Spotify Bricked The Car Thing, So I Hacked Mine

[@DammitJeff]

Ok be honest how is my music taste Oh also go buy a printer pls(fr tho their deals are really good): shrsl.com/2n7em-2yn7-1cwx9

[@totedamusicmonke]

you listen to some good shit

[@sillyboykiller]

Tyler, the Creator is peak

[@lucin_4]

emray nice

[@CockroachMunchingKrabbyPatty]

hi5 for the casiopeia and BH

[@JadeAhlers]

Loved seeing Tyler throughout the video. Really excited to try modding mine tomorrow afternoon. Thoughts on the new album?

[@Thomkid-iz2qo]

Bruh i was just chillin in the car driving home thinking "i wish that spotify car thingy gets hacked so i can use it" than this vid comes out same day

[@Ukxoid]

Perfect time then lol

[@DillerDallerDuller]

Then

[@Tensho_C]

​@@DillerDallerDuller🤓

[@detlefmogl1770]

yall need to learn how to google.... it's been hacked since it came out basically 💀😭

[@Shmyrk]

Dude I had the same f*chin thing happen. I don’t even own one. I just randomly googled it last night, when this video didn’t exist, to see if it was bricked yet

[@kaede15]

bought mine for 30 bucks when it first came out, then it jumped to 90 dollars then it was cancelled with a "your device will get brick" notification and now it's hacked.... what a roller coaster.

[@fairyboy444]

got mine for free when they had that pre-release sign up 😮‍💨

[@ricardoaugusto597]

They paid me 100 bucks to have mine

[@DgkYogi]

@@fairyboy444Sigh… I remember signing up for that and never hearing a word from them despite me being a heavy Spotify user at the time…

[@Shmyrk]

They gave me two

[@nuschger2]

had to buy mine, but the car came with it for free

[@blueeyedtech1234]

I didn’t even know this device existed until they announced they were discontinuing it. They did a better job at announcing the end of this awesome product than the release of it.

[@envispojke]

To be fair it became news because of the outrage it caused among customers and tech nerds, it wasn't because Spotify wanted it. If they tried to bury the announcement they would've gotten even more bad press. You're right they could've done more marketing at launch though.

[@MyurrDurr]

Even Google made the Stadia Controllers work over normal Bluetooth once they discontinued Stadia so people could still use the controllers for PC or mobile gaming , Spotify not even opening the Car Thing is pure scummy

[@zanderpicon]

“You need premium for this?” My thoughts exactly 😆

[@LachyPlaysGames]

Shout out to the compooter comoonity

[@takumipd]

Ikr 😂

[@m4ciejmoskala]

yeah it really comoonicates

[@LanxPenzenpepper]

"Older" and "2010" sounded so painful to hear 😂

[@KarminsLynn]

REAL. In third world countries, 25 years old cars are everywhere

[@LanxPenzenpepper]

@KarminsLynn here in the Philippines, we have the classic ww2 style jeeps working as buses 😂 it's like steampunk in here

[@VioFax]

@@KarminsLynn Here everybody acts like you HAVE to go buy a new one every 2 years wether you want one or can afford one or not. People care SO much about what cars look like its ridiculous. But you cant argue with it. drive a brand new car or else enjoy having no date or social life because nobody wants to come near your 15 year old car.

[@KarminsLynn]

@@VioFax Consumerism fueled with social pressure... American dream, for the companies.

[@that1guy90]

Where I live, you can get a "Horseless Carriage" license plate of the vehicle is 30+ years old. This means a vehicle from 1994 is considered "classic" or "vintage"

[@Preske]

Remember when everyone was yelling "there is no use to hack this thing because it's so underpowered i's useless?" Great job my dude, I wished I had bought one.

[@izRiprod]

I took them yelling that personally ngl Helped drive the development of DeskThing

[@TheCynicalJedi]

I fully expected this to happen as soon as the shutdown was announced, now I'm even saltier that Spotify never sold the CarThing in the UK lol

[@thebeast7590]

who could hate on lenny? thats sad we love lenny

[@vlbxrto_187]

Not us ❤

[@komidanohitouko]

SHOUTOUT LENNY!!!

