I might be misunderstanding something, but from what I understand Spotify does not want to have to integrate with HomePods, they want to be able to control third-party devices directly. Apple seems to only want to offer integration through HomePods.
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Spotify Blames Apple for Loss of iPhone Volume Button Control of Connected Devices
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I might be misunderstanding something, but from what I understand Spotify does not want to have to integrate with HomePods, they want to be able to control third-party devices directly. Apple seems to only want to offer integration through HomePods.
Spotify has about 172 million active users in the EU, but the EU does not currently regulate ‘music streaming services’.
And yet, Spotify meets the metrics to qualify as a gatekeeper. They have more users than the iOS in the EU. They have more than 10K business users. Why aren't they forced to open up their platform? Why can they collect 25% of all revenue generated on their platform?
You'll have to ask the EU, I don't know, but I think Spotify is as guilty as Apple, and Apple is as guilty as Spotify. They should both have their feet held to the fire.
There is no EU regulation on how much Apple can collect on their platform. They are more than welcome to continue to collect 30%, as they currently do, but developers get a choice on the iPhone/iPad.
The way it reads to me is that the same API to integrate with HomePods is used to integrate with other hardware. I don't think a HomePod is required. Anybody know differently?
Sounds like some bothsidesism there. 55% is not equal to 30%.
Spotify does not provide any of the defined "core services" that are necessary to qualify as "gatekeeper", so any other metrics are irrelevant.
Percentages don't matter to the DMA. It's total users, regardless of percentage.
You might as well be posting what percentage of users eat pretzels.
I believe I read the EU are considering adding music streaming services to the core services list.
Maybe? That was my point. The arbitrariness of the DMAs definition of gatekeeper. How is Spotify not a "online intermediation service"?
(2) ‘online intermediation services’ means services which meet all of the following requirements:
(a) they constitute information society services within the meaning of point (b) of Article 1(1) of Directive (EU) 2015/1535 of the European Parliament and of the Council (12);
(b) they allow business users to offer goods or services to consumers, with a view to facilitating the initiating of direct transactions between those business users and consumers, irrespective of where those transactions are ultimately concluded;
(c) they are provided to business users on the basis of contractual relationships between the provider of those services and business users which offer goods or services to consumers;
Using the DMA to defend the DMA is circular reasoning. The arbitrariness of the DMA definition of gatekeeper was my point.
I'm sure there's an entirely above-board reason the EU decided not to regulate music streaming services. It's not like they regulate video services like YouTube as gatekeepers. Oh wait.
It doesn’t at all.
Neither Apple or Spotify are judge and jury here.
As for Apple and privacy. All a bit hollow if they are willing to throw your money into OpenAI
The API is just AirPlay 2. The issue is that Spotify uses an entirely different model for playback. AirPlay routes the audio stream via your phone's audio stack to the device over the local network. It's just another "speaker" for your phone, like headphones or something over Bluetooth. On the other hand, Spotify prefers that the end device connect directly to its servers, and your phone sends instructions to Spotify's servers to control playback remotely.
Apple doesn't really support using the phone's hardware volume buttons for anything other than controlling the volume of the phone's audio stack. Reading a single press to trigger a camera shutter-type action works reasonably reliably. Whatever Spotify was doing previously to use them for its own purposes has become unreliable.
Probably because there's legitimately no competitor in YouTube's space. Plenty of places to stream music, vanishingly few to stream user generated video in a not-social-media context.
Sounds like Apple trying to sell HomePods, but there are still a lot of countries where the HomePod wasn't even officially released.
Of course you can buy one when visiting another country, but your language will not be supported, you will have to use english.
This is a software solution that shouldn't require a HomePod. Why Apple discontinued the technology, other than to sell more HomePods?
That is entirely Spotify’s decision. And it’s a business decision.
Their failure to choose to extend this support is neither Apple’s fault nor its problem.
Apple should consult Spotify on how apple should design iOS.
According to this post, it has nothing to do with HomePods. It's just Airplay 2.
So companies invest money into R&R, develop technology so that they can give it away for free and make it open source ?
hardware manufacturers from Eu and China can copy that technology and create their own products without investing in R&D ?
is that the ask ?
That doesn't make any sense when you consider that Amazon is a gatekeeper with far more competition than Spotify.
Heard that this whole crowd strike fiasco was caused by EU regulation
EU forced Microsoft to give kernel access to third parties.
Microsoft told EU that it was risky to give kernel access to third parties.