Spotify starts playing automatically when a bluetooth device is connected and phone makes a sound

[jazengo]

Plan

Premium

Country

Norway

Device

Samsung S9

Operating System

Android 11

My Question or Issue

Whenever a bluetooth device is connected to my phone, Spotify automatically starts playing the last song it was paused on if my phone makes any "noise". If I recieve a Messanger message, it starts playing as soon as the "bing" sound is over. It starts playing automatically after I've hung up a call, etc.

I've disabled auto play, I've reinstalled the app and cleared cache.
Under "car view", both "Turn on automatically" and "Always on" is disabled.

I'm unsure what more I can do.

[Jeremy]

Hi there folks,

Thank you for your replies in this thread.

Can you confirm to us what troubleshooting steps you've taken that's been provided in this thread so that we can continue helping you the best way.

We'll be on the lookout for your replies,

Take care!

[RMHBG]

I found a solution: uninstall Spotify and cancel your subscription. Problem solved;   and you save money to buy music in a way that the artists can earn an living!

[Jordanp1177]

What a joke. Spotifys version of customer support is online chats and forums where they just keep telling you to check your version and to reinstall things until you get sick of it and stop answering. I am canceling my service because of this issue and won't be looking back. After numerous frustrating attempts to talk to support chat I realize they don't care. I like the service, cannot stand that every time I finish a call or do anything in my car on my phone spotify starts blaring music. Fix the issue and stop telling your customers to reinstall things over and over before they wise up and cancel like I am. 

[DRMIPE]

This happens to me with an iPhone 11 running iOS 14.7.1

As soon as I installed the app on my new phone and logged it, it not only takes over my audio as soon as I get in the car, but it's worse than that. I listen to ebooks using my Kindle app, and for instance if I change the volume setting, Spotify self-launches the app, takes over my audio, stops my audio book, and plays starting where the last song left off. Obviously the app is storing something in the cache and is colluding with the iOS to self launch itself as the highest priority audio task. That has got to stop. If you're going to store a piece of info in the cache, store a flag as to whether the user has SWIPED CLOSED your app, and honor their choice. Put a control in your app so the user can OPT OUT of this feature.

When I got this new phone, I totally intended to become a Spotify Premium member. But nothing infuriates me more than app that self-launches, asserts itself over my choice, and ruins the activity I have chosen to do. So I deleted the app. Hey! That fixed it!  

[Jeremy]

Hi there @DRMIPE,

Thank you for your reply in this thread.

We suggest that you perform a clean reinstall of the app. This will make sure there's  no old cache files causing this.

It would also be great if you can let us know what troubleshooting steps you've taken that's been provided in the thread.

We'll be on the lookout for your reply.

Take care!

[DRMIPE]

This happened on the very first install of Spotify on my new iPhone, so I know it is a "clean install." I have tried closing the app. I have tried running another audio app, instead. Spotify is PROGRAMMED to do this! It stores the last place the user was listening in the cache, and when the user reconnects to a Bluetoooth audio source, it has placed something in the iOS auto-launch list to take over the audio stream. None of my other audio apps do this. It seems purposeful. Get rid of this behavior.

[MafeG]

Hi @DRMIPE,

Thank you for your reply. 

This behavior the app is having is not normal as Spotify is not programmed to autoplay after connecting to a Bluetooth device. However, there are multiple reports on the internet of iPhones auto playing different music apps after connecting to a car's Bluetooth, so this is more related to the devices themselves. 

Could you try pairing to a different Bluetooth device and see if the same thing happens? 

Also, depending on your car's make and model, it may offer its own auto-playing Bluetooth settings separate from your iPhone, so please check if yours has them.

Keep us posted. 

[Sickofthis]

This is hilarious. It's being going on for years and all you get is the usual "check settings" "clean install" blah blah blah. It just goes around in circles and they're just not interested in taking the time and effort to actually investigate the matter and fix it. 

And we, like idiots, keeping paying a subscription.

Here's an idea. Cancel your subscription, subscribe to an alternative streaming service (there are plenty) and see how soon they fix their buggy app when it starts affecting their fat pockets!

Or just keep asking them to fix it and do the whole run around thing again... 

[IamVerloren]

Any Mod suggesting that the solution is re-installing / clearing cache / deleting data and or that its user error, shows how little they care for the users that pay for a subscription. 

Example: I've paid for family premium for 4yrs with auto pay and evey device and every day the above mentioned issues are always there. I stop my subscription (free edition with ads) while change banks....... What'd ya know!!!! No more automatic Spotify popping up every singe time Bluetooth connects to.....ANYTHING.

I renewed my subscription last week and the bs started again...... Now I'm wondering if Spotify is even worth the space on my device.  

FIX YOUR **bleep**!!!!

Thanks, rant over. 

[Mihail]

Hey folks,

Thanks for reaching out here. We appreciate the feedback and have passed it on to our developers.

Unfortunately, we are unable to provide a solution for this at the moment because the way the app behaves when connected to Bluetooth devices, including car stereo systems, varies based on the device involved. These actions are a result of how the specific Bluetooth device is designed to interact with the Spotify API. However, we’re constantly optimizing our app, so this behavior might change in future updates.

For now, we recommend checking for possible firmware updates  for your devices and if that doesn't help - to reach out to the manufacturer for further help with the Bluetooth configuration. 

Thanks for your understanding.

[yarniern]

I have the same problem on my car Bluetooth. Spotify  commandeers what I am listening to causing me to have to uninstall it to play other things. This has been going on for years on multiple phones. Have tried various things to no avail. VERY ANNOYING

[lesterbsb]

Hey, have you got any solution for this? I guess spotify team does not give a damn about it

[lesterbsb]

None worked.
And worse. Spotify resumes the last paused track by itself, even after i have closed the app( not only minimizing it). And this even happens WITHOUT any Bluetooth pairing....just plain phone speakers.

[yarniern]

No. It's ridiculous. I have to install it and reinstall it each time. Crazy

Sent from my T-Mobile 4G LTE Device
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[FreekB66]

Two solutions are discussed here: https://newbedev.com/prevent-music-players-from-auto-play-on-bluetooth-connect

I tried the second one and it worked - sort of: Spotify plays for about 100msec and is then paused by the Bluetooth Connect&Play app.

The issue also happens with other media apps, the article explains that this is built in behaviour from the OS: car media players send a MediaButton event when they connect. This explains why Apple users have the same issue.

[Pembyt]

Brand new install on a new Pixel 6 running Android 12, Spotify Premium, version 8.6.88.1104.

Same issues persist as experienced by others: any time I am connected to my car Bluetooth and play video/audio in another app (Instagram, YouTube, etc.), once the video is complete Spotify will launch and begin playing whatever song was being played when last closed.

I have tried to change settings in the app and on my phone to stop this, but nothing works. This is only an issue with the Spotify app, as no other media auto-launches itself when connected to Bluetooth. I had the same issue with my previous LG G6 in recent years, but not always, so suspect this must have been brought in with an "update" at some point.

Would appreciate a solution that isn't just "try clearing and reinstalling", as this is a fresh install on a new phone.

[pgaleone]

It's 2022 abd the bug is still here.

Everytime my polar ignite synchronizes the data with the smartphone (when the action starts automatically from the smartwatch) Spotify starts playing. 

This is awful and very inconvenient for people wearing smartwatces constantly

[StevenVT1]

Did you try turning bixby routines off?

[StevenVT1]

Worked for me…

[yarniern]

No, does that work for you?