Playback not working like usual and notification controls disappear

[Contra_]

Plan

Premium

Country

New Zealand 

Device

OnePlus 5T

Operating System

Android 8.1.0 (OxygenOS version 5.1.3)

My Question or Issue

Often only three songs will show up when playing anything (even if there are a lot more songs in the album/playlist). If you pause and play a track, another three will get added. Very strange behaviour. When this happens, the Spotify notification controls are also not displayed, and information is not sent to my car headunit. This issue goes away after restarting spotify and clearing it from the device memory, but will come back soon enough.

I've had this issue for the past week, originally thought it was just for shuffled playlists, but is happening for albums and everything.

I have already tried restarting my device and the app, and re-installing Spotify completely. Provided below is a video displaying the behaviour. Note in the notification bar, the Spotify logo is not displayed like usual.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kf1YkKYc0ng

Others have also had the same issue, seen here: https://www.reddit.com/r/oneplus/comments/8u2w7x/trouble_with_spotify_op6/

[Loxer]

Hey @Contra_,

Hope you are having a great time!

I would like to ask if you can recreate the issue on a different device with similar specs to see if it happens there as well. If that is not possible could you have a friend log into your device to see if it happens while using a different account? You could also just create an account to test it 🙂

Let me know how it goes 🙂

[11157626793]

The notification problem started after I installed the latest Android update. I wonder if it's that.

[Contra_]

Hi @LorenXK.

I've tried logging in with another premium account on my device and the behaviour continues.

I have tried turning off battery optimization for Spotify and allowed complete access to everything regarding notifcations and power, so it can't be that either.

I 100% believe it has something to do with the compatibility of the latest version of the app or the latest version of my phones software, as the issue started after I updated all my apps and phone software.

[Zacipult]

Plan

Premium Family

Country

New Zealand 

Device

OnePlus 5T

Operating System

Android 8.1.0 (OxygenOS version 5.1.4)

I have also been encountering similar issues on my OP5T. It is kind of similar and shares the missing notification, however, I am not experiencing shuffle issues. Not sure if I should make a new feed or not. Within 5-10 minutes Spotify notification will disappear and audio will stop / Spotify will no longer be playing any music. I can try film this when I have a friends phone around. Have tried disabling battery optimizations on Android and reinstalling the Spotify. Have not tried an alternative Spotify account. At this point, I will probably have to try stitch to alternatives for music, I am often biking / can't get to the phone to resume.

[GustavoFMR]

Having the exact same issue here. Practicaly impossible to use spotify. Did you have any luck with it? 

[Briancapo]

Same issue here after android update!

[Contra_]

It go so annoying for me that I went to drastic measures and uninstalled the app, then downloaded an older version of the app (specifically 8.4.60.741), and it solved every issue. I'm only missing a few features by downgrading, but it's worth it for a working app.

[Briancapo]

That's great news! How do you download old versions of spotify?

[Contra_]

I won't post a link because there is no official way of doing it, but it's fairly easy. Just Google "Spotify 8.4.60.741" and download the APK. The Softpedia link worked for me, then just open the APK. You might need to enable "Install Unknown Apps" in your settings, which was under "Apps > Special Access" for me, but it might be different depending on your device (I'm on a OnePlus 5T). You might want to disable updates for Spotify as well, so it doesn't automatically put you onto the new version. You can do this in the Google Play Store settings.

[Zacipult]

Hey, yessir I did indeed have luck with it. Well kind of. Since a more recent update, the playback controls in notifications stay forever during playback. Every time I launch Spotify, however, I have to kill it first and then resume the song.  A little annoying but far better than it used to be.