Kit Kat lock screen controls disapear

[ac_2099]

When using android app on kit kat (stock rom) lock screen controls disapear. I didn't not detect a pattern yet.

Does anyone have the same situation and find a solution?

[Daniel]

What phone, ROM & Android version are you using?

[ac_2099]

Nexus 4
Stock ROM
Android 4.4.4

[Daniel]

Hi, it seems to be a common issue with Nexus devices for some reason. Some people have had to work-around it by stopping the music. Openeing recent apps and swiping away the Spotify app. Restarting again and the controls appear... Odd, and even stranger that this behaviour is predominantely on Nexus devices. Another option is to reboot the device.

Give the above steps a go, apparently it's intermittent when they show or not so hopefully you'll only have to do this every once in a while.

[ac_2099]

It's pretty frequent so when your listening music in your car and have a Bluetooth control doesn't work.
Hoping this get debugged and fixed soon.

[Daniel]

Can you try a clean installation?

NOTE: You will lose all preferences & offline playlists in doing this!

Uninstall the app from Settings - Apps then scroll to the Spotify app and tap on it, then press 'Uninstall' (or any other way you usually uninstall apps).

Once done using a file manager (such as ES File Explorer) make sure that the below folders are deleted (the second one may be still remaining from the older version of Spotify):

/Android/data/com.spotify.music
/Android/data/com.spotify.mobile.android.ui

Note: - Make sure to check both Emulated/0/ AND the /ext_sd/ locations for these folders as they could be on Internal memory or/and external SD card.

When all folders are removed go to the play store and install the Spotify Music app again (Direct Link).

Official guides for a clean reinstallation here
If using an external sd card to store your cache (Offline Playlists) on Android 4.4.2+ then please read instructions in the thread here: [Android 4.4.2+]Cache on external SD card is possible

[nixdee]

Actually I observe the same behavior and it's been this way for a while now.

What it does is, after some duration of playback, Spotify silently withdraws itself from the lockscreen and is only accessible through notification bar. The lockscreen controls (with art) comes back only when I tap the notification, which also pushes a new notification for some reason. All this smells like some bad software decisions to me. None of this happens with any other music player app by the way.

It's really annoying and it also messes up the music controls on Android wear, which adds to the annoyance.

Please do fix, whoever's reading this..

[Daniel]

I think a lot of this is to do with android killing the process... Which it has less tolerance for when the screen is off.

I've found the best way to stop it disappearing is to increase the screen timeout while streaming so that the screen doesn't turn off.

Obviously remember to turn back on afterwards. If you're rooted you could use Tasker to handle seeing the timeout when Spotify is open.

[nixdee]

Hey Daniel,

I beg to differ because it happens even with the screen on. Several times It happened even when I was looking straight at the lockscreen!

I'm also using another app called Jack's Music Widget, which is basically a widget that gets data through the lockscreen controls to show art and name of what's playing, regardless of the app. The information on that widget also gets 'abandoned' after even mere minutes. (in sync with the disappearence)

Again, does not happen with any other music app.

~

[mattruizstupi]

Yes, I'm having the same annoying issue too. I've got a Galaxy S5 running Kit Kat 4.4.4, would love to get a solution for this

[Crazy-Maisy]

I have a Nexus 5 running Stock Android 5(.01) and an Xperia Z3 Compact Tablet running Android 4.4.4

Spotify Connect works great on both devices this whole last week since I started using Spotify, except on my Nexus 5 today I was holding it, looking at the lockscreen with the full album art and controls there, and a second later it went to a blank lockscreen, with the notification obvious at the top so I knew Spotify was still open. It hasn't happened since earlier.

That's the only time it's done it. Screen sleeps and when I turn it on, the proper controls are always there, so far.

On my tablet it's perfect so far.

[kabloc]

I had same problem, any answer??

[mattruizstupi]

I have since upgraded to Lollipop and am not still experiencing the problem, so maybe it got fixed with the OS update?