As someone who is deep into the Apple ecosystem, I’ve found it really hard to look beyond Apple Music for a seamless music streaming experience across iDevices including iPhone, Apple Watch, Mac, HomePod, and more. But that doesn’t mean my allegiance to Spotify has dipped. So, while I didn’t get swayed by the series of sensational allegations that Spotify made against the iPhone maker, I did find plenty of merits in those accusations, including the one claiming that Apple intentionally blocks Siri from being implemented by rival music apps to stifle the competition. As an iOS user, I always wished to use Siri with Spotify on the iPhone and iPad for an enhanced music-streaming experience. Therefore, I’m pleased to see it finally becoming a reality. Yet to give it a shot? Let’s tune into it right away!
When you are dealing with a new feature like this one, it’s always better to clear out all the doubts first up.
Streaming Spotify music with Siri on iOS has become pretty straightforward as Apple has eventually allowed third-party music apps to integrate with the virtual assistant. Without getting into the debate about whether or not the tech giant did it because of the heat that the massive allegations created, I would say that the company should have allowed the virtual assistant to work with third-party music apps much earlier.
Is There a Catch?
Yeah, a tiny bit. For starters, your device must be running iOS 13 with the latest version of Spotify. And second, you must end each of your commands with “On/from Spotify” so that Siri can understand which service to access. If you don’t add Spotify at the end of the command, it will default to playing Apple Music. Yeah, you’ve guessed it! There is still a hook; even though it’s a tiny one.
Though you can’t have a full-fledged streaming experience, there is a hack to use Siri to play Spotify music on iOS. So, if you are running the older version of iOS like iOS 12, you can use Siri Shortcuts to play song using voice. We have explained those steps in the next section. Now that all the clouds have been cleared off, it’s time to get on with the steps!
- Launch Settings on your iOS or iPadOS device.
Note: You can also use Siri with other music apps like Pandora provided they have added the support for Apple’s virtual assistant. To check it out, open Settings app > music app > Use with Ask Siri.
As I said above, you must add “On/from Spotify” to the end of each command to play Spotify music using Siri. For instance, you can say something like, “Hey Siri, play my workout playlist on Spotify.” “Hey Siri, play Justin Bieber songs on Spotify.”
There is a Siri shortcut called “Spotify Siri” that can let you play Spotify music on your iOS device. So, if your device is not compatible with iOS 13, try it out. Make sure you have installed the Shortcuts app (free, requires iOS 12 or later) on your device. Then, tap on this link to add Spotify Siri shortcut to your library.
So, that’s the way you can play Spotify music using Apple’s virtual assistant on your iOS device. From a user’s perspective, I think it’s a great move. And I’m sure a lot of music lovers are going to benefit from it. What do think of it? Feel free to share your thoughts. Also check out other new Siri features like the option to opt-out of Siri audio recording and deleting the dictation history that has been introduced in iOS 13.
