Spotify not playing on Android Auto

[dangnimatoads]

There are many threads on this issue, but I'd like to open a new thread because many of the ones opened are on different (older) hardware and different versions of Android/Spotify etc.

Issue: When first connecting to the car, Spotify will load, but will not play music. The music seems to be stuck on pause (meaning that it won't play even though you keep pressing the play button). Another issue that seems to be related to this is the side menu won't load at all when this issue is happening (by side menu, I mean the menu with the recently played, etc.) 

Force stopping, allowing all permissions, and hard killing Spotify doesn't seem to work. The only solution to this so far is restarting my phone which is obviously very inconvenient.

Is anyone else having the same issues? Does anyone have a way to get around this? I'm sure Spotify is aware of this issue...

Phone: Samsung Galaxy Note 8 (Verizon)

Car: VW GTI 2017

Android Version: 7.1.1

Samsuns Experience Version: 8.5

Android Security Patch Level: January 1, 2018

Kernel Version: 4.4.21

Spotify Version: 8.4.39.673 armVG7

[Tnerual]

hey, i also have problems with android auto and spotify.
When connecting your usb cable to your phone, make sure that you choose the option "load only" instead of "allow data transfer".

[mellzamora]

same thing happend to me. Just uninstall then reinstall spotify.

[rclymer6]

I'm having the same issue.  So far I've tried uninstalling auto and reinstalling.  I'm going to also try removing my phone from the bluetook in my ford escape and remove it from my phone as well.  My last ditch effor will be to uninstall and reinstall spotify.  I've got over 22GB of music downloaded so i really don't want to uninstall if i can avoid it.  Here is my info:

Car: 2017 Ford escape

Phone: Pixel 2 XL

Android Auto Verions: 3.1.581054

Spotify Version: 8.4.49.462

Android version: 8.1.0

Android patch:  April 5, 2018

[user-removed]

Exact same issue here...almost to a 'T. Note 8 now running 8.0 on at@t. Are you still experiencing issues after oreo update?