[@VivekYadav-ds8oz]

LENNNYYYYYYYY MY BOAHHHH 🤠

[@owwahow]

do I have a car thing? no. did I watch this whole video? yes.

[@frankjohnson3338]

compooter

[@mckelepic]

i heard that too

[@designerstoolk1t]

compooter

[@gseany]

I'd love someone to make a standalone product called the 'desk thing' that supports the software created for the car thing, that'd be really neat and would be something I'd personally buy

[@jdmjavin]

the stream deck does alot of the same stuff that desk thing is trying to do

[@Keso_Cheddar]

They want to make the desk thing compatible with Android phones, you could then buy a cheap phone and use it as a car thing

[@nesvand]

I bought a Car Thing earlier this year knowing the community would be jumping on this - sure the specs aren't great, but the potential for a customisable touch screen with good physical controls is out of this world. Really looking forward to how the community grows :D

[@dschaedler]

This should be a very compelling smarthome display

[@izRiprod]

👀 Home Assistant DeskThing app when?

[@haraberu]

I would guess that they didn't choose to open source it, but the GPL open source license requires it. It's quite common. For example Apple would have never open-sourced Safari/WebKit, but they took code from Konqueror for KDE Linux Desktop, and those who take must also give back. That also explains why the parts that Spotify built on their own aren't included in the Git.

[@Heidegaff]

Bro said his 2010 car is old to my face, while I'm sitting in my 2002 VW Lupo watching his video.

[@nighttrash4890]

I drive a 2011 Mini Cooper which has previous and fast forward buttons on the wheel but only for cd playback no aux support. I don’t like having to look at my phone (which I have on a mount) to hit the tiny skip button so I got a used Car Thing for like $90 and zero regrets. Even before Spotify announced its discontinuation I wanted custom firmware to exist for the thing, the possibility of actually being able to run something like this in my car is very exciting can’t wait !

[@alexwr]

Honestly, this could be a really great, cheap macro pad or something similar. Buttons, touch screen and dial. It's perfect!

[@Srootus]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="200">3:20</a> your like Louis Rossman with luscious locks

[@bobograndman]

and with more compooter and coomoonuty

[@nickkrenn891]

Neeeever knew this existed. I've been lagging on moving the fam from TYM to Spotify premium. This is definitely helping the push.

[@dschaedler]

It doesnt exist (anymore), thats basically the point of the video Unless you are willing to put a lot of time into it

[@anonymousidea9119]

In the spirit of the video; Do it yourself! You can easily play music files on any phone; on iPhone you can import them into iTunes on a computer and stream them from all of your Apple devices! And you can use a program like Jellyfin to easily stream music and movies stored on your PC. Own your media and stop paying for expensive subscriptions!!

[@KayoMichiels]

Instead of making it opensource, Spotify just makes it a paperweight.. and because it was only sold in the US.. ofcourse they can get away with this...

[@madbanana22]

"making it opensource" Welcome to the world of proprietary software, Linux kiddo

[@entropete_]

4:20 , he LITERALLY says they made it open source, all the code and command are on GitHub free and available for anyone to use

[@CampusSouth]

Litterally says in the video (many times) that it IS was and always has been opensource. 5:33 for example

[@KayoMichiels]

@@CampusSouth Yeah, but i'm almost certain they only made it 'opensource' after the public outcry...

[@hastyscorpion]

@@KayoMichielsthey did not. They open sourced it way before.

[@lostskull7467]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="878">14:38</a> To covertly steal a copy of the computer's ghost drive for Tony Stark, duh.

[@spikechamploo]

Absolute legend of a video as usual, Jeff! Can’t wait to check out the Weather integration. Project Nocturne has me hyped as well 😮

[@tutacat]

Actually, it has similar specs to old raspberry pis. You can run _a_ basic linux desktop, like your phone has enough power to do that to. Your phone is obviously more powerful. It's basically a phone just with no battery. Running chromium.

[@pogzie]

Would be a nice desktop HW stats screen.

[@vadnegru]

Yeah, but if you want one, they cost like 20$ for 3.5"

[@brannndon]

Awesome video!! Thanks so much for reviewing Nocturne!

