Apple and Spotify reach a settlement? Siri will use related streaming functions

According to foreign media reports, Spotify, the world's most popular streaming service, is currently discussing a plan with Apple to allow iPhone users to play songs and call related streaming functions by issuing voice commands to Apple's digital assistant Siri, according to three people familiar with the matter. This means that the problem of not being able to use Siri to play Spotify music, which has long troubled iPhone users, may soon become a thing of the past.

Previously, the dispute between the two companies has intensified. In March of this year, Spotify filed a lawsuit with the European antitrust agency over Apple's business practices, claiming that Apple banned Siri from being compatible with Spotify. But even if the two companies reach an agreement on the differences over Siri, it is unlikely that they will reach a settlement soon. Spotify also claimed that policies such as Apple's 15% to 30% commission on App Store subscription registrations created an unfair advantage for Apple Music.

According to the sources, the discussions between Apple and Spotify involve the launch of a series of new tools. In June, Apple announced a new set of tools for audio app developers for streaming music, podcasts and radio to make these apps compatible with Siri. These features are particularly necessary when users are driving.

Even if Apple and Spotify reach a deal, Apple Music will remain the default music streaming service when users ask Siri to play songs on Apple devices, a person familiar with the matter said. Spotify has also complained that Apple's restrictions are hindering its ability to market Spotify to consumers.

When asked about the content of the talks with Apple, a Spotify spokesperson said: "We have no comment at this time."

An Apple spokesman declined to comment. After Spotify filed the lawsuit in March, Apple countered that Spotify used "misleading statements" about Apple to cover its financial motives. Apple said it had approached Spotify several times before, hoping that the Spotify streaming service would support Siri and another Apple technology, AirPlay 2, and Spotify had told Apple it was "working on it."

"We stand ready to do whatever we can to help them," Apple said in a statement.

Despite its incompatibility with Siri, Spotify already has 230 million active users, with more than 100 million paying for premium streaming services. But rival Apple Music is also growing fast. Earlier this year, Apple Music reportedly surpassed Spotify in terms of paid subscribers in the U.S., in part because Apple Music is tightly integrated with the iPhone in many ways, including Siri. Currently, both Google and Amazon allow their own digital assistants, Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa, to play rival music services.

At its annual developer conference in June, Apple announced it would eventually allow developers of audio apps to give consumers easy access to their services through Siri voice commands. The company is adding the capability to SiriKit, an existing developer tool it is upgrading for its upcoming iOS 13 mobile operating system.

Apple released SiriKit in 2016. Previously, SiriKit only allowed six categories of applications to be compatible with Siri, including text messaging, Internet voice calls, payments, ride booking, photo search and fitness. At the 2018 Apple Developer Conference, Apple allowed iPhone users to create shortcuts to perform basic functions on the iPhone, including playing music through Spotify, but these functions were limited and difficult to configure.

While Spotify has not publicly said whether it intends to make Spotify compatible with Siri, it has stopped claiming the two apps are incompatible since Apple released the tools in June. "Apple won't let us work with HomePod, and they certainly won't let us play your music with Siri," Spotify said on its website earlier this year.

As of Tuesday, though, Spotify changed the wording on its website: “Recently, Apple announced that it would let us connect to Siri to play music… but without mentioning our name (e.g. “I want to play X on Spotify”), your HomePod will default to Apple Music.”