Spotify shuts down Automotive Factor, and now house owners have one final probability at a refund

Spotify has formally shut down its Automotive Factor accent that supplied easy and slick management over music and playlists whereas driving, and it’s giving house owners simply over a month (January 14th) to achieve out to the corporate and get a refund. The system began to show its ultimate phrases early right now as fans mourn the lack of the system on its devoted subreddit.

The ultimate message on the Automotive Factor reads:

Automotive Factor is discontinued and now not operational. Thanks for being on this journey with us, protected travels. For extra info, go to carthing.com. Contact customer support by no later than January 14th, 2025 to debate your refund choices.

Spotify introduced in Could that it meant the already discontinued units would shut down in December, and now they’ve. The corporate additionally mentioned, ultimately, that it will work to challenge refunds, however house owners have to contact the corporate and supply proof of buy to obtain compensation.

For many customers, the Spotify Automotive Factor is simply one other piece of e-waste people should cope with later. The corporate recommends resetting it to manufacturing unit settings and “safely disposing of your system following native digital waste tips.”

Nonetheless, tinkerers are discovering new makes use of for the {hardware}: Automotive Factor might be hacked to run customized software program that doesn’t require Spotify’s backend. As 9to5Google notes, it’s a bit underpowered to run full-on Android, however some initiatives like “Desk Factor” can repurpose them as a controller at your laptop desk.