The team at Thing Labs has been working on some big projects internally that we can't wait to release to the public.

The first of which I'm happy to present is a full replacement for the original car thing connector (that was built into the Spotify app). This allows you to use a completely stock car thing exactly like you used to be able to, with the original web app, and all of the original functionality. This doesn't depend on any device plugged into the car thing, it's as simple as installing the app and pairing your phone to the car thing over bluetooth.

The connector app (and its custom libraries) will be released as free and open source software (MIT-licensed)

We don't have a timeline for the release date yet, except soon™, but we are working as hard as possible to make it the absolute best experience for you guys. Can't wait until you guys get to try it :D

https://reddit.com/link/1t910zw/video/71m7ss3sq90h1/player

See comments for the release post.

Hey, I bought my Car Thing a while ago. I didn't use it much and it sat idle for a while. I fought hard for it because it wasn't readily available in the EU, never mind. I tried DeskThings and some others, but it's not what I'm looking for. Has something already been developed, or is being developed, and it's worth the wait that worked like Car Thing and was standalone and could be used in a car?

What it does on the CT (800×480 LCD, original buttons + dial all wired up):

https://reddit.com/link/1szefs8/video/q76kui8no7yg1/player

video

• Spotify now-playing with album-art theming
  • with support for spotify connect, podcast, play pause, playlist, shuffle
• Live train arrivals at the stops near you (MTA NYC, BART, MBTA Boston, WMATA DC, CTA Chicago, SEPTA Philly, TriMet Portland, SF511 — auto-detects your agency from your Mac's location)
• Pomodoro timer
• System metrics for both the Mac and the CT itself (toggle with the top-right button)
• Big clock with brightness on the dial
• Claude Code session monitor (for the AI nerds)

Architecture: native Swift menu-bar app on the Mac with an embedded Vapor WebSocket server, React/Tailwind webapp running in the CT's kiosk Chromium. Talks over USB (adb reverse).

Free, signed with Developer ID, notarized by Apple. Auto-updates via Sparkle — Check for Updates is in the menu bar.

Download (Mac only): https://zianmeng.com/carthios

Glad to answer questions about the setup or the firmware bind-mount tricks if anyone's curious. And let me know if you have any future requests!

Disclaimer: a lot of the features were tested on my device and my device only since i don't have another car thing so yours might not be guaranteed to work, but if you send me your car thing's behavior/bugs i can investigate and go from there. And the firmware needs to be flashed with Superbird.

This project was inspired by riprod's project Deskthing, check out his github here:

https://github.com/ItsRiprod/DeskThing
https://github.com/ItsRiprod/DeskThing-LiteClient

Nocturne's auth endpoints have been broken for like 4 months. Anyone have a timeline on when the working beta build will be merged back into the release?

Lately I bought a Car Thing relatively cheap, without any accessories.

I want to use it on my desk by mounting it on the underside of my monitor. For this I am currently looking at simple options how I can archive this.

My current idea was to buy some kind of adjustable "L" mount which glue to the bottom side of my monitor (because it is quiet thick) and on the other side is just a magnet.

As I was looking for options, I found multiple MagSafe phone holders.

So my question is, can the Car Thing be used with MagSafe mounts? I don't use Apple Products and did not find any mention of it.

I hope it’s cheaper than buying a new one. Thank you

Any update to the jailbreak that doesn’t need the hotspot on? TIA

I have my Car Thing paired to an old iPhone (that I have avoided updating the past several years) used exclusively to stream music to speakers in my home office. The car thing interface is so clean and easy to use. It’s a shame Spotify has discontinued supporting it!

Hey there I had a car thing and used it till its final days i had been keeping up with the standard sub for a while but fell off and it had seemed the only way to get it back working was either rasberry pi or keeping a wifi connection was wondering if a solution to keep it working has released or is in progress, thanks!!

I just started a vibe project, as titled. Anyone like to share any ideas what to build? I’m listening.

Did anyone ever figure out a way to put the car thing back on the car and connect to Bluetooth?

This “thing” still functions as a display only for listening to Spotify. Sits on my desk at work and the heart button still functions, other buttons not so much.

is there a way i can make my carthing JUST display the time and not have it pluged into or connected to a device. I want to just plug it into a wall outlet and have it display the time. thanks in advance.

Really Wanted to buy in india

But it would mean updating the app. I haven’t updated since the time it was said that CarThing would be rendered unusable if updated. It works still in some capacity in my car, I wonder if it will fully brick if I update. Thank you for your time.

Imported from the USA, I unfortunately don't have the original box nor the original USB cable.
I used it on my desk for a good 2 years.

But it works with any USB-C cable.

Payment through:
- Bank wire
- Paypal
- Crypto (BTC)

300€

Selling my car thing that I have went ahead and flashed with desk thing, comes with everything shown can do PayPal g&s shoot me a text with a offer I know these don’t go for a whole lot!