[@CrxzyTheCreator]

imagine your getting a device for your car to play music and you need to have premium

[@williamtcastro]

Thank you so much for sharing, from the Thing Labs Community

[@izRiprod]

Heck yeah!

[@thesatanicflame]

As someone who lives in the EU we didn't really get the chance to get our hands on the CarThing, but it looks amazing. I do hope that someday a company will try to make it an actual product with DeskThing and sell it worldwide

[@marcusjohansson668]

If they would have sold it in the EU, the move of intentionally bricking it would be illegal af, in USA however...

[@DanielLaixer]

- Mom, can we buy JOHN ROMERO? - We have JOHN ROMERO at home! *JOHN ROMERO at home:*

[@Yami_Industries]

John Romero at home: Let me out of this damn cage!!!!

[@TeverTV]

Honestly, that was the slickest ad placement I’ve seen. I didn’t know I was watching an ad! Good one Jeff lol

[@marcusjohansson668]

This is so awesome! I honestly underestimated the community and never thought anybody would make this happen, but they did!

[@gavinaaric]

This is basically saying if apple kills the vision pro and gives no refunds but you paid more for this.

[@courtneymertz4596]

You did such a great job making this device usable again! It can now do so much more than Spotify, and you don’t even need a premium account to listen to Spotify! Steam and Discord? How cool is that!

[@marcosvictor4935]

One can only claim they have jailbroken a random low power device if, and only if, one runs doom on it. Now for a useful tip: whenever you buy a small, lightweight desktop thing, like a DAC or maybe even an action figure, just strap VHB tape to the bottom of it so it doesn't slide around when you interact with it. Another great option is slef adhesive velcro straps, this will allow you to more easily remove them for cleaning or whatever reason you might want to remove them.

[@CockroachMunchingKrabbyPatty]

These were probably not super widespread, but I'm really hoping ebay and other 2nd hand markets get flooded by them post-brick date. I don't have a use case for this, but it'd be a fun thing to tinker around with. Better than it becoming landfill e-waste, I guess. But I don't wanna pay anything close to MSRP.

[@itsmehere1]

I dont even own one of these things but this video is still super entertaining 😂 Also I guess if you install any different firmware on it does it remove the really weird thing that forces you to use the included adapter?

[@alexcahiz]

Great video. Love your enthusiasm and optimism and the overall vibe of the journey to making some fun and cool from an otherwise crappy and disappointing situation. Can’t wait to start tinkering with my car thing

[@rchltmedia]

glad spotify allowed us to hack the "thing". although it's "allegedly" unofficial, at least anything to prevent bricking

[@Shmyrk]

Dude, what. I just googled this last night at probably the exact time you posted this. I randomly thought about it and did some research to see if they were still bricking it, or if I should buy one. And then I woke up to this video on my feed. That’s wild.

[@Shmyrk]

Matter fact the Reddit thread wherein everyone was saying they hope someone roots it was still open in my browser, so I went back and posted this vid in the commenta

[@bramvandenbroeck5060]

This is AWESOME! I love people who bust open stuff like this and make it do things that it was never designed to do. This makes me want to get a car thing, just for all the cool stuff it can do now, and it is only going to get better. I like to mod stuff, but more hardware related, like adding touch id to my desktop pc for example, yes, it works with windows hello. I've build my own gaming console, in an old wifi modem. I am thinking about learn how to program, but it is really intimidating and i don't really know where to start, i own a mac and a pc, so i could technically get into it. This Thing is the Thing of things, or something like that :p

[@DerSolinski]

This is amazing, because it is a slick interface device. This could be a really neat controller for home automation.

[@spectate_009]

what this means.. is that there is going to be a ton of 10 dollar spotify car things on the used market. and im all for this.

[@lezlienewlands1337]

I knew it would be hacked. A perfectly functional device and the company decided people should just chuck it. Ew. I cancelled my Spotify Premium over that.

[@nikitaluger]

This is the first time (i think) engaging with your channel. I think you can rock a pretty awesome manbun.

[@nikolalaleta1534]

"He's an older 2010 model" and "He outlived 3 other family cars." Fucking killed me, that's a brand new car to me.

