Screen locks even when Spotify is playing

[zoomnclick]

Plan

Free/Premium

Country

Device

Huawei P30 Pro

Operating System

(iOS 10, Android Oreo, Windows 10,etc.)

My Question or Issue

My phone always gets locked when Spotify is on. If I'm driving and listening to songs on Spotify, the phone screen doesn't stay unlocked. After the usual screen inactivity period, the phone screen locks itself. If I want to change songs/playlists, I have to keep unlocking the phone.

What settings on Spotify can I change to keep the phone unlocked when the app is playing

[Alex]

Hi there @zoomnclick 

Thanks for the post.

You can switch on Car Mode when in the car. Car Mode should prevent the screen from switching off while the phone is connected to your car. More info here.

Hope this helps 🙂

[zoomnclick]

Hi Alex. I don't have a car mode option in my app. I'm using the latest android version. All I see is "setup Car Thing"

[Eni]

Hey @zoomnclick, 

Thanks for your reply. 

No worries, Car mode automatically switches on when you connect your phone to your car’s Bluetooth.

If this doesn't happen, could you try the troubleshooting steps in the link @Alex sent previously? 

Let us know how it goes. 

[zoomnclick]

Deleted the app and installed it again. Please see the car icon in the bottom left of the attached screenshot. I assume this means the app is in car mode? The phone still sleeps a few minutes after this

[OscarDC]

Hey @zoomnclick,

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

This type of issue could also be related to the app version or some damaged cache stored on your device. We understand you've already tried some troubleshooting steps including reinstalling, but to be sure that we're on the same page - did you use the steps for a clean reinstall mentioned in this article?

Also, would you mind including the Spotify version you're currently running to continue investigating the case.

We'll be on the lookout. 

[zoomnclick]

Hi Oscar. I've done a clean reinstall as shown in the steps but it still locks the screen. I don't see any indication that the app is in car mode when it connects to the Bluetooth adapter. Attached is a screenshot of the app version

[Alex]

Hi there @zoomnclick,

Thanks for the info.

Can you try switch on the Always On setting for your phone's screen. You can find more info on how to do that on Huawei's site here. 

it's possible that this issue is related to the way your phone connects to the car's Bluetooth and doesn't receive the right set of commands preventing the screen to turn off automatically.

Let us know how it goes.

[zoomnclick]

Hello Alex. there is no option to keep the phone display permanently on. the maximum time that sleep lock can be turned off for is 10 minutes. In the past I have seen car mode when the phone has connected to my Bluetooth. so I am not sure what has changed in the last few months for the app to not be able to detect car mode

[zoomnclick]

The attached screenshot seems to indicate that the app knows it's connected to a car. At least it shows a car icon. But the phone still gets its screen locked

[Lyubka]

Hey @zoomnclick,

Thanks for getting back to us. 

We'd suggest you reach out directly to the support team from Huawei about this. If this behavior started after an update to your Android device, then this is most probably outside of Spotify's control to patch.

It is best to inform your phone manufacturer if the latest update that was pushed to your device has introduced a certain incompatibility with the Spotify app and especially with the detection of Car Mode.

We will keep updating the Spotify app on our end with general fixes and stability improvements, but can't promise that this specific issue will be addressed, since, as we mentioned, it sounds dependent on the updates of the device, which we have no control over.

Hope it gets sorted out soon. If you need anything else, the Community is here for you.

[zoomnclick]

Hello. At no point have I said that it was an update to the phone which caused it. My last android update was more than a year ago and car mode was working fine after that. It's Spotify that's had multiple updates to the app during this period. So to push this on to Huawei is neither fair, nor the right way of going about this

[zoomnclick]

This is clearly not an issue isolated to Huawei phones as this other thread here proves. Spotify really needs to own up to the fact that they messed this one up

Other thread - https://community.spotify.com/t5/Android/Car-View-missing/m-p/5466252#M194579

[zoomnclick]

Is there anyone from Spotify in here who has the guts to admit the issue isn't with any smartphone brand, but with the Spotify app itself? Just how long does Spotify intend to continue neglecting this?