Push notification every few seconds (about my friend's activity)

[martovcac22]

Plan

Premium

Device

Xiaomi Mi 10T pro

Operating System

Androdi 11

My Question or Issue

Hello,

I have updated my Spotify app earlier on today and ever since then I am getting extremely annoying Spotify push notifications (I also attached two screenshots):

"Your friend [name] is listeing to [device]. Tap to listen and control music together"

1. I have no friends on Spotify (nor do I have my Facebook or any other app connected, I only have my Google assistant connected) nor have I ever connected to anybody elses device but my own (headphones and a xiaomi speaker)

2. All of the social functions are disabled - Device broadcast status, Autoplay on this/other devices, everything is disabled.

3. I am living in a dorm and there are many devices that are showing up but I have never got a notifications like this every few seconds when using Spotify.

4. I really have no idea who those people are either.

5. I have cleared cashe, logged out, nothing helps

It's been going on for the entire day and it's extremely annoying. Firstly there were two users but now it's only one. I get push notification every few seconds, repeatedly and it's slowly driving me crazy.

Any help on how to stop this would be much appreciated. Thank in advance!

Martin

[Rydenrld]

I would like to know how to disable this 'feature ' as well. It started popping up today on my phone with the push notification "Your friend <full name> is listening on <device>..." I intentionally do not have any one I follow or friends on my Spotify because I do not use this as a social platform and do not appreciate being told some random person on a shared WiFi network at a location are being called "my friend" and do not appreciate the fact their whole name is being broadcasted openly like that to me. Am I being broadcasted the same to them just because I opened Spotify to listen on my own with headphones?

It's bad enough I constantly get asked if I want to listen on some other random device just because it has Spotify and connected to WiFi. Allow me to toggle to use devices I have never signed in to, but that's a different issue.

[OscarDC]

Hey @Rydenrld,

Thank you for reaching out to the Community and welcome.

We appreciate the time you took following and sharing the troubleshooting you've tried so far.

To keep investigating these notifications, let us know the exact Spotify version you're currently running on your device. 

We'll be on the lookout for your next response. 

[robsmk]

I am also having this issue (started on 3/3/22) to the point where cant use Spotify at certain times plus it must be a privacy issue. My version is 8.7.8.1206

[MarijaG]

Exactly the same problem here. I'm being bombarded by "your friend … is listening" notifications from the names that are spam-like combinations of random symbols. Spotify version 8.7.8.1206.

[Rydenrld]

Sorry for the delayed response. I'm currently running Spotify on Android 12, app version 8.7.8.1206.

Every setting notification option is turned off and no episodes followed, all social options are turned off and Spotify Connect in background is also disabled. However, with those changes I still received the previously mentioned notification and also could see the other Spotify's user full name and device being used under the "select a device" menu.

Ideally, I would prefer to never see another device unless either its one I've signed in to (for devices that support a Spotify app) or at least not see another person's own phone/device that they are currently using without either (a) opting in to see other users on a WiFi network for social experiences or (b), preferred, having to "trust" a WiFi network that I'm willing to allow a social interaction. This would prevent places such as a cafe, library, worksite, etc. to automatically broadcast myself and others to everyone without their own personal input just because they want to use the app for their own personal time. Just because a person is connected to the same WiFi network as others doesn't mean they trust or want to know everyone that also uses it.... Developers need to really stop with that forced social mindset and implement a opt in toggle first instead of later.

[Alex]

Hey folks,

Thanks for your detailed replies.

Can you please run through the following steps to assure that no one else has access to your account:

1. Log out Everywhere.
2. Run a clean reinstall of the app on your phone, following this Guide exactly. This will assure that all possibly corrupted app data is cleared and that you're running the latest version.
3. Reset the password on your account. 
4. Log back in only on your phone at first, to check if you still get these notifications.

If the issue continues after this, please let us know the exact phone model you have and your current OS version.

