Spotify iOS app not playing the next track automatically.

[nofreeshows]

Hello there,

I've been using the Spotify iPhone app for about 2 months now. It worked like a dream for the first month and a half but now it's barely usable, in my opinion. When I start the app up and play a song, the app will not automatically play the next track, no matter if shuffle is on or off. I've tried researching the issue before making a post so I'm certain this is not the issue where the next track is not automatically played when you're playing a track from Search (a setting that developers apparently purposely put in--which has its merits). My app is not playing the next track no matter if it's from the Search screen, one of my playlists, or one of my friends' playlists.

I've uninstalled/reinstalled, rebooted my phone, checked all the settings (to my knowledge) and still have not come up with a solution. I am currently running iOS 5.1 on my iPhone. Am I crazy? Spotify is a great product but not being able to use the mobile app is really pushing me to cancel my subscription.

Thanks,

Eric

P.S. Obviously a reply with a solution would be ideal but any reply from a moderator would be great. Even one that just says "We've logged the issue and are looking into it." At least it will give me hope for the future .

[oluv · Accepted solution]

which streaming quality are you all using? i noticed that the skipping problem seems to remain when "low bandwidth" is selected for streaming. if i choose "high quality" i have no problems at all with track skipping neither through wifi nor 3G, and of course with locked screen etc. i haven't tried "extreme" though as i don't need such a high quality for streaming!

[nofreeshows]

oluv,

Thanks for pointing this out! I changed the quality on my app and lo' and behold, the next track played automatically. I will keep this setting on for a few days and see how it pans out. I won't be that hasty to label this as the solution as the problem may just come back. Thanks again!

P.S. Maybe they should change the "(Recommended)" tag next to Normal quality to "(May Break Your App)." Hyuck hyuck hyuck...

[lorlando · Accepted solution]

Yaay problem solved!!!!!!!!!! Thanks oluv!! Under settings - set stream to HIGH. I guess if it is set to Normal you may have the issue. Hope it fixes everyone elses. 🙂

[solipsist]

This is clearly a bug. It's been around for weeks. Please fix it! The workaround above is just that - my phone eats transfer like popcorn as a result.

[Rwiseman714]

Sorry, but all I've ever streamed is high quality and this bug has been going on for well over a month, since the iPad app came out. I've almost completely discontinued use of Spotify, and will cancel my subscription at the end of the current cycle if Spotify does not do SOMETHING. It is so annoying I've actually gone back to Pandora!

[rapt44]

Switching the stream settings to High worked for me.

Stil, I intend to cancel my premium subscription because of this problem with the Iphone app.

[streetmapp]

The adjusting of stream quality does help SOME. But the problem definitely still persists. I can be on the road with full service, but Spotify chokes up, unable to buffer.  Of course there is no indication on the app that this is what is happening, nor is there a way to force it, see where it's at. The lack of urgency on the part of Spotify with this type of crippling issue is very troubling.  The expect users to pay a premium for mobile service, but do not provide premium support.

[koentjuh195]

some (maybe) importand info for the dev's:

It seems that this bug doesnt appear in iOS 5.0.1, although the fix oluv has given does avoid the actual problem in iOS 5.1+ and 4.2.1 >.

maybe you can check the 

iPhoneExtAudioFileConvertTest class

to fix the problem.

YW

 

[streetmapp]

---

@koentjuh195 wrote:

some (maybe) importand info for the dev's:

It seems that this bug doesnt appear in iOS 5.0.1, although the fix oluv has given does avoid the actual problem in iOS 5.1+ and 4.2.1 >.

maybe you can check the 

iPhoneExtAudioFileConvertTest class

to fix the problem.

YW

 

---

That is not true. My device is on iOS 5.0.1 and I am most definitely experiencing this issue.  And before it's suggested, upgrading my iOS is not an option. 

[Bengan]

Hi guys, I'm still trying to re-produce this issue but I haven't been able to do so yet, only when playing local files on my device, but never without.

But we're definitely looking into this issue, since this is a common complaint even in the AppStore reviews.

If anyone got more information regarding this, I'd be happy to listen to them and see if I'm able to re-produce this using your information.

