Delay with Media Controller

[Nowaxe]

Plan

Premium

Country

Ukraine

Device

Samsung Galaxy Note 10+

Operating System

Android 12

My Question or Issue

When I skip or pause, I get a delay in Android Media Control, namely in Spotify, at lock screen the same, with other applications it is not so. The most interesting thing is that in the menu ANC itself there is no delay, but in the widget that can be added to the desktop, there is a delay.

[MihailY]

Hey @Nowaxe,

Thanks for reaching out and for providing a video of the issue.

To investigate this further, can you let us know the following:

• Your exact Spotify version.
• Do you get the same delay when streaming through the web player?
• Have you tried clean reinstalling the app?
• Have you made sure that Spotify is set as an exception in any battery- or memory-optimizing services?

Keep us posted.

[Nowaxe]

So I reinstalled it 2 times, and it didn't help, then a day after the publication of my appeal, it went away by itself, but it came back again. In web player I don't have delay. My Spotify version is 9.0.32.624. I have delay only in that widget, in app delay disappears

[Dessi]

Hi @Nowaxe,

Thanks for all the info you sent!

On the screen recording I can see that you're connected to an external Bluetooth device, can you disconnect from it and try this again to see if the issue persists? Can you also check your phone's settings and make sure that Spotify is set as an exception in any battery- or memory-optimizing apps/services? 

Another thing that comes to mind is testing this out with a different internet connection - try switching between mobile data and WiFi.

Keep us posted.

[Nowaxe]

I've done everything you asked, nothing has changed. Even on wifi, even on the mobile Internet, without a bluetooth, even with it

[Dessi]

Hey @Nowaxe,

Thanks for the cooperation!

To check what's causing this, it'd be really helpful if you can borrow a mobile device from a friend or a relative for a couple of minutes to check if this happens if you log in on it and use the widget. If they have a Spotify account, you can also ask them to log in their own account on your phone to see if they experience the same thing. This way we can determine if this is device- or account-related.

On another note, do you happen to use a SD card? If yes, try taking it out and restarting your phone afterwards to see if that makes a difference. Also, make sure you have enough storage space in the location your app is utilizing and installed on (min. 2GB). 

Let us know how it goes.

[Jk931]

Have we found any solutions?

Having the same issue and it sucks to pay for Spotify and have it be pretty inconvenient. Here's the issue I'm running into:

Controls from the home/lock/pull down screens result in a delay ranging from 30 seconds to about five minutes. Controls from external Bluetooth devices like gym headphones work well. I've cleared cache and storage, deleted and reinstalled Spotify twice. Reset all my Spotify settings from the app and my settings for my phone (android). No updates are available for either phone or the Spotify app. This problem only occurs with Spotify (Amazon music, Pandora work just fine from the lock screen). This has been ongoing for about a month now. I've done all the above steps. 

[Nowaxe]

I haven't found it, it somehow appears and then goes away, I've already tried everything, and I did it on another phone, but there is no such problem there, only on this device. The only thing I noticed is that if you don't use this controller, but use a headset, it goes away after a while, but then it reappears again

[Joan]

Hi @Jk931,

Thanks for the reply and for all the troubleshooting you've done so far.

So that we can narrow down the issue, can you let us know if this only happens on your Android phone? What model is it? If you haven't tested on other devices, please do so. Please also try the different device and account steps last suggested by @Dessi so that we can truly rule out if the issue stems from the device, account or something else.

Let us know how it goes.

[jm1996]

I am experiencing the same issue on a Samsung Galaxy S10e. It´s been like that for a few months. (it may be getting worse, I don´t remember exactly).

The controls in the app and the home screen widget work just fine but on the lock screen and pull down screen the delay ranges from 5 to 20s. I have deleted the cache and reinstalled the app at least 5 times. Also I tried removing the SD card. I have also deleted all downloaded playlists/audiobooks. The internal and SD card storage still has plenty of storage space (>10gb). I have tried installing older versions (from 2023) but the problem remained. All other media players are not affected by this problem. Also the spotify web player is not affected.

[OscarDC]

Hey @jm1996,

Welcome to the Community and thank you for joining the conversation.

We appreciate all the troubleshooting you've tried so far. To continue investigating this case, we understand you’ve already tried some troubleshooting steps including reinstalling, but to be sure that we're on the same page - did you use the steps for a clean reinstall mentioned in this article?

If the issue persists, would you mind checking on a different mobile device (using your own account) to see if it makes any difference? If you don't have another one available, you can borrow one from a friend or family member to test it out. It would also be great if you could have the same friend or family member log in with their account on your device to see if the issue persists. 

Lastly, include in your next response the exact OS version of your device, along with the Spotify version you're currently running.

We'll be on the lookout.

[KingFisher95]

This delay is a huge annoyance. It's happened to me for well over a year, it shows up for a day and then it's fine the next.

The longest delay I've had so far is about a minute.

Doesn't matter what version of the app, I've tried every troubleshooting option under the sun, I've had it happen on a previous device too.

Currently happening on my Samsung S22 Ultra, Android 12, Spotify 9.0.34.593

[MihailY]

Hey @KingFisher95,

Thanks for reaching out.

Was the previous device a Samsung phone? I suspect this has to do with Samsung's built-in memory/battery-optimizing features, so can you try going through your phone's settings and adding Spotify as an exception in those services?

If the issue persists, please send us a video of how things look on your end so we can report the issue to our tech team.

Keep us posted. 

[KingFisher95]

No, it was a OnePlus. I've made sure the battery optimisations are as disabled as I can make them on my current phone and still no luck. Max attachment size is 5mb so I can't attach the video I made. But the only battery optimization option I can change is when you hold the app, go into it's app info, battery and then set it to unrestricted

[MihailY]

Hey @KingFisher95,

Thanks for the reply and the additional info.

If the video file is too large to attach, you can upload it to Google Drive (make sure to allow general access to the file) or as an unlisted YouTube video.

Can you also test some more with different types of content (albums/playlists/podcasts) and see if the size of the playlist/album makes any difference in this behavior?

Cheers,

[KingFisher95]

No difference between liked songs, a small playlist (5 songs), an album or podcasts.

Problem persists for both the lock screen media controller and the one in the notifications list.

I can pause a song, open Spotify, pause it instantly within the app then the pause from the lock screen takes action like 10+ seconds later, which unpauses it. Same for skipping. Even when I spam the actions, they all get delayed, so spamming skip forward will eventually skip however many times I pressed it.

This doesn't happen with other apps, Youtube, Tidal, any media played through a browser etc.

[OscarDC]

Hey @KingFisher95,

Thank you for keeping in contact and for the shared info.

Just to make sure we've covered all bases, would you mind confirming if you have any SD card inserted on your phone? If so, we'd recommend removing it > restarting your phone > performing a clean reinstall of the app with the steps mentioned in this article > logging back into your account and checking if the issue persists. 

Hope this helps. Let us know how it goes.

[KingFisher95]

No SD card, not even sure I have a slot for one anyway.

[Susan_GP]

Hey there folks,

Thanks for all your replies and for trying out all our recommendations.

For now, we'd like to gather some additional info to investigate this behavior. Kindly send the following, if you haven't yet:

• The exact Spotify version you're running on the device you're experiencing this behaviour on.
• The make/model and exact OS version of your device.
• Does it only happen from the notification screen or on your lock screen as well?
• Did you notice this happening after an update or recent change?

In the meantime, make sure both your Spotify app and OS are up-to-date.

We'll be on the lookout.

[Oke68]

-Spotify version : 9.0.36.697

-Samsung M21; Android 12; OneUi 4.1

-Notification and lock screen but on app and widget it works perfect