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Spotify is testing a driving mode feature

Spotify is testing a driving mode feature

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Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

Spotify is testing a new Driving Mode feature, according to some users who have posted on Reddit. A few users have been given access to a new feature that allows them to enable a driving mode which enlarges buttons, announces songs, and features voice controls (which aren’t active yet).

Photo: Chris54721

Photos posted by Reddit user Chris54721 show the new user interface, which features a car emblem in the bottom right corner of the now playing window, allowing users to enable the driving mode. Doing so enlarges the forward and backward buttons, and adds a microphone which theoretically would allow you to ask for songs to be played. Spotify can also announce the next song so you don’t have to look down to check the title.

Whether this Driving Mode will end up as an official product is still up in the air. Spotify tests a ton of different features all the time that end up on a small number of user devices — this was meant for Spotify employees but somehow got on public devices, according to the screenshots — but then don’t expand to a wider audience. It’s likely that Spotify will eventually come out with a Driving Mode, given how many people use it while driving, but when that will happen is unknown. For now all we have is a small test.

We’ve reached out to Spotify for comment.