No Longer Showing Hearts on Liked Songs in Playlist on Android Devices

[MacWehr]

Plan

Premium

Country

USA

Device

Samsung S10+, Samsung Tab A Lite

Operating System

Android Version 12 for S10+

Android V. 11 for Tab A Lite

My Question or Issue

Up until the last couple of updates, songs I liked would display a heart by them within a playlist view.

Now the only way to see if a song is liked (i.e., has a heart) is to bring up the options submenu for that song and see if it it shows as liked and has a green filled heart).

The problem only occurs on my Android devices.  My iOS device and Windows desktop app still show hearts on liked songs within a playlist.

Is this a designed feature?  Or a bug?  Spotify updates frequently so I'm not sure if this was an intentional behavior change or not.

Thanks.

[Vasil]

Hey @MacWehr!

Does the exact same issue occur on both your Android devices?
Could you let us know which app versions are installed on them?

We'd also advise trying out these steps on on one of the affected devices to see if that makes a difference, as we couldn't replicate the issue on our end and the hearts are still visible from within a playlist when the song is liked:

From the Android home screen, tap Settings > Apps.

1. Find Spotify in your list of apps and tap on it.
2. Select Storage & Cache.
3. Select Clear Storage.
4. Once done, go back and select Uninstall.
5. Open a File Manager and navigate to Internal Storage\Android\data.
6. If you see a folder called com.spotify.music delete it.
7. Optional: Repeat this if you're using an SD card. The file structure should be the same and the folder will be in SD Card\Android\data.
8. Once all this is done, restart your device.
9. Open the Google Play Store and install Spotify from there.
    

We'll be on the lookout for your response.
Thanks!

[MacWehr]

Thanks for replying, @Vasil.

First thing I do with any app that misbehaves is clear cache, clear data, and uninstall/reinstall.  I did do those steps with the apps on both devices.  That didn't fix the issue.

Spotify just updated today on the tablet and is still not showing hearts for liked songs on playlists.

The Samsung tablet is running Spotify V. 8.7.58.458 and the Samsung phone is running Spotify 8.7.58.457.

The behavior on both is the same.  Neither Android device shows hearts on liked songs on playlists.

[AlejaR]

Hey @MacWehr,

Thanks for the reply and for the shared info 🙂

In this case, for starters, make sure your device's OS and the app are up-to-date. You can check if there's any new version available on the app store of both of them.

On another note, is this happening on another account? You can create a free test account to check if you find this behavior there as well. Please check in both your tablet and mobile device.

Lastly, and just to confirm, is this happening on all of your playlists or just a few ones? If not sure, it'd be awesome if you could check. Please send us screenshots of the affected playlists where we can visualize how you see them on your android devices. Send us screenshots in which we can appreciate how you see the same playlists on your iOS device and computer as well.

We'll keep an eye on your response! 

[MacWehr]

Thanks for replying @AlejaR.

Both Samsung devices are running the most current operating system. There are no available OS updates.

Screen captures below.  This behavior is happening on all playlists.

I haven't tested another account.  I may do so depending on additional feedback.

This is how the album Under Rug Swept by Alanis Morrisette appears on Spotify desktop for Windows running on Win 10.Screen cap from Samsung S10+. It's the same for the Samsung tablet. Hearts don't show in either landscape or portrait orientation for either device.

iOS

[OscarDC]

Hey @MacWehr,

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

In this type of case is always worth logging out from your account and logging back in twice to force the sync between your device and your account.

Also, it would be great if you could have someone log in with their account on your device - such as a friend or a family member, to see if the issue persists. This will help us understand if it could be account-related or not.

We'll be on the lookout

[MacWehr]

@Oscar,

I tried logging in and out twice but that didn't fix the problem. 

I also did as @AlejaR suggested and created another account (free, not premium) and am still getting the same problem even with the new account.

[Vasil · Accepted solution]

Hey folks!

We have updates about the current intended behaviour of the Likes indicator icon:
Hearts should be visible on your playlists when a song is individually liked but they will not show up in albums.

You may also check this thread in case you're facing the issue described there as well 🙂
Let us know if any questions arise, thanks!

[MacWehr]

@Vasil,

Thanks for the reply.  This turned out to be the solution.  On Android, hearts don't show for liked songs on albums.

Is there a reason why Spotify decided to make this the behavior on Android?  It's not the case on Windows or iOS.  Will Spotify be changing the apps for those to behave the same way?

I don't like the behavior.  Hearts should be visible regardless of the type of playlist, like it is currently in Windows and iOS.

And when Spotify does make changes like this, it should be better publicized.  The changelog  notes for updates on Android are the same generic ones for each update applied.

Thanks again for looking into this for us.

[Runaway7]

Why is this the intended behavior? As a new user it is very frustrating to not be able to see liked songs at a glance when looking at albums or artists. As I am trying to build my library I keep going back to the same songs as I forget that I have already added them. Very unintuitive and inefficient design choice. 

[jermsull]

This is poor UX, in my opinion. Spotify needs to find another way to differentiate between likes in a playlist and likes on the Artists/etc. It’s very confusing, and I’m considering canceling my Duo Premium account and moving to Apple Music. Please let whoever is your VP of Product, or User Experience, or a rough equivalent that this either feature needs to be re-thought, to provide much clearer documentation, or to add some help text that explains this ambiguous functionality. I expect more from you all.

[JayMob]

I dont like this at all either. I really want to see my liked songs on the Album pages. I use this feature while browsing and listening to my favorite albums when using my Windows PC.  Sucks that its different on my phone.

Shouldn't all list of songs (albums, playlists, or otherwise) just look and behave the same? and regardless of what device?

You sure this is an intended behaviour and not a bug? If intended, i find it very bizarre that Spotify only wants this behaviour on Android App album pages.... I sincerely hope this change isn't coming to my other devices.

Hearts on album pages, please!  🙂

[mpraim]

This does not make any sense at all.

[mazzacat49]

As others have replied below this "intended functionality" is awful.

I use likes so I know which songs I have added to playlists of my favourite tracks, infuriating to play an album and think I've neglected to add songs from it simply as I cannot see the hearts.

This **bleep** functionality had better not spread to Web player or desktop app...

[mpraim]

Honestly I cannot think of a single good reason for this change. It is only making the user experience worse. 

[rnbw-spctrm]

There should be a clear path of communication to the users about major updates to UI. This answer took me far too long to track down. This site is horrendously buggy on android mobile using Chrome. I had to write this response in another app and paste it in due to issues with this site. Poor decisions and poor UX. It is time to replace Spotify in my life. 

[natastrophe1225]

This is very frustrating to experience.