How to stop Spotify opening automatically on mobile?

[foryoublue94]

So I often listen to spotify on my desktop computer at home and my laptop at work.
When I playing music on a separate device and using my phone, often times Spotify opens itself automatically and the music controls show up in my notification bar on mobile. So for example, I'll be playing a game on mobile and try to turn down the volume on the game and end up turning down the music on my PC because Spotify opened suddenly when I did not want it to.
I have to open the app, close the app, and then clear the media controls from my notification bar, and most of the time it just pops right back up immediately. The only thing I've known to work is force stopping the app.

Not enough space to continue typing question. Cool, thanks.

[foryoublue94]

CONTINUING my post because the character limit is too short...

I don't think I should have to force stop multiple times a day.

I'm using a Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra running Android 13. Both of the other devices I listen to Spotify on are Windows 10 PCs using the desktop app. I have Spotify Premium.
There doesn't appear to be anything in the settings to stop that, and I saw one other post where it seemed like someone else was having the same issue, but that topic was closed without any replies.

I'd appreciate any help. Obviously I'm not willing to uninstall the mobile app, because I DO listen to spotify on my phone a lot. But I don't want it to default to controlling the music on another device when I am not listening on my phone. And I even have the "Use volume keys for media" option on my phone turned OFF so that it won't default to controlling the media volume. Not sure if that makes a difference when the media is playing on a separate device, and turning that option off honestly doesn't seem to work as it is written anyways.

[Eni]

Hey there @foryoublue94, 

Thanks for reaching out about this here in the Community. 

We can confirm that it's expected behavior of the app that the device controlling the volume of the music when it's being played by Connect as the phone can't differentiate between the media volume of the Spotify app and other apps you're using. 

In this case, if you previously opened the Spotify app at some point and didn't close it, changing the volume will affect the volume of the other device as it's connected via connect.
 

However, if that's not the case, it's well worth running a clean reinstall to get rid of any cached files that might be causing trouble. 

On another note, it looks like other users would like to have the option to keep the Connect audio control separate from device volume as well and posted this idea. Despite its current status, you can still add your vote to it and if anything changes in the future, we'll make sure to keep everyone updated over there. The Idea Exchange is a great way for us to see what our users are interested in and how many people like a certain idea. Check out this FAQ to learn more about it. 

We'll be on the lookout.

[foryoublue94]

Hi there!

Sorry for the confusion. To clarify, the issue here is that the app is opening on its own even if I close it, thereby causing the volume thing. The volume thing itself is not the problem I'm asking about. I want to stop the app from opening on its own. 

[Eni]

Hey @foryoublue94, 

Thanks for getting back to us and for the clarification. 

In this case, we suggest that you take a look at this thread where fellow users shared what worked for them to prevent this from happening on their Samsung phones and those steps might work for you as well. 

Let us know how it goes.

[foryoublue94]

Thanks, Eni!

Sorry for the confusion... this isn't what I'm looking for. I still want to be able to use Media controls to control Spotify on another device - when I choose to open Spotify on my phone. Without having to change my settings every time.

It just seems reasonable to me that I should be able to have an app only open when I specifically choose to open it, from my phone. Is that not possible with the Spotify mobile app currently?

[AlejaR]

Hey @foryoublue94,

Thanks for your reply and for the info shared. 

We understand what you're mentioning; we really appreciate you helping us understand better what's happening. So, in this case, there are a couple of things you can check. In this case, you can try by checking if you have the Spotify connect in background setting toggled on. If yes, switch it off, so when you're playing a game on your mobile phone and you're using Connect to play music, the volume on your PC doesn't go down.

Regarding the app auto-starting in the background, it's possible you've allowed Spotify to Auto-start in your device settings. We'd suggest you check this; some users reported to have a such setting in their Battery device settings, and some others, in the app manager menu.

Hope you found this helpful. Keep us in the loop!

[foryoublue94]

Thank you!