We'll get to the bottom of this 🙂

Looking forward to your replies.

[bleifrei360]

Adding to this I keep getting similar notifications being on hotel WiFi.  The other people in this hotel are NOT my friends.  More importantly I do NOT WANT MY LISTENING BROADCASTED.  What an obtuse invasion of privacy.  

This is clearly a Spotify "feature" gone wrong, so suggestions of "turn it off and on again" are not helpful.

In android, at least, if you long press the notification you'll get menu where you can turn off all Spotify notifications.  Instead, click settings, and one of the notification types will be something like "connect with friends".  I have no idea of this will still notify others about me though.

[Jeremy]

Hi there @bleifrei360,

Thank you for your reply. We'd like to take a closer look into this.

Can you confirm if you followed the troubleshooting steps that's been provided above?

We'll keep an eye out for your reply.

Take care!

[robsmk]

I held off on resets as I was about to get a new phone. I now have that and with Spotify installed (8.7.10.1262 on android) the problem appears to have gone (its been running OK for 4 days)

[edu_z6iy4-ny]

Hi,

I have the same issue of these notifications from "friends" I don't have.

They are only about once a day. Also, so far,  they are only at work where I have a shared WiFi.

My version is 8.7.10.1262

[Mkk1]

Logging out and uninstalling did not fix this. Since it's a feature, it keeps connecting whenever I use the shared wifi at work. 

I accidentally clicked on the notification and now I'm stuck in this listening session as a participant. I can't leave, and when I click on the three dots it only gives me the option to invite more friends. The other options are just for me to switch devices and pause the music. I can't get rid of it, and if i play my music it changes theirs too. I like to keep my personal life and work life separate, and this is not okay. 

Having to uninstall is causing me to have to download all of my music again (which is time consuming). I can't use Spotify at work now because of this feature, which is a waste of money since I'm here for 8 hours.

I need the option to turn this feature off. My version is 8.7.10.1262 on Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3

[PetrK]

I have the same issue, notification of random people I don't know listening to something. Nothing helps, but seems to be related to being connected to shared public WiFis. My Spotify version 8.7.14.1332. (also would be nice to copy the version by clicking on it, common in other apps)

[Jeremy]

Hi there folks,

Thank you for your replies in this thread.

Can you confirm if you followed the troubleshooting steps that's been mentioned in the thread?

On another note, can you log in on your account on a different mobile device - such as a friends or a family members to see if the issue persists?

Keep us posted 🙂

[olleanund]

This is a huge privacy concern. I certainly did not consent to this.

[edloewenthal]

I have the same problem. It is sooo bad. Spotify please fix this before I have to simply give up on you.

It is like forced social media. The idea that I'd ever jump onto someone else's session for lack of anything better to do is absurd. I'm a 40 year old man and I could not possibly give less of a damn what anyone, friend or not, is listening to. And There's No. Way. To. Make it go away. I'm running 8.7.17.1332

For the love of all that is good in this world, please get on this.

[edloewenthal]

Hi, literally everybody on wifi at my work gets these from everyone else. It's not a plan/family thing. I'm talking like 300+ people. It is the topic of lunch break rants every day for the past 2 weeks. Additionally you guys should know that this topic is all over the internet, esp. reddit. 

Needs Fixing!!!

[ViddyWell]

how have you not disabled this terrible feature

[Jeremy]

Hi there folks,

Thank you for your replies and feedback.

This is expected on shared networks such as dorms or similar, as users can now choose to allow other users on the same network to join their listening session on the device.

We will however pass this feedback on to the right team so that they're aware of the specific scenarios that are being described where the notifications are causing confusion.

Let us know if we can help you with anything else 🙂

Take care!

[Ver]

Hey folks,

Thanks for the info.

We went ahead and passed it on to the right team so they can look into this further. We'll keep you posted as soon as there are any news about this.

The Community is here for you if there's anything else!