[@hyperturbotechnomike]

Me, with my 1980's Volvo 244 GLT. It has 475k km on the odometre. It's brand new and runs like a charm. A friend of mine did a million in a similar model.

[@liviurosca]

Dude, amazing hair. 👍 for almost 3 years i left mine to grow longer but i just cuted short again last week. Too much hair loss.

[@madcaker]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="175">2:55</a> the way I lit up when I saw FEM&M haha

[@DammitJeff]

we’re irl friends lol

[@fr34k09]

Probably the only one here that wouldn't see much the use of that device when I can use the phone instead or alt + tab without having to look for the external device just to go back to the computer. But the spinny volume and the simple look of it probably is the thing that most would like while I'm more straight forward to just work on the computer without having to look somewhere else or put my hands away for a sec but that's nice to see the open source project still being alive

[@Aremisalive]

The way this guy pronounces community is hilarious

[@supergamerkarter317]

Now make it run DOOM.

[@Nytmare]

you! i was waiting for someone like you to come along and do this same thing! app and all! i swear i had a dream of this samething i love you and thank you for saving this silly little thing.

[@mikehensley78]

hell yeah! i love doing stuff like this! bringing old crap back to life as something new it was never intended for. super cool.

[@throbby1761]

I tried so hard to root mine. It evolved my 40 year old ford pickup, and spotify hurt me giving up on it. This at least doesnt leave SOL. Thank you

[@finnworchurst6408]

I was holding off ordering one to wait and see if the modding community would figure this out before dooms day. I can gladly say I've got a car thing on the way XD. have always loved the car thing but the advertising for Australia was minimal so the option to buy them before they were gone wasn't an option. excited to get my hands on this little guy! (ordering something you know is going to be obsolete in 2 months isnt a good idea... oh well)

[@bludood]

Great video! Happy to have my project featured, looking forward to a good future for all the amazing projects!

[@LostTerminalVideos]

I can't believe I let out an audible "YES!!" at <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="173">2:53</a> when I saw you were listening to Machine Girl. You, sir, have a fantastic taste in music! I also went to check FEM&M since that came on right after and oh my god I've found a new musical artist to follow, thank you! EDIT: FEMTANYL TOO??? HOLY BASED

[@hunterbeachcowkk7hqy786]

REAL

[@TheCajunGaijin]

The car thing was originally like $90. For $200-$300 you could very easily install a touch screen radio that supports car play/android auto in the cube because its older and supports easily installing double din radios. It doesn't fix the bricking scenario, but it would make your cube much nicer to live with.

[@pennplayz]

I was in the exact target demographic for the Car Thing and i *loved* it, very glad someone finally got it jailbroken

[@Buzz231094]

I saw a few artists I listen to in this vid and then saw a few more I’ve not heard of, thanks for sharing, similar taste in music 👌

[@Oretal]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="148">2:28</a> HER’S SPOTTED!!! HECK YEAH

[@whabs8792]

Downright Magical what the community has done that prevented a huge waste of tech 👏

[@grimpicklex]

“When companies close the door, modders take off the hinges.”

[@dany_fg]

spotify after watching this video: "Stop right there, criminal scum! Nobody breaks the law on my watch! I'm confiscating your stolen goods. Now pay your fine or it's off to jail."

[@hyperturbotechnomike]

If spotify was a japanese company.

[@jasperdiscovers]

Brockhampton, Vacation, Twenty One Pilots, Porter Robinson. Damn son you have a good taste in music!

[@ben_west]

Cool video. I'm gonna try this! Funny enough I got one cheap when then first launched imagining using it all the time at my desk. Did use it a bit bit I'm just not a huge Spotify user. So this might be a an upgrade haha. Im thinking I might actually out this next to the couch in our living room to control podcasts and audiobooks or something. Or maybe just to see the weather and the time. Bummer they bricked this. Beautiful design and nice clicky nob. Love the open source and mod community. PS I love how you pronounce community. If nothing else I found a cool new channel and you got a new sub.

[@nerdyyydowszz]

i might actually buy a car thing if i can get this working

[@MrRavons]

Jeff talking about Lenny: "He's a little older, from the 2010s" Bro, my Mazda 3 from 2006 just gained a little more rust after you said that 💀💀💀💀

[@divyamthakur]

bro's got that chronically online music taste(i love it!)

