Spotify starts playing music by opening the app

[Annchen]

Plan

Premium

Country

Switzerland

Device

Huawei P20 Pro

Operating System

Android 8.1.0

My Question or Issue

Hey there, everytime I open the Spotify app, it automatically starts playing music. I don't want that and I haven't found a solution so far. Thank you for helping me.

[BlackPillow]

Hello Annchen, thanks for reaching out to the community!
Have you tried to delete the app cache? And since when do you have this problem?

I see, you're from Switzerland, if you're from the German part of the Switzerland, I can also help you out in German!

[Annchen]

Hey there 😄

I have had this problem since I installed the app about two or three weeks
ago. And deleting the app cache unfortunately did not solve the problem.

Deutsch oder Englisch spielt keine Rolle 😄

[jakutis]

I also have this issue. Android 12, Google Pixel 6

[Yordan]

Hi @jakutis,

Thanks for reaching out to the Community.

Could you let us know what troubleshooting steps you've tried already, so we avoid repeating them? Also, does this happen when you connect to an external Bluetooth / WiFi device, or simply when you open Spotify?

You can try disabling the Automatically resume media feature under Android Auto's settings.

Let us know how it goes.

Cheers!

[jakutis]

I have tried reinstalling spotify app and also the 'Sign out everywhere' button. This happens simply when I open Spotify - everytime when it is "cold started" - when previously it was closed manually, or the phone was rebooted, or the app was used longer time ago (closed by Android).

Now I checked Automatically resume media feature under Android Auto's settings - it was enabled, tried disabling it, even rebooting the phone, but there was no impact for the issue - it still starts playing when I just open Spotify.

I have never used Android Auto on this phone.

[Yordan]

Hey @jakutis,

Thanks for the reply!

Does this occur only with Spotify or with other music apps? It'd be much appreciated if you could send us a short screen recording which shows this behavior in action. You may also want to check your phone's settings to see if there's something in there that's automatically resuming media playback.

Keep us posted!

[Droomy987]

For me, the problem only exists when I'm connected to headphones.

[Eni]

Hey there @Droomy987, 

Thanks for reaching out about this and welcome to the Community. 

Just to confirm, does this happen once you connect your headphones to your devices? Also, we'd like to know if this happens only on one device or on multiple ones. 

On another note, we'd like to know if this started happening after a specific event such as an update. 

We'll be on the lookout.

[draguindin]

This happens to me as well. I'm not sure if it's only when I'm connected to a Bluetooth device, but regardless here's what I observe:

1. Be playing audio through some other app

2. Open Spotify

3. Spotify starts playing the track that was playing last

4. Audio in the other app is paused automatically

Device: Google Pixel 6a

Spotify plan: Premium

Spotify Android version: 8.8.44.527

Car Thing: Disabled

Enter Car Mode: Never

Connect to Apps - Navigation: Neither GMaps nor Waze are connected

[AlejaR]

Hey @draguindin,

Thanks for your reply here and for all the detailed info shared. 

In this case, it'd be really helpful if you could check if this is happening when connecting an external device, such as headphones or a speaker, to your device. Give it a try, and let us know how it goes.

On another note, did you notice if this started to happen after a specific event, such as an OS update? If yes, please send us the details.

Lastly, it'd be great if you sent us a short video recording of what's happening so we could better visualize what you're mentioning. You can attach the video in your next reply in mp4 format, or you can also upload it to YouTube or Google Drive and make it public so we can watch it.
 

Keep us in the loop!

[draguindin]

AlejaR --

This has happened for some time, across devices and Android versions. It seems to only happen with my car's bluetooth. When I try to replicate with bluetooth headphones it doesn't happen.

I'm unable to attach a screen recording because the max file size is 5mb and the 45-second recording I have is 120mb. I've uploaded it to imgur: i.imgur.com/3Nd8J0T.mp4

At 0:10 - Car bluetooth connects to my phone (observe bluetooth icon in notification bar)

At 0:18 - When I expand my notifications, you can see my podcast app, Podcast Addict, is playing (you can tell by the "pause" button)

At 0:23 - I open Spotify and Spotify immediately starts playing (you can see the "play" button immediately change to "pause", indicating that Spotify is what is now playing)

Thanks

[Dian]

Hey @draguindin,

Thanks for the reply and the recordings.

This experience is highly related to the specific device setup you're using and we can't pinpoint the exact reasons for that. We'd love to give you further advice, but at this point contacting the manufacturer of the device is your best bet.

Hope this clears things a bit,

Cheers!

[Imnotarobot2121]

This is soo annoying! Every time I open the app it plays immediately from the top of one of my playlists. I don’t want this. I want to open the app and play what I click. Why does Spotify get to decide what starts to play? This is not okay and it’s super annoying. I have an iPhone 13 Pro Max and it has something to do with Bluetooth. When I connect to Bluetooth the problem starts but when I disconnect then close the app and reopen it the app opens as it should and lets me play what I choose. Fox your bug spotify and your customer support sucks too why do I have to type into a website what my issue is and hope that your system can find it? Leave a **bleep**ing phone number and actually talk to your clients. Not impressed 0/10 

[ANussman]

Is there a fix for this? I'm having the issue too and it just started recently. 

[mitzyd118]

This recently started happening to me, I believe since I updated my phone to iOS 18.1. It never did this before but I don’t like it. Please help.