Bug: Spotify not working (white screen) in online mode on Android 4.3 / Galaxy S3

[bsachs10]

This has been happening to me for months, depsite different versions of the Spotify app being released. I pay for premium membership, and not being able to use the app in onlnie mode is a total waste of that money. I'm running Android 4.3 / Galaxy S3

Here's the issue: in offline mode, the app works as expected, but in online mode, the app goes into a weird loading state all the time. For example, if I click any playlist, even an offline playlist, I get the loading screen (white screen with green rotating circle) for several minutes before the playlist comes up. Then if I click a song, it takes a minute or two to start playing. Then when the song is playing, if I hit pause, it takes 1-2 minutes just to pause the music (the music keeps playing, and you can keep pressing the pause button, but nothing happens. If you click next track, it takes 1-2 minutes to switch (while music from the old song continues). When a song finishes naturally, it takes several minutes to load the next song (you hear nothing while this is happening).

And here's an even odder one: if you open the menu and click "Settings," you also get a white loading screen for 1-2 minutes before the settings pane actually loads. (I suppose this is because the Settings screen, when online, actually does some kind of online call.) Prtetty crazy 

The fix is to switch to offline mode. Then the app works as expected with no load times. I've tried other settings (turning off 3G downloading, turning on private session, etc.) and nothing else affects the issue.

I have also tried uninstalling and reinstalling the app, deleting all cache data, deleting all app data, and even a full reset of the device. As soon as I install Spotify again, it happens. I have probably 100+ playlists, and I wonder if the issue has something to do with that. Not sure. It wasn't happening in January/February, as I recall, if that helps. 

[Peter__ · Accepted solution]

This might sound like a weird test, but does your device have an SD card in it? Does Spotify magically get faster if you remove the SD card then reinstall the app?

[bsachs10]

You seem to be onto something there, Peter! When I removed the SD card, the app returned to normal performance. I then removed the SD card, uninstalled the device (not sure if I should have left the SD card in when I uninstalled, but oh well) then, with the SD card still removed, I reinstalled the app. So far so good -- it seems to be working normally. I've been downloading a few playlists to continue the test.

Any idea what happened? Does this fix tend to work permanently or only temporarily?

[Peter__]

It seems to be something up with Spotify when it stores it's file cache on the SD card in certain devices (possibly down to the limited read/write speeds, especially on cheaper SD cards).

Removing it forces Spotify to cache on your phone's internal memory (even after you re-insert the card unless you delete the cache again) which is generally faster.

[bsachs10]

Brilliant! And to think, you solved my months-old problem in just a few minutes. Thanks for your help!

Does the problem then if the app upgrades itself to a new version (while the SD card is still in)?

Ben

[Peter__]

Nope, upgrades will be fine. 😉

You will only have the issue again if Spotify moves it's cache back onto the SD card, which will only happen if you completely uninstall and install again (with the SD card in), or if you clear all of Spotify's data either from the Spotify settings menu in the app or from your android application settings (again with the SD card in).

[bsachs10]

Got it. Thanks!