[@lfsw94]

Your music taste is impeccable bro

[@PixPMusic]

music selection throughout the video goes crazy Imma Be The Best absolutely SENT me

[@TheDarknash]

I was starting to think that this video was a myth

[@spooki5556]

you got fire music taste + insanely underrated channel

[@Abdo-zi7bz]

"Play Vacations" So glad this band is gaining popularity.

[@joshfoti]

This was really well made! I want a car thing now!

[@bigdiggle5036]

I knew this was going to happen, there's no way it wouldn't. f Spotify for doing some of the most anti consumer stuff ive ever seen

[@thomas_humana]

Love your taste in music man! So many albums I recognize! ✌🏼

[@matthewkrimmer7749]

Thank you for helping keep the Car Thing alive!!!

[@B0A2]

This is super cool! I may have to mod my car thing that’s just been sitting around.

[@chetapace79]

So they hate everybody so much that they would kill the device, but would still give the code to us because they love us… what the actual f-

[@Imaboss8ball]

They probably bricked it for security reasons and API reasons. They didn't go into a meeting and decided to screw their customers. I mean Spotify is a tech company. It was probably developers and hackers who made that choice.

[@peaceaintpeaceful]

the device looks very good.

[@ThemGrayJackel]

The open source has been out for as long as the car thing has been out. They did announce it. They just didn’t renounce it.

[@dovbaeb]

Hell yeah, Lawbreakers discord, we anti-gravitying with this one 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

[@TheInnerHalo72]

Ironically, this will he perfect for me, i bought my car thing when they were purging inventory but I dont use the car i had it installed in anymore and with this new firmware, it would go perfectly with my rim racing rig

[@SuperSkip64]

This is exactly what my brain went to when they dropped the news. Thank you for your service ❤

[@arkadiuszpalki]

by now, they could have provided an update, maybe even created an open-source app to let people set it up themselves (something like stream deck) It might even still sell well :D

[@playercloof]

first time i watched one of your vids, not gonna lie i was hoping every time you where on screen you would turn into a wolf and fight a vampire xD great vid btw

[@Nimrawid]

There should be a mandate of all devices going open source the moment the producer drops support. Bricking like this is outrageous waste of resources.

[@magfal]

The car thing was also brilliant if you wanted music control that didn't compromise the navigation screen. I use 2 mounts in my car for this exact reason: one for my iPhone playing music and one for my Android running navigation.

[@orangejumpsuit6905]

It should be illegal for companies to "brick" items that customers bought. I understand no longer releasing software updates and no longer supporting the device. But making the decision to essentially make a device no longer work that consumers have purchased should be ILLEGAL. That sounds tantamount to theft to me.

[@Scyriate]

Bro I almost cried when I saw Russian Roulette at <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="186">3:06</a>, I fucking love that song so much 😭

[@kiarashtajalli]

The creativity is on TOP

[@choxed.]

cisco ramon from the flash, thank you so much. i might even buy one just to do this because i likw repurposing stuff like this man its cool if you could even run this software on phones thatd b cool too

[@whygamingwhy2404]

The current weather app looks much better than your designs, I hope we can keep the current one.

[@williambbq]

I love jogwheels! I want these all around my house for Home Assistant.

[@AaronGarmon]

they should make this compatible with Nintendo music

[@niamhrz]

i can see cheap clones running desk thing as a novelty gift

[@BLARG0w0]

When 2010 is considered old 😭

[@Xiefux]

2010 is ancient

[@crisscrossam]

Spotify: we're gonna make the 90$ overpriced device that u can't even use without premium useless. People: outrage. Spotify: alright have some mula back, but we're still making it useless and creating ewaste out of perfectly good devices. The hacking/saving community: allow us to introduce ourselves. Why would anyone be against the people who hack devices to use their full potential, and side with the big corporations who limit those devices and trap you in their grasp? People should always have the option to repurpose devices they have and have the necessary tools and tutorials to do so. The 2nd R in RRR stands for REUSE and unlocking access to that can be completely free if companies decide it. Instead they pay their devs to brick them and the community has to step in.