Disable Group Sessions?

[AKia1]

Hi, i am on Spotify Premium and i would like to disable the group-session-feature on all devices (Windows10, iPhone & iPad), since it inferferes with my Sonos-system. When i try to select any of my sonos speakers for streaming, the often disappear within a second and only the group-session-feature is visible. This was not the case prior to group-sessions. Besides, i will not use the feature at all, so is there any way to deactivate it?

Thx!!

[Loxer]

Hi there!

I know it sounds simple, but it's often overlooked. Could you try restarting your device? If that doesn't help, try a quick clean reinstall of the app. Just follow these steps.

Currently there's no way to disable but you can suggest here to do so.

If you have started a Group Session on accident try tapping End Session to see if that helps.

If you're still having trouble, could you let me know the exact version of Spotify and the exact version of the operating system you're running?

I'll see what I can suggest next!

[Marijke1984]

I have the same problem! I cant chose to play on my sonos anymore cause of the groupsession option instead of selecting a different device. Would like a solotion, cause refreshing the app doest work either. Hope that somebody's knows what to do

[AKia1]

Hi, thx for your suggestions!

I already tried restarting iOS, and it sometimes(!) does help. But being able to disable Groupsessions at all would be the best, hope this is kept in mind by the Spotify-team.

[sp0tify_sucks]

I would like to remove this waste of screen space with misleading colors and UI, too.
When turning on offline mode, this feature is disabled, but it would be better to make it depend on private mode instead of offline mode.

[ccloud64]

I’m not a teenager. Don’t need it. Don’t want it. Don’t want to see it. 

[sickgin]

iPhone 12, spotify premium account, up to date (11/21).

I have had continual problems with my playlist ending midsong or when changing to the next song. At the bottom of the screen it says, "group session has ended". I didn't create nor join a group session. I've tried restarting, reloading, plugged in, unplugged; why can't I disable this group session "feature" that says its in beta?? 

Pandora doesn't have this problem. If you're unable to correct this, please send me a PM so I can cancel this account and move onto something better. 

[k_wm3r6r-13wf]

I'm experiencing this when I connect my phone to my car's radio via bluetooth.
I HATE it, because it takes me a gazillion taps nd pressing back, eventually having to close and relaunch the app EACH TIME I GET INTO MY CAR, to eventually be able to just select "Liked Songs" and then "Shuffle Play"

I wish the option to disable this unasked-for-feature was available in the account or profile settings.

[Alex]

Hey @k_wm3r6r-13wf,

Thanks for the post.

Could you share a screenshot of what you're seeing when you connect to your car's radio?

This will help us look into this matter further.

[cfslmunchies]

I cannot get spotify to work in my Nissan anymore.  And it started when group sessions started popping up.  It says it is playing in my Nissan but it is not. I cannot get rid of the group sessions screen.  

[k_wm3r6r-13wf]

When I drive again, and the group session automatically starts up, I'll take a screenshot and post here - but the screenshot, won't solve the issue at hand.

The issue is, that there is a "feature" that got rolled out, without giving users the ability to enable and disable it.

[k_wm3r6r-13wf]

Here's the screen that automatically comes up every time I access my car and play music through Bluetooth to my car radio.

This has never come up before and it has never needed me to press back multiple times or close the app and restart it, my phone would always output through my car radio without issue.

The only difference between this screen and the screen I see when I press "back" is the next screen asks me if I want to end the group session.

As I said, the issue is not solvable with a screenshot, it's a bigger issue. This is a big inconvenience and I want to disable the Group sessions, all I want is to play my music through my car radio, without having to struggle with closing something I never opened.

[MafeG]

Hi @k_wm3r6r-13wf,

Thank you for keeping in touch and sharing all that info.

To start, please run a clean reinstall of the app, as this one is more thorough than a regular one and can be helpful to get rid of any cache that might be causing trouble with it.

If this doesn't work, can you log in with another account, such as a friend's or a family member's to see if the issue persists? Alternatively, you can create a free account here, just make sure you're logged out of your own account before creating a new one.  

Let us know how this goes.

[k_wm3r6r-13wf]

Hi, thanks for replying.

I have done all this already, multiple times.

The issue has not stopped.

I have since cancelled my Spotify to try other streaming platforms.

The issue at hand is not being addressed and the issue remains unresolved.

[BusterDog]

Unhelpful! I physically can’t listen to music at the same time as my friend now because we did ONE group session and now every time I play music it automatically connects to her Spotify too and the other way around. No matter how many times we end the session it starts automatically and we can’t get rid of it. LET THE DIE AND JUST GET RID OF IT. Or at the absolute least make it possible to get rid of the feature in setting.

[Eni]

Hi there @BusterDog, 

Thanks for reaching out about this. 

First up, it's well worth running a clean reinstall to get rid of any cached files that might be causing trouble. This one is more thorough than the usual one. 

If this doesn't do the trick, would you mind sending us a screen recording of the issue happening? You can attach it by using the Insert Video option in the post editor or uploading it to Google Drive and sharing the link with us (make sure the video has the permissions for anyone to see it).

We'll be on the lookout.

[Tishafish]

I literally cannot believe Spotify hasn’t fixed this yet, my neighbor continuously connects to my speaker through this feature and I’m going to have to switch streaming platforms to get it to stop.

[HelsinkiProject]

We should absolutely have the option to disable this and stop others randomly joining when using Spotify. 

[marlit2005]

I work in a gym as a group fitness instructor, and every class I've taught for the past 3 weeks has been interrupted with the suggestion to join some other person's listening session. I don't know them, they don't know me, and I have my own playlist I'm using to teach. It's really disruptive, and for the $9.99/month I pay, I want a way to make it stop. 

[mvasquez15582]

I’ve also been one experiencing issues with group session whenever I get a call while driving. Often times if I’m already listening to music and get a call, my phone automatically begins a group session and plays music, not allowing me to hear the call, and continually ending the group session does not resolve the issue. I close the app (swipe up) and sometimes spotify will re-open and start a group session again leaving me unable to take a call while driving. It’s pretty frustrating that this feature cannot be disabled as it’s a feature I never use and more of a nuisance in my day to day user experience