with your iPhone, iPad, or Mac. Say, "Hey, Siri, play AppleInsider Daily," -- or bookmark this link -- and you'll get a fast update direct from the AppleInsider team.

aevar · October 7, 2019 12:12PM

This is definitely not working on my Xs, iOS and app software up to date. I can say “hey Siri, open Spotify” and she will do that. But the phrases mentioned in the article only gives me “Spotify hasn’t added support for that with Siri” and a button to press to open Spotify.

im in Iceland, could be a regional issue? Apple Music has never been activated here btw.

****Fixed: Had to update app, had to find the app in the AppStore and update. Miss the old tab in the AppStore where you could see a list of apps ready for an update, waiting for phone charging/screen off/wifi. It was easy to manually update an app if needed.

edited October 2019

ihatescreennames · October 7, 2019 12:18PM

When Apple Music first came out and I mentioned how nice it was to use Siri to play, skip, pause, etc. music to my Spotify using friends they said that Siri support didn’t matter because Spotify was better. When I asked why the typical answer was, “I like the interface.”

So, I’m guessing people won’t care that Siri with Spotify is a thing now?

PS: I always liked their expressions when I said, “Who cares about the interface when you don’t open the app at and just use Siri?”

rogifan_new · October 7, 2019 12:25PM

Good. Now they just need to allow users to set default apps so you don’t have to say using Spotify every time you make a request. If Apple is going to be a services company then they should compete on those services. If Apple is the best users will select Apple apps/services as default. If not they’ll select something else.

rogifan_new · October 7, 2019 12:29PM

ihatescreennames said:

When Apple Music first came out and I mentioned how nice it was to use Siri to play, skip, pause, etc. music to my Spotify using friends they said that Siri support didn’t matter because Spotify was better. When I asked why the typical answer was, “I like the interface.”

So, I’m guessing people won’t care that Siri with Spotify is a thing now?

PS: I always liked their expressions when I said, “Who cares about the interface when you don’t open the app at and just use Siri?”

I have a bunch of music in iCloud Music Library that isn’t on iTunes/Apple Music. Unfortunately Siri doesn’t work with that. And I’ve had instances where I ask Siri to play a song and I get a live version or a radio edit. So I don’t use Siri much with Apple Music. But perhaps this change will now allow Siri to work with Apple Music on non-Apple devices, like Sonos.

lkrupp · October 7, 2019 1:11PM

ihatescreennames said:

When Apple Music first came out and I mentioned how nice it was to use Siri to play, skip, pause, etc. music to my Spotify using friends they said that Siri support didn’t matter because Spotify was better. When I asked why the typical answer was, “I like the interface.”

So, I’m guessing people won’t care that Siri with Spotify is a thing now?

PS: I always liked their expressions when I said, “Who cares about the interface when you don’t open the app at and just use Siri?”

It’s all personal opinion. Of course when one decides to subscribe to a service you convince yourself that it is the best no matter what. It’s human nature. Everybody does it, including Apple users. Who’s going to admit they made a mistake and switch. That usually only happens after your current provider insults or slights you in some way, often with billing or price hikes. How many posts right here on AI are about trashing the company you have an issue with or feel is inferior to your own choice.

lkrupp · October 7, 2019 1:20PM

rogifan_new said:

ihatescreennames said:

When Apple Music first came out and I mentioned how nice it was to use Siri to play, skip, pause, etc. music to my Spotify using friends they said that Siri support didn’t matter because Spotify was better. When I asked why the typical answer was, “I like the interface.”

So, I’m guessing people won’t care that Siri with Spotify is a thing now?

PS: I always liked their expressions when I said, “Who cares about the interface when you don’t open the app at and just use Siri?”

I have a bunch of music in iCloud Music Library that isn’t on iTunes/Apple Music. Unfortunately Siri doesn’t work with that. And I’ve had instances where I ask Siri to play a song and I get a live version or a radio edit. So I don’t use Siri much with Apple Music. But perhaps this change will now allow Siri to work with Apple Music on non-Apple devices, like Sonos.

And I have the exactly the reverse experience. I too have a sizable library of ripped music that does not exist on Apple Music. Siri DOES work with those tracks, every time. I assume it’s because I fill in the metadata on those tracks I rip from CDs. CDs don’t even contain the titles of tracks and it takes Gracenote or CDDB to get them. Artists, genre, etc. are not available from a CD and have to be manually entered. So when I say, “Siri, play (song title) by (artist name)” it just works.

edited October 2019

japhey · October 7, 2019 4:58PM

ihatescreennames said:

When Apple Music first came out and I mentioned how nice it was to use Siri to play, skip, pause, etc. music to my Spotify using friends they said that Siri support didn’t matter because Spotify was better. When I asked why the typical answer was, “I like the interface.”

