Spotify no longer playing sound through Android Auto

[EveUltra]

Plan

Premium

Country

UK

Device

Samsung Galaxy A51

Operating System

Android 11

One UI 3.1

My Question or IIssue

Spotify no longer plays sound when plugged in via USB and used through Android Auto. The song plays, the track is counting through but there's no sound at any volume. Others sounds work fine in Android Auto such as phone calls and Google Assistant.

I've tried disabling Android Auto (it's preinstalled and cannot be fully uninstalled), I've done a full uninstall of Spotify and cleared the cache numerous times but nothing works. Spotify works fine via Bluetooth and not using Android Auto.

I've tried a number of suggestions on these forums but to no avail. I'm slowly losing my mind so any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Novy]

Hey there @EveUltra, 

Thanks for reaching out here in the Community, and welcome 🙂

Just to confirm, have you made sure to follow these steps when reinstalling the app? This could help remove any cache that might be causing trouble.

We'd also recommend making sure that Android Auto is running it's latest firmware version. 

Keep us posted on how it goes.

[EveUltra]

Hi, Yes I've already done this following those steps. Android Auto is fully up to date and so is Spotify. This issue cropped up in the last month or so.

[Novy]

Hey @EveUltra, 

Thanks for getting back to us. 

If possible, could you ask a friend or a family member to log in to their personal account using your device to see if they can replicate this? 

You could also give it a try with a different device to see if you notice anything new.

We'll be on the lookout.

[EveUltra]

Will do, hopefully I can report back soon. My partner has the same exact
phone so we will try that later today and I will hopefully have an update.
We'll also try their account too.

[Jeremy]

Hi there @EveUltra,

Thank you for your reply and confirmation.

We'll keep an eye out for your reply.

Take care 🙂

[EveUltra]

Ok so we have tried the other phone that is identical. They've never set that phone up using Spotify via Android Auto and once set up it worked fine. So I completely wiped my Android Auto (as much as I can do anyway as its preinstalled on the phone...) and did the same for Spotify again.

I did a wipe of the Bluetooth pairing and started everything from scratch. Android Auto was setup again, hit play on Spotify annnnd nothing. Same issue. I've recorded it on my phone. As soon as I disconnected the USB cable and it switched over to Bluetooth and stopped using Android Auto it would play but only via Bluetooth. Spotify just flat out doesn't work with Android Auto. I'm utterly perplexed.

Another weird thing I've noticed, whenever the phone is plugged in and Android Auto opens Spotify immediately says "Spotify is trying to play..." in the notification area of my phone even though no music was playing and I hadn't used it recently to play music.

EDIT

I have a recording showing exactly what happens but I cannot upload it here as the file size is too big.

[Alex]

Hey there @EveUltra,

Thanks for the reply and the info.

Since the other phone works fine with the car, there must be some setting on your phone preventing the successful transmission over Bluetooth.

Could you check in your phone's settings that there is no Battery/ performance optimization enabled for Spotify, and that the app is granted all Permissions?

Regarding the video - you can upload it to Youtube or another video sharing platform and send us a link 🙂

We'll be on the lookout for your reply.

[EveUltra]

Hi, bluetooth isn't the issue. As soon as my phone is plugged in via USB cable and begins to use Android Auto it stops working and no audio is played. When I do not use Andtoid Auto and simply broadcast over bluetooth it works fine but I need to use Android Auto... it's the whole point of having Spotify intergrated with it.

EDIT

Video uploaded to youtube.

https://youtu.be/eMA0UGDw4MM

[EveUltra]

Quick Update, video link I in my last reply. Here is what my phone shows when connected via USB using Spotify via Android Auto.

EDIT

Nothing interfering with Spotify in the Battery settings, I've never touched any of those settings either. I have a video of my Spotify settings however I can't hide my email address... my Spotify in-app settings are the same as they've always been.

[EveUltra]

Another update, no issues with power saving or battery options. Spotify is set to perform in the background as normal.

[EveUltra]

Is there no fix for this? I'm paying £10 a month for a service that just doesn't work... I replied with more info up above but haven't had any response... I've tried so many different things with no luck...

[Novy]

Hey @EveUltra, 

Thanks for getting back to us with all this info and apologies for the delayed response. 

Could you try logging in to your account using the phone that worked fine and let us know if you encounter any issues there?

Keep us posted. 

[EveUltra]

Will do, I login using Facebook but will give it a go and report back.

[Jeremy]

Hi again @EveUltra,

Thank you for your reply.

We'll keep an eye out for your reply 🙂

Cheers!

[EveUltra]

Ok, so I logged in using my partner's phone and it worked. Still nothing on mine. I changed my login so that it no longer relies on Facebook and it works on my partner's phone but again nothing with mine. It's driving me crazy, I've tried nearly everything. This issue just started end of May around 25th roughly. Before all this my partner's phone had never been used for Android Auto + Spotify. The phones are identical with the same Android updates and everything. I've tried different USB cables too and still no luck...

EDIT

I also had a post on the Android Auto community, it was just flagged as a duplicate, locked and a link to another post provided... from 2020... which was a different issue. Safe to say Google don't care. Thank you for all the help on these forums so far, it is much appreciated. The service and help here has been far superior. Here's a link to the supposed "solution" which solves nothing but hey, might be worth sharing... https://support.google.com/androidauto/thread/13404112/spotify-not-working-on-updated-android-auto

Might be worth noting that some people who posted in 2019 have had simillar issues but there's no solution listed...

[Alex]

Hey there @EveUltra,

Thanks for the reply.

Another thing you can try is to clear the cache of Google Assistant and reinstall the app. Corrupted cache on Google Assistant can cause issues with other apps connected to it, like navigation and media apps such as Spotify.

Since, the car works with other phones connected in the same manner, there might be some settings on the USB connection of your phone causing this issue. You can also try connecting your phone to a computer and check if it connects as expected. If it doesn't, you might need to enable USB debugging.

Keep us posted on how you get on.

[EveUltra]

I'll try looking into the Assistant issue however it isn't even showing in my apps, I don't use it either. I just looked into my USB settings while it was plugged into the car and there's nothing out of ordinary. i changed a few things but nothing. It works fine plugged into a PC.

[EveUltra]

Ok I reinstalled Assistant and set it up and nothing. Same issue. I even tried using voice commands via Assistant and it plays music but again no sound. So I've disabled the use of Assistant for now. It wasn't installed initially so doesn't seem to have made a difference. Again, no issuesd with USB connectivity to other devices, I even checked the USB settings on the phone when connected to the car and nothing worked.

EDIT

I've enabled USB debugging but not sure what else to do now. There aren't any other steps on that link.

EDIT 2

I've compiled a bug report, anything in particular that I'm looking for?

[Novy]

Hey @EveUltra, 

Thanks for keeping us posted. 

In this case, we'd recommend reaching out to our Support team here. They'll be happy to assist you further and check if there's anything happening with your account. 

You can also share this thread with them so they know all the troubleshooting steps you've already tried. 

If anything else comes up, the Community will be here. 

Take care!