Spotify Android app crashing, update long overdue

[Rankhar]

Just sent this to Spotify, if I get a response I will share it here. If you are having problems with the Android app as well, and are surprised/annoyed by the lack of information from Spotify, please reply and make yourself heard. The more people complain, the better the chances of Spotify taking notice.

Dear sir/madam,

I recently wrote to you about problems I am having with the Spotify Android app. I am using a Google Nexus S phone, running Ice Cream Sandwich (4.0.3). I have been using the app on this phone for more than a year without problems. However, about two months ago, putting the app in online mode started making the app crash within a few seconds. Quickly putting it in offline mode would stop it from crashing, but because of this problem, it was no longer possible to sync new music onto my phone. I am not using any cache-cleaning apps or other such apps.

One of your employees advised me to reset my password. I did this, and also re-installed the app. It worked for a short while, but now I am having the same problems again.

I love Spotify, but this is getting a bit annoying. I pay 120 euros a year for Spotify, and its core business is providing an app for Android, iOS, and PC. Surely it should be on the top of your list to fix these issues as soon as possible? Many of my friends have Spotify on their Android phone, and many of them are having the same problems...

Many people on forums are complaining, but Spotify has so far not provided any useful information on the issue, apart from saying that we should try resetting our password. That is rather bad service for something you pay 10 euros a month for.

I now have three questions, that I hope you can answer:
- the Spotify employee that helped me told me that the Google Nexus S is not officially supported. How is this possible, as this model is one of the Google flagship phones, released by Google itself? Surely, this should be one of THE main phones on which your Android app should run?
- the Spotify app has not been updated in a very long time. Do you have an estimation of when we can expect an update?
- if you are working on an update, why do you not let your users know, so that the many people who are having problems with the app at least have something to look forward to? A simple blog message about what is going on would put many people's mind at ease, and save you from losing your paying customers.

Kind regards,

[Cheesenbranston]

I just downgraded from premium since I have constant problems with Spotify while using it on my android device and don't think the £10 a month is justified. Maybe help is on it's way  though.

http://careers.stackoverflow.com/jobs/17930/android-developer-spotify

[Rankhar]

Just for those looking for information, the following was posted yesterday by user tysonsw in another topic about this same issue. The first good news in a long time. Doesn't take away the fact that Spotify has still not replied to the questions that I sent them and posted at the beginning of this topic, and which should have been answered within three days according to their own policies. Not even a polite, simple reply. That is pretty sad considering that I pay them € 120 a year...

"I have finally recived an answer:

Hej Mattias, 

Tack så mycket för ditt email och jag är ledsen att detta upprör dig (och många andra). 

Vi är medvetna om att det har varit vissa bekymmer med appen för Android, men jag kan berätta att en helt ny Android app håller på att byggas i detta nu och vi kan knappt bärga oss tills den kommer ut! Dessvärre kan jag inte ge dig ett exakt datum då jag inte vill lova något som vi kanske inte kan hålla och göra dig besviken igen. Det är därför vi brukar hänvisa till bloggen då detta är ett ypperligt sätt att basunera ut nyheter till en stor grupp användare. 

Jag vet att detta inte var svaret du ville ha, men det kändes lite dumt att bara skriva ingen kommentar då jag förstår din frustration. 

Vänliga hälsningar, 

Jennie Eklund 

Spotify Customer Service - Cambridge 

English
Hello Mattias,

Thank you for your email and I'm sorry that this upsets you (and many others).

We are aware that there have been some troubles with the app for Android, but I can tell you that a new Android app is being built as we speak and we can not wait until it comes out! Unfortunately, I can not give you an exact date because I do not want to promisesomething that we may not be able to hold it and let you down again. That is why weusually refer to the blog as this is an excellent way to announce news of a large group of users.

I know that this was not the answer you wanted, but it felt a bit silly to just write no comment as I understand your frustration.
Best regards,

Jennie Eklund

Spotify Customer Service - Cambridge"

[Galmus]

I am cancelling my subscription now. No synching of trakcs is unacceptable.

[Rankhar]

I have just sent the e-mail below to Gizmodo and Techcrunch. Please feel free to copy/modify it and send it to any techblog/website that you read/know:

Hey there Giz!

I was just wondering whether you guys were aware of a growing problem for Spotify users on Android; the app hasn't been updated since november 2011, it hardly works on ICS, a growing number of customers have been complaining on forums and on the community pages (see links below) and Spotify will not respond with anything other than "we're sorry, we do not provide information about updates".  One user wrote: "does anybody know anybody at websites that write about tech, who might be able to get some info from Spotify?". Hence this e-mail; don't know anyone working there, but just thought I'd drop you a line, in case you are interested in the topic.