So, I’m guessing people won’t care that Siri with Spotify is a thing now?

PS: I always liked their expressions when I said, “Who cares about the interface when you don’t open the app at and just use Siri?”

They probably gave those expressions because its a weak argument and they didn’t want to offend you. Except for the visually impaired, I imagine the number of people who interact with Music exclusively in this way is very low. I’m not saying those people don’t exist, but given the unreliable and often spotty issues with Siri, as a quick scan of the comments here will show, interaction with the gui is almost a necessity. So, for a vast majority of users, the interface DOES matter.

zeplepplin · October 7, 2019 5:06PM

Awesome! Now my lonely HomePod will get more attention than just a weather and lights assistant. lol

appleexposed · October 7, 2019 6:21PM

Let's see what they bi*** about next.

rogifan_new said:

Good. Now they just need to allow users to set default apps so you don’t have to say using Spotify every time you make a request. If Apple is going to be a services company then they should compete on those services. If Apple is the best users will select Apple apps/services as default. If not they’ll select something else.

WTF? Apple is also a tech and hardware company. They should be able to do what they want with them not be governed by random forum posters.

ihatescreennames · October 7, 2019 7:32PM

Japhey said:

ihatescreennames said:

When Apple Music first came out and I mentioned how nice it was to use Siri to play, skip, pause, etc. music to my Spotify using friends they said that Siri support didn’t matter because Spotify was better. When I asked why the typical answer was, “I like the interface.”

So, I’m guessing people won’t care that Siri with Spotify is a thing now?

PS: I always liked their expressions when I said, “Who cares about the interface when you don’t open the app at and just use Siri?”

They probably gave those expressions because its a weak argument and they didn’t want to offend you. Except for the visually impaired, I imagine the number of people who interact with Music exclusively in this way is very low. I’m not saying those people don’t exist, but given the unreliable and often spotty issues with Siri, as a quick scan of the comments here will show, interaction with the gui is almost a necessity. So, for a vast majority of users, the interface DOES matter.

So, I take it you're one of those Spotify users that will claim to open the app and type in all their music searches any time they want to hear a song or playlist rather than just ask Siri. Riiight.

Nice how you threw "exclusively" in there. Yep, I open the Music app sometimes. But when I'm in the car or on a bike or walking or whatever and frequently use Siri to play music. I'd like to know what's so great about Spotify's interface that supposedly makes people prefer to use it over a voice interaction. These is reminiscent of the arguments that Apple Pay saves no time over pulling out a wallet and using a physical credit card.

As an aside, I don't rely on internet comments to make decisions on whether Siri works well or not. I use my own experience.

japhey · October 7, 2019 11:50PM

ihatescreennames said:

Japhey said:

ihatescreennames said:

When Apple Music first came out and I mentioned how nice it was to use Siri to play, skip, pause, etc. music to my Spotify using friends they said that Siri support didn’t matter because Spotify was better. When I asked why the typical answer was, “I like the interface.”

So, I’m guessing people won’t care that Siri with Spotify is a thing now?

PS: I always liked their expressions when I said, “Who cares about the interface when you don’t open the app at and just use Siri?”

They probably gave those expressions because its a weak argument and they didn’t want to offend you. Except for the visually impaired, I imagine the number of people who interact with Music exclusively in this way is very low. I’m not saying those people don’t exist, but given the unreliable and often spotty issues with Siri, as a quick scan of the comments here will show, interaction with the gui is almost a necessity. So, for a vast majority of users, the interface DOES matter.

So, I take it you're one of those Spotify users that will claim to open the app and type in all their music searches any time they want to hear a song or playlist rather than just ask Siri. Riiight.

Nice how you threw "exclusively" in there. Yep, I open the Music app sometimes. But when I'm in the car or on a bike or walking or whatever and frequently use Siri to play music. I'd like to know what's so great about Spotify's interface that supposedly makes people prefer to use it over a voice interaction. These is reminiscent of the arguments that Apple Pay saves no time over pulling out a wallet and using a physical credit card.

As an aside, I don't rely on internet comments to make decisions on whether Siri works well or not. I use my own experience.

Have you ever used Spotify?

After Apple's iOS 13 update, Spotify adds support for Siri

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