A developer has shown Spotify running on Apple's upcoming HomeView, offering an early look at how third-party streaming will work on the new smart home display, MacRumors reports.
According to the report, Steve Troughton-Smith, the developer of the Broadcasts app, posted a short demonstration on Mastodon. The clip was recorded on a virtualized HomeView rather than a physical unit, so it shows the software behavior and not the final hardware experience.
HomeView has no App Store of its own. Instead, it can mirror audio and video apps that support CarPlay from a nearby iPhone that has been paired with it. Per the report, developers do not need to change their apps for this to work. Spotify is one example of a third-party app that falls into that category.
That approach comes with limits. Mirroring depends on an iPhone being close by and paired, and only apps that already work with CarPlay are available, which narrows the selection compared with a full app marketplace. The report does not say how much of Spotify's interface or functionality carries over to the HomeView screen.
On the built-in side, HomeView includes Apple's own Music, Podcasts, Home, Messages and Safari apps. Mirrored iPhone apps named in the report include Apple Music Classical, Apple News, Apple TV and Audiobooks.
Apple announced HomeView in October as a $299 smart home display, with tabletop and wall-mount versions. Pre-orders are open in launch markets, and the device is set to go on sale on Friday, November 13. It will not initially be sold in the European Union.
The demonstration is one developer's early look at pre-release software in a virtual environment, so details could differ when the hardware reaches customers. Apple has not published a list of supported third-party apps, and the company's own materials describe the built-in experience rather than mirrored services.
For anyone planning to buy HomeView mainly as a music hub, the practical takeaway is that Apple Music and Podcasts are built in, while services such as Spotify depend on an iPhone being nearby. Reviews and hands-on reports expected closer to launch should show how smooth that handoff feels in everyday use.
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