Do you remember Car Thing? The hardware was Spotify’s now-discontinued device for controlling music streaming from within the platform, rather than relying on built-in car software, like CarPlay or Android Auto. However, Spotify killed Car Thing after just a few months. First announced in 2019, Car Thing then launched in 2021 in a limited capacity, before becoming generally available in 2022. It was on sale from February to July, before Spotify ended production.
Unfortunately, December 2024 arrived and Spotify then buried the entire product, preventing any remaining Car Things from working. No longer functional, Spotify had created unnecessary electronic waste for owners overnight. Until, just like those hacking the Amazon Echo Show, some hardware tinkerers created Mira, custom firmware for the Dead Car Things, to bring them back. All you need is the download, a USB-C cable, and a Car Thing to get started.
Setup will ask you to connect Car Thing to your PC or phone to connect via Bluetooth and access Spotify. Once you’re all connected, plug Car Thing wherever you want and you can use it again to control the music playing from your phone. Most of the original features you’d expect are here, including podcast support, lyrics display, source options, and various control methods (including gesture, physical, and voice).
As of August 2026, the current version of Mira, 1.0, has two known issues. These are Bluetooth devices that do not always reconnect automatically and waking up can sometimes be irregular. That said, the project’s GitHub page is incredibly detailed and even has a troubleshooting section.
Car Thing is back as Mira Thing
Mira is the latest in a line of consumers attempting to resurrect hardware unceremoniously killed by big tech. As we mentioned above, users are removing Amazon’s strict software restrictions on Echo Shows, or in the software realm, a developer managed to create a snapshot of AOL 2.5 from 1995. Unlike that AOL project, Car Thing was still a completely viable piece of hardware that Spotify could have supported without much impact on its day-to-day operations.
Instead, the company decided to go the Google or Microsoft route and eliminate the entire product line. Currently, Spotify does not have any hardware of its own on the market. Despite announcing a focus on hardware in 2017, only Car Thing came to fruition properly. It’s probably even more unlikely now, especially with the current AI tech data center pricing crisis driving hardware prices up, that we’ll ever see anything like this from Spotify again.
