The latest Spotify beta includes a redesigned CarPlay interface

Best holiday playlists on Spotify (Image credit: Joseph Keller/iMore)

What you need to know

The latest Spotify beta includes a newly redesigned CarPlay interface.

The latest beta version of Spotify for iPhone includes a newly redesigned CarPlay interface. First spotted by users on social media and then shared by 9to5Mac, the update is now available to beta testers via TestFlight.

The biggest change that people appear to be reporting is the addition of a new queue that allows users to see what's coming next and beyond. Tapping the artist's name on the Now Playing screen transfers users to the artist's Spotify page, too.

So the latest Spotify iOS Beta got a great big CarPlay UI update!! This is so much better and brings it in line with Apple Music. Can even see the queue of upcoming songs and tap the artist name on the Now Playing screen to go to that artist. Yay! (@MacRumors @9to5mac) pic.twitter.com/MAI7SWHDlvSo the latest Spotify iOS Beta got a great big CarPlay UI update!! This is so much better and brings it in line with Apple Music. Can even see the queue of upcoming songs and tap the artist name on the Now Playing screen to go to that artist. Yay! (@MacRumors @9to5mac) pic.twitter.com/MAI7SWHDlv— Shaun Ruigrok 💉💉💉 (@Shaun_R) January 7, 2021 January 7, 2021

Visually, the CarPlay app now has four tabs at the top of the screen for easier quick access to Home, Recently Played, Browse, and Library. There's also been a general overhaul of how things look in general, too.

It's impossible to know when Spotify intends to get this update out to those running the App Store version of the app, but if it's in the hands of beta testers it's definitely a good sign. Spotify isn't exactly quick at getting new features implemented, but at least we know that this one is now in the works at the very least.

Spotify only got around to adding Apple Watch streaming support towards the end of last year, but hey, it's better late than never!

Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too.

Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.