Spotify is reportedly testing 'Hey Spotify' voice activation for its app

Spotify is reportedly working on adding a wake word for voice commands. Just like the ‘Hey Google’, ‘Hey Siri’, or ‘Alexa’ wake words, the one for Spotify will be the ‘Hey Spotify’ command. It was discovered by Jane Manchun Wong, an individual famous for reverse engineering app code to dig out hidden features.

However, unlike the other prominent digital assistants, the music streaming app’s assistant can be launched only when the app is open and in the foreground, with the phone’s screen turned on. While it is understood that the feature is limited just to the app, it is a bizarre omission of sorts to not let users use the wake word when the app is minimized or when the phone screen is locked. The ability to trigger voice commands hands-free in places such as in the car would make much more sense.

Spotify has had the ability to respond to voice commands for a while now. The wake word reportedly opens the Spotify Voice screen with which users can search for specific songs, albums, or artists. In the build found by the source, the setting to enable the ‘Hey Spotify’ feature is present in Settings under the ‘Voice’ section.

Digital assistants such as the Google Assistant can be summoned even when the phone is locked and can search for and play tracks from Spotify. If the music streaming company’s assistant does make it to the app, it will be interesting to see what benefits it brings to users.