App completely non-functional after returning to free plan.

[Winniexd]

Plan

Free

Country

Belgium

Device

OnePlus 8 Pro

Operating System

Android

My Question or Issue

Recently my app seems to have stopped functioning like it should. This started happening after I returned to the free plan. I previously was part of a family plan. Reinstalling the app does not help. Weirdly enough it seems to be tied to my account as the app starts functioning again after logging into a different account. Desktop app seems to work fine.

Searching for songs works but when I try to play one it opens it up somehow like how you would open a playlist but the only thing that would appear would be different songs followed by their artist. The pictures below should make it more clear. Same with artists or playlists. Different song names with their artist but no thumbnail or anything. Can't click on them either. The "liked songs" folder also looks very strange.

Hopefully there is a reasonable explanation for all of this. Thank you in advance for your help.

[Alex · Accepted solution]

Hi there @Winniexd,

Thanks for the post.

This is expected behavior. On the free tier, the mobile app can only play songs/ playlists and albums in shuffle mode. There is no on-demand play, so you won't be able to search for a song and play it directly. On the Desktop app, there isn't much difference between the functionality of the free and Premium plans, as you will be able to select songs on demand, but you'll still see and hear ads.

You can read more about the difference between the plans here.

Hope this info clears things up.

[Winniexd]

Oh I see... I guess it has been a while since having the free plan as I don't remember it being like this. I apologize for my ignorance and for taking up your time.

Kind regards.

[Susan_GP]

Hi @Winniexd,

Thanks for your reply. 

We're always updating and adding new features to Spotify, so you might see something different now from how it was the last time you had the free version.

We're here to help and we're glad to answer and clarify any doubts you may have. So ff you have any questions or need anything else, the Community is here for you.