Spotify doesn't work on android auto

[Javi87]

Currently I am not able to control Spotify from my Android Auto app.

When I connect the phone to the car I can see the last played song in "pause" status, but play button doesn't work. Also trying to change the song from the menu doesn't have effect.

However if I go to Spotify app on the phone and play a song it starts playing, but I can't pause or skip to next song using Android Auto app. Clicking on the buttons doesn't have any effect.

This doesn't necessarily happens when connected to the car, it also happens if I just go to Android Auto app on the phone. Looks like if Android Auto app wasn't able to sends command to Spotify app.

I've tried stopping both apps, uninstalling them, later restart the phone and finally install them again, always with the same result.

Plan

Premium

Country

Spain

Device

LG G4

Operating System

Android 6.0

[Jeremy]

Hey there @Javi87,

Thank you for your post here in the Community. We're sorry to hear about this.

In this case we suggest that you perform a clean reinstall to make sure there's no old cache files causing this.

If you have an SD card we suggest that you uninstall the app > turn off your phone > take out your SD card > turn on the phone again (without the SD card) > reinstall the app.

Let us know how everything goes so that we can keep on assist you if you need us to. We're always happy to help 🙂
 

Cheers!

[Javi87]

Hi Jeremy,

Thanks for your response. I've tried clean reinstall and also reinstalling Android Auto using the same procedure but no luck, same issue is still happening.

Cheers!

[Novy]

Hi again @Javi87,

Thank you for keeping us in the loop. 

Would you mind letting us know if this is still happening when you use a different network? 

If possible, we'd also recommend trying with a different phone to see if the issue persists. 

Keep us posted. We'll be on the lookout for your reply. 

[Javi87]

Hi Novy,

Issue still happens on different networks (tried 2 different WIFIs and mobile network)

I tried it in another phone (One Plus 6 with Android 10). On that phone it works fine, also using the latest version available in Google Play.

I have tried to install an older version of Spotify (8.5.60.1013 released on 1st June 2020) and it is working perfectly on my phone, the problem is with the current version released on Google Play.

As I downloaded the old version apk from a unofficial repository (https://spotify.uptodown.com/android/versions) I decided to uninstall it for security reasons as I can't be sure if that apk introduced malware.

While the bug is fixed... is there any place where I can download an official previous release?

Regards

[Jeremy]

Hey there @Javi87,

Thank you for your reply.

There's currently not any supported website to download current versions of the app. 

If the issue persists, can you try the following:

1. Log in with another account - such as a friend's or a family member's to see if that makes any difference
2. Ensure the operating system is up-to-date
3. Ensure device has enough storage space

We'll keep an eye out for your reply.

Cheers!

[Javi87]

Hi Jeremy

1. I've tried with another 2 accounts with no difference

2. The operating system is the latest available for LG G4 (Android 6.0)

3. Device has more than 1G of free memory

Thanks.

Regards

[Novy]

Hey @Javi87, 

Thanks for keeping us in the loop. 

Could you let us know if you're using an SD card on your device? If so, you can try reinstalling the app again following the steps that @Jeremy previously mentioned.

If possible, you can perform a soft reset on your device to see if it makes any difference. 

Let us know how it goes. 

[Javi87]

Hi Novy,

I don't have any SD card inserted on the phone so the app is installed directly in the phone storage.

I've done a soft reset, even taking out the battery and waiting for 5 minutes before turning it on again, but no luck.

Thanks.

Regards

[Novy]

Hi again @Javi87,

Thanks for your reply. 

Keep in mind that older Android versions can cause the app to malfunction and might not work properly with certain features.

In this case, we'd recommend using Android Auto with a device that has a newer Android version. 

If you have any other questions, don't hesitate to reach out to us.

Have a good one!

[Javi87]

Hi Novy,

I have recently done try and error trying to find which one is the latest app version that works fine on my device. In this case it's 8.5.86.854 released on 27th of November 2020

Current version available in Google Play is 8.5.89.901

As a developer, I agree that a major release change can cause incompatibilities with older Android versions. However according to release naming conventions the difference between both releases is a path, not even a minor change. To me it looks like there was a bug introduced in the code and changing the phone to a newer one just to keep some functionality that was working before is not a solution.

Thanks for your support.

Regards