Enkey Magazine
Technology information website

Spotify presents its vocal assistant

Hey Spotify, vocal assistant

From now on we will be able to put our favourite song without move a finger. Spotify is ready to present its personal vocal assistant and to activate it it will be enough a “Hey Spotify”. Let’s discover it togheter.

The other vocal assistants

Before to talk about Hey Spotify let’s make a small step back. Now all of us know the vocal assistants, systems of artificial intelligence with which we can talk and to which we can ask to make simple duties, like send a message, switch on the lights, etc.

The most famous and pioneer in this field are without any doubt Alexa, of Amazon, unmissable inside a tech home, and Siri by Apple. There is then the vocal assistant of Google, which attention can be called with a “Hey Google” and the vocal assistant of Samsung.

Spotify enters in a very competitive world, will be able to do it. Meanwhile let’s discover together this new vocal assistant.

The first appearances of the Spotify’s vocal assistant

Spotify is ready to present its vocal assistant. The first official appearance of Hey Spotify was through some images that portrays a Samsung Galaxy S21, with this function integrated.

Hey Spotify
Spotify is ready to launch its vocal assistant

The vocal assistant is starting now to be available to a few american users, both on the devices iOs and Android. After a first test phase, already in the next weeks the users that will be able to say “Hey Spotify!” will increase.

A “limited” vocal assistant

The vocal assistant won’t compete with the colossus that we mentioned before, because it will be able to interact only with the app itself and it won’t be able to access to any other applications in the device.

Spotify
With the new vocal assistant we will be able to change the song without physically interact with the device

Its main purpose is the one to make easier the research of the music, podcast and audiobooks inside the massive database of Spotify, without have to do a manual research.

This new vocal assistant, even if it’s limited, will be without any doubt very useful. Let’s just think to all the times that we use the application of Spotify to listen music, audiobook or podcast and how many we aren’t able to manually change the file.

This because, for example, we are doing exercise, we are driving our car, or we are busy anyway and we have to stop what we are doing.

How will Hey Spotify work

Its functioning will be extremely easy, especially if we are used to talk with the other vocal assistants. Hey Spotify, infact, will be very alike Siri, Alexa and the other assistans in commerce.

Hey Spotify
Hey Spotify will be very useful in conditions where we won’t be able to manually change the song, like if we are driving our car

To call the attention of the vocal assistant will be very easy. It will be enough, infact, to say “Hey Spotify” and then asking for a specific song, a playlist, the random play of a specific singer, etc.

The assistant, though, won’t listen all the time. The function will be available only if the application is open and the screen of the smartphone is unlocked and on.

A vocal assistant that takes care of the privacy

Spotify wanted to be careful on this point. The vocal assistant, infact, won’t listen all the time, but in order to let it happen it needs specific conditions. Obviusly, that’s about the privacy, which is an absolute priority for Spotify.

The platform added even that the only vocal records that will be kept will be the once listened after the activation phrase or after that we pushed the research button. When the platform will made the command, therefore, the catch of the record will stop.

Furthermore, the users are free to choose if activate the function or not, by allowing the app to access to the micrphone or through the settings of the platform.

Lastely, always about the privacy and transparency, Spotify answered to the question: how are the datas of the users used?

They are used to improve the vocal function, to develop new vocal functions and to help us to give you customised advertising. Furthermore, we share informations, time by time, with our dealers of services, like the dealers of storage cloud, to help to give vocal functionings to Spotify”.

This post is also available in: Italiano