[koentjuh195]

I'm able to reproduce this problem on 5.1+ and 4.2> but i cant trigger this bug in 5.0.1. Althoug it wont work if your device is jailbroken.

[streetmapp]

---

@Bengan wrote:

Hi guys, I'm still trying to re-produce this issue but I haven't been able to do so yet, only when playing local files on my device, but never without.

But we're definitely looking into this issue, since this is a common complaint even in the AppStore reviews.

If anyone got more information regarding this, I'd be happy to listen to them and see if I'm able to re-produce this using your information.

---

I get this issue whenever I'm solely on my data connection.  One thing I've noticed is that it doesn't really care what type of reception I have.  Sometimes when I have full service it won't load, other times I have what I think is garbage reception, and have had calls drop in that area, Spotify plays fine.  

Just based on what's happening I'd suspect some type of buffering issue.  But there is no message that's what's happening, no way to get out of it, no way to force a refresh, there's just no information to the user that something isn't working right. It just doesn't work.  It's also showing that it's not OS specific since between me and the previous poster, several versions of iOS are showing this problem.

I'd suggest you guys try testing in ONLINE mode, with your connection being through the various cell ranges.  That's where the issue presents itself the most.

[Bengan]

Thanks for the info streetmapp 🙂 I'll continue to look into this issue. Hopefully we can find the source soon.

[JBinDC]

Turning shuffle on and then off again (as one poster suggested) allowed the app to advance to the next track once.  But when that track ended, the app goes back to looking like it has advanced to the next track and displaying the play icon, but nothing actually plays...and the shuffle adjustment trick wouldn't work again.  I'm using v0.5.1.47 of the iPhone App on an iPhone 4S running iOS 5.0.1.

UPDATE: Changing the stream setting from the "recommended" Normal to High seems to have solved the problem (a poster mentioned this as a fix in a comment posted on Saturday).  This is not an ideal fix since carriers are moving in the direction of throttling speed down for users who consume disproportionately high amounts of bandwith, and I suspect that many Spotify users consider the "Normal" stream quality sufficient...when it actually works.  Hopefully a code update fixing this problem will be released soon?!

[DevonLTaylor]

I was able to solve this problem more or less by switching to High, but I was RIPPING through my data plan (to the tune of an extra $10/mo for each additional gig). I switched it back to Normal and it is back to not working. It's fairly useless in fact. I'm getting ready to just cancel the service, which is really disappointing. But I'm hemorrhaging money on something that hasn't been working for a while. My patience is worn thin.

[tmyers]

Having the same issue.  Been happening for a little less than a week.

[Jayplus]

I'm running into the same problem.  Spotify has been easy to use, but for the last week or so, it's started to happen on occassion and now it happens all fo the time.  I don't recall doing an IOS update, but maybe it started happening with the last Spotify update?  I tried toggling the shuffle and switching to high quality streaming and that worked.  Luckily I have unlimited data and am mostly on wi-fi when I use it.

I've noticed that it doesn't happen when I save my tracks locally and go offline, but that shouldn't be the solution, not is toggling random settings.  I've put it back to normal and confirmed that it's happening.  So there's a problem with the normal streaming...

Perhaps Spotify is in bed with our wireless providers to force us to use more bandwidth and therefore have to pay for more expensive plans?  (I'm kidding of course)

[Bengan]

Hey guys, to those of you that experience this issue, how much space do you have left on your device?

[Dake]

I'm suffering with the smae problem with ios4 on iPod touch 2g. Tracks are stopping in the middle and the next track is not starting. Sometimes it has no problems and it will run continuesly. Have more than 4.4 GB available.

[Rwiseman714]

I have an iPad 1 64gb 3G, currently 8.9 GB available. I typically stream large playlists WiFi thru an Apple TV at my business. The playlists are typically a large (400 songs approximately) mix of Spotify and my own synced songs. I usually use shuffle play. Stoppages seem random, but are typically 3-6 songs, sometimes as few as one, between stop-plays. The songs always stop play at the end of a song, not jumping forward to the next song until the "skip" button is pressed (either on the iPad or on the Apple TV remote). The last song played always shows inaccurate song length information; a 3 minute song may show as being 8 minutes long.

Hope this helps.