My favorite Spotify feature makes other music apps completely useless in the car

There are many reasons why I still choose Spotify over other music streaming services, and I’m aware that some readers think I’m crazy — but hear me out. I’ve already mentioned why Spotify Duo is perfect for my household, and then there’s Spotify Connect, which lets me control music on my PS4 and other devices through my phone. I’ve also grown accustomed to the playlists it generates for me, many of which reliably contain great tracks. However, perhaps the biggest reason I stick with Spotify is its collaborative queue editing feature, Spotify Jam.

Our household often listens to music selected spontaneously rather than from a set playlist. So, when my partner wants to add a track to my queue or me to hers, we can join a Jam and start rearranging and adding tracks as we please. Naturally, this feature is a household favorite and a strong reason we rely on Spotify, and recently, the feature got even better.

The service recently brought Spotify Jam to Android Auto, which extends this fantastic feature to the car. After using it extensively this past week on a lovely little road trip, I can’t ever imagine using another music app while driving.

If you’re not a Spotify user, let me briefly explain what Spotify Jam is. Launched two years ago, Jam is a collaborative feature that allows multiple people to add tracks to a listening queue. It’s a wonderful feature for parties or group gatherings, but also great for sharing music tastes with another person. It recently gained support for Android Auto, bringing the experience to the car. This wasn’t big news for those who drive solo most of the time, but it is a godsend for me, who usually travels with a passenger.

My partner and I use Jam while cooking or doing chores around the house, but while it’s a nice-to-have in these contexts, it wasn’t essential. For the most part, I could reach for my phone, select a new playlist or track, and continue with the dishes or dicing carrots. Alternatively, we usually control music with voice commands via our Nest Mini in our kitchen. But in the car, where selecting a new song is difficult for a driver and awkward for a passenger, Jam was the missing piece of the driving entertainment puzzle.

This past week, I finally got to test the feature in earnest. We drove to a small town a few hours away to view the wildflowers and enjoy some olive tasting. Before heading off, my partner and I would usually select one of the driving playlists we’ve compiled, but after a few hours on the road, these start getting somewhat repetitive. Finding a new song would either involve my partner searching for a specific track using the Android Auto screen — distracting for me and awkward for her — or using my phone tucked away in the rear footwell. Alternatively, we could rely on Google Assistant, but the voice assistant is hugely unreliable, especially when factoring in road noise and my accent. But, with Jam now available, my partner could make real-time adjustments to the song queue from her phone without fiddling with any of these less intuitive options. Of course, you may still have an issue with the music your significant other selects, but isn’t that part of the fun?

With Jam, the next track was always a surprise, making the infinite ribbon of tarmac seem substantially shorter.

Spotify Jam is generally as easy to use in the car as anywhere else, but it has some quirks.

Joining a Jam in the car is trickier than it should be and depends on various elements. To join a Jam, one must scan a QR code displayed on Android Auto’s Spotify UI. That sounds simple enough, but scanning the code becomes a challenge if the sun is shining at a particular angle or a shadow is cast across the screen. My partner spent a few minutes in the middle of the day trying to scan the code using her phone’s camera.

Spotify could easily fix this by offering users an alphanumeric code or a direct URL link visible on the screen. Currently, it doesn’t appear that the Jam is recognized automatically by my partner’s Spotify app either, but this would be another brilliant integration that would save users from the QR code issues.

I can also imagine how ridiculous this QR code-scanning system would be for multiple users wanting to join the Jam. The chaos in a minivan when all six occupants try to scan the code could grow particularly annoying for the driver.

Secondly, my partner was forced to rejoin my Jam each time the car was switched off. It seems the queue remains even if the Jam session ends, but it’s a minor inconvenience, especially given the awkward method for rejoining the Jam.

Overall, these are minor problems for us. Jam on Android Auto is a relatively new feature, so I expect the company to iron out these issues eventually with future updates.

In theory and practice, Jam is a simple feature, but it adds significant value to the in-car entertainment experience. If you often travel alone, you might never need to use the feature. But for those who regularly drive with others, it’s a boon.

No other streaming service offers anything like Spotify Jam yet, let alone a similar solution that works so well in the car. I’ve mentioned the many reasons I find it challenging to switch from Spotify to one of its rivals, like YouTube Music and Apple Music, but Spotify Jam on Android Auto is the most definitive yet. It’s the killer feature that will keep me hooked to the streaming service for a long time to come.