According to a new report, Apple and Spotify are currently in discussion to finally gain a truce between the two companies, all in an effort to finally bring an oft-requested feature to iOS users.
The Information has the report on Tuesday. The publication states that Apple and Spotify are currently holding talks to bring a new plan to the fore that would allow iOS users to “let iPhone users tell Siri to play songs, playlists, and albums with voice commands”. The talks had a jumping off point thanks to new APIs baked into iOS 13, which is set to launch later this year, that allows developers behind audio apps to integrate with Apple’s digital personal assistant.
An issue that has long vexed many iPhone users—the inability to play music from Spotify using Siri, Apple’s voice assistant—may soon be a thing of the past.
Spotify, the world’s most popular streaming service, is currently discussing a plan with Apple to let iPhone users tell Siri to play songs, playlists and albums with voice commands, according to three people familiar with the discussions.
iOS 13 does make this possible thanks to Apple making changes to SiriKit, opening up the digital assistant’s voice controls to third-party apps. If Spotify wants to bring voice controls via Siri to its iOS app, this is the framework that the company will have to work with.
Spotify is not shy about trying to call Apple out for what it believes is negative business practices. The company has already told the world that it’s Apple’s decision (in general, not just against Spotify) that it’s Apple keeping the streaming music platform from the HomePod, and keeping Siri from controlling media playback in Spotify off the table, too.
But this new report showcases that Spotify has changed its tune slightly, saying:
As of Tuesday though, that language was no longer on the Spotify site, replaced by this sentence: “Only recently, Apple announced that it will let us connect with Siri to play your jams…but fails to mention our name (‘I want to play [X] on Spotify’) and your HomePod will default to Apple Music.
But things are not likely to smooth out completely anytime soon, as Spotify still has antitrust complaints leveled against Apple that are not likely to disappear just because the two companies are trying to work out a “Siri truce”.
The conversations come amid a growing regulatory battle between the two companies. In March, Spotify filed a complaint with European competition authorities about the iPhone maker’s business conduct, in which it said Apple blocked the streaming service from working with Siri. But it is unlikely peace will come between the companies anytime soon, even if they resolve their squabble over Siri. Spotify has argued that several other Apple policies—for instance, the 15% to 30% Apple commission from subscriptions sign-ups through iPhone apps—create an unfair advantage for its competing Apple Music service.
Apple, for its part, has already stated that it’s only paid fees on about 0.5% of Spotify’s premium subscribers. Still, the company is now facing a formal investigation over its App Store practices, so Spotify was successful in that regard.
What do you think of all this? Should Spotify take this as a win and call it a day?