I've had the "spotify connect in background" toggle off this entire time. As for the auto-starting apps, and I do not appear to have such a setting on my phone. 

Is it perhaps a bug that this is happening even with the spotify connect setting turned off?

[Yordan]

Hey @foryoublue94,

I think for Samsung devices you had to first enable Developer options in order for the Autostart setting to show up. This article shows how to do that.

Now try looking for Autostart or something similar in the list of options and toggle it off for Spotify so that the app doesn't continue running in the background once you close it.

Something else that's worth checking is if Hide player when the media session has ended is enabled. On my phone, it's located in Sound settings, but on your phone it may be located somewhere else (or missing entirely), as this is dependent on the manufacturer's Android ROM.

Hope this helps. Let us know how it goes.

Cheers!

[foryoublue94]

Thank you so much for your help so far! 

So...I enabled developer options, but I don't have an autostart or anything similar (I tried search as well) and I also do not have the hide player option you mentioned. 

Is there perhaps somewhere else I should look?

[MihailY]

Hey @foryoublue94,

You can also try adjusting the settings in the Device care section on your phone in order to prevent the app from running in the background, however, since what you originally described is expected behavior, we can't guarantee that changing those settings won't cause some other issues during playback.

In any case, please let us know if you manage to find a working solution so other users can benefit from it.

[foryoublue94]

Just to clarify, you're saying that having the app open on mobile, completely unprompted and unwanted by the user, even with the "spotify connect in background" option turned off, is expected behavior?? 

Only asking because that seems completely unreasonable to me. I must be misunderstanding what you're saying, right?

It's not normal for apps to just open on their own with all applicable settings turned off if its not a necessary system app... or malware. It seems like a no brainer to me that this should be considered a bug. 

[MihailY]

Hey @foryoublue94,

Apologies for the confusion.

What I meant was that it's expected behavior for the notification controls to show up on your phone if you're playing music on your desktop connected to the same network. Re-reading your original post, however, I see that I've misunderstood your issue for which I apologize.

The app opening on your device and taking over your volume controls while another app is running is definitely not expected behavior and we've made sure to forward your report to the relevant team here at Spotify. 

However, we can't confirm when it will be addressed, so in the meantime, please try changing the Device Care settings on your phone, and again, do let us know if you manage to find a solution.

Take care,

[foryoublue94]

Thank you for clarifying that! No need to apologize. I hope I didn't sound upset in my previous reply, I apologize if so.

That makes sense, thank you for passing along the issue.

I don't seem to have any relevant settings in Device Care but I will continue to look for any ways to fix this on my end (and post here if I do find any solutions) and, in the meantime, I appreciate your help and the fact that a report was made.

Thank you!

Have a great weekend.

[Carder2330]

I stopped Spotify from opening by itself.  Go into settings and search "deep sleep". I added spotify to the apps that are I'm a deep sleep and I haven't had any more problems.

[foryoublue94]

Thanks for the idea. I'm glad that works for you. 

It doesn't work for me, because I still want to be able to use the app on mobile without having to put it in and take it out of deep sleep every time I use it. Judging by my conversation with spotify staff so far, this is a glitch that needs to be fixed. The settings that should stop it from opening automatically are not working.

[foryoublue94]

Wanted to update that this continues to be an issue and boost this post in hopes that it will reach the devs' ears and inspire a prompt fix. Thanks so much!

[foryoublue94]

Issue still occurring. Had died down for a while, but is suddenly happening to me multiple times per day yet again. Bumping the topic to hopefully bring this to the attention of devs for a prompt fix. Please.

[cebrina]

I listen to my tablet connected to my Alexa device overnight. I make sure to stop the device when I leave home. Entering my car, Spotify starts up automatically. I do not allow Spotify to play in the background. It's annoying. When I connect to Bluetooth in my car it automatically starts again. I have a new phone, downloaded the app and it still happens. There has to be a solution. 

[LarisaT]

Same problem auto starts w/ my samsung buds and in my car super irritating!