Ford Loads Up Spotify As The First Apps Make It Through Its Open Dev Program

At Mobile World Congress, Spotify debuted in its first cars appearing in Ford’s already music-loaded Sync AppLink platform. Ford CTO Paul Mascarenas also told us that its graduate its first apps from its developer program.

Spotify has made its first connected car appearance. At Mobile World Congress, Ford and Spotify announced that the subscription music service will soon be available over the Sync AppLink platform and integrated with the Sync’s voice command system in Ford vehicles in the U.S., Europe and Australia.

According to Spotify Global Head of Hardware Partnerships Pascal de Mul, the updated iPhone and Android apps will soon be able to pair with the dashboard AppLink system, streaming music through the car’s entertainment systems. Users will be able to play their songs, playlists and radio stations and even be able to create new radio stations on the fly with simple voice commands, he said.

Ford has been loading up on music streaming apps in AppLink, making it a key initial focus of its connected car strategy. Its library of supported services includes Pandora, Amazon Cloud Player, MOG Music, Slacker, and Rhapsody as well as multiple radio station’s digital apps...