Spotify is 'retiring' its Car View feature without a replacement

Spotify

Spotify is getting rid of its Car View feature, which has made it easier for drivers to use the app while they're in their vehicles. It seems to have disappeared on Android already, but it isn't clear if and when it'll disappear on other platforms. It was confirmed to be coming, though. In October, a Spotify moderator responded to a post on its community forum asking where the feature went. It also planned to retire features like the in-car Now Playing View for Android.

And while features get retired on apps all the time, what might upset many of its users is that there isn't a replacement for it right now. Some accuse Spotify of removing the feature to sell its Car Thing device, a display and remote control for the car. But even that feature is limited to Premium subscribers via a waitlist.

Source: The Verge

Survey: In-store shopping makes a comeback in Canada

Photo by Anastasia Shuraeva from Pexels

It looks like 2021 is the year many Canadians are ready to do some in-store shopping. According to the 2021 Holiday Shopping Report from Accenture, 57% of Canadian consumers plan to do most of their holiday shopping in-store, and 75% plan to do their shopping in December, with 47% admitting they'll be doing a lot of last-minute shopping. Six out of 10 Gen Z consumers plan to do most of their holiday shopping in-stores, while 44% of baby boomers intend to do theirs online.

The baby boomers also intend to increase their spending by over $100, and those with children will spend the most. They are expected to spend an average of $713. While Canadians, on average, plan to spend $635, which is $119 up from last year's survey. An emerging trend across the demographics is increased support for BIPOC retailers, with 50% of Gen Z consumers supporting diverse retailers this year.

Spotify's experimenting with its own TikTok-like video feed

Spotify joins the many platforms trying to attract people to engage more with its services by testing out a new TikTok-style video feed in its app. There's a new Discover tab in the navigation bar where it looks like the videos are similar to the ones they use for its Canvas feature. It'll allow users to scroll and like individual tracks or access other options for the song via the three-dot menu icon.

We get trying to attract users to stay in the app, but we wonder if it'll be a useful feature. The streaming service confirms it is testing the feature, but it won't say if it'll be widely rolled out.

Source: The Verge

Report: Apple's mixed reality headset works as a standalone device

Photo by Laurenz Heymann on Unsplash

The latest report about Apple's long-rumoured mixed reality headset suggests it can work independently without being linked to an iPhone or Mac device. Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo reported that the headset will need two processors to make this happen. The main chip will have the same computing power as the M1 processor, while a second one will handle all the computing related to the sensors.

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