Many premium users, like myself are pissed off. Spotify has the policy to respond to premium user queries within three days, but for the last couple of weeks, many users report that they are not getting any reply. I sent my first query to them one week ago, no reply as of yet.

In short, this is what is going on:
- Spotify has not updated its app since November, it crashes and is practically unusable for many people
- Spotify does not support ICS
- Spotify no longer adheres to its own policy of responding to premium user requests within three days
- Spotify officially states that it does not support mobile phones such as the Nexus S, the Galaxy Nexus, etc, which are the Android flagship phones. The total number of phones it does support is very dissapointing.

Community topics with more info about problem:
Topic 1: http://community.spotify.com/t5/Mobile-Android/Last-client-update-was-november-2011/td-p/16175
Topic 2: http://community.spotify.com/t5/Mobile-Android/Spotify-Android-app-crashing-update-long-overdue/td-p...

There are many other topics about the same problem, but these two have the most info in them. The situation boils down to the fact that users pay €/$ 120 per year for a service that has mobile music as one of the pillars of its business. And the Android part of that has been broken for months. Pretty depressing of course, especially when combined with crappy customer service...

Hope you find a way to help us Spotify users!

[allannk]

Rankhar - not that it makes a big difference, but the price of 120 euro you suggest translates into 74 danish kroner per month. In Denmark, however, the price is 99 kr per month, meaning that (at least danish customers) pay 159.66 euros per year!

[mseele]

I've send the "open letter" to theverge.com and get a fast reply:

Hey Michael,

Thanks a lot for your email to Tips! I've passed along your message to my contact at Spotify, and while they don't comment much on stuff happening in the future, hopefully I'll at least get an update that they're working on updating the app! If not, they'll at least know that plenty of users are very annoyed. I agree with you--they don't put nearly enough effort into the mobile app, and it's kind of ridiculous.

Thanks for reading!

[Rankhar]

@allannk: wow, that is quite a bit more expensive! Even more reason for Spotify to quickly update its Android app...

@mseele: excellent, that's good to hear! I'll keep an eye on theverge for any news, let us know if you hear anything more from them! 

[Rankhar]

Haha, wow. I just got an e-mail from Spotify as a reply to the e-mail I posted at the start of this topic. This was their reply:

Hi there!

Thanks for getting in touch with us here at Spotify!

Best wishes,

Andy

Spotify Customer Service - Cambridge

If I'm not in, anyone else on our dedicated Spotify team can read my notes and help you.

If you use Twitter, please follow @SpotifyStatus for service status updates and @Spotify for company updates.

This is getting a bit ridiculous....

[turbosmurf]

Wow..

Ever since i upgraded to Android 2.3.5 I have been experiencing these crashing issues. I just now went on the web to investigate this further, and I see now that I am not alone.
Spotify's costumer service seems to be nonexistent, This is outrageous!

[Galmus]

Trying out wimp here in Norway. So far it is looking good. Goodbye Spotify!

[Dellocatus]

I've got a answer, that is a bit more satisfying. They are even pretending to be fond of Android!

Hi there!

Thanks for getting in touch with us here at Spotify!

Spotify does love Android!

We're always working away on improvements to our app, I'm afraid I can't comment on timeframes etc.. of updates. We shout about them all first on www.spotify.com/blog - it's worth checking that out =D

Kind Regards,

Tyler

Spotify Customer Service - Cambridge

[Rankhar]

Haha, ok, so the first answer I got was apparently an error. I got the following response a few hours later:

  Hi,

Thanks for getting in touch, i am sorry for the reply that you received earlier it was sent in error i am afraid. Any way getting back to your questions, i understand that you are running the app on the Google Nexus S and you are experiencing offline issues. You are correct that this is a phone that we should support, but at this time we don't i am afraid. I also see that you have ICS running on it, and as such our Android app isn't compatible with any device running this at all.

However you are a valued customer and i would like to help you get up and running. I have had a look at your account and i can see that the playlist structure is broken on your account which i have now repaired for you. To complete the fix i will need you to perform a clean reinstall by following the below set of instructions: -

1. Open Spotify in your device
2. Go to "More" » "Settings" and select "Clear saved data"
3. Close Spotify and uninstall it from your device like this: Go to "Settings" » "Application"» "Manage applications".
4. Choose Spotify and press "Uninstall"
5. Restart your device
6. Then install Spotify once again through the Android Market, or by visiting m.spotify.com in your device's web browser

With regards to updates there is an update for the Android app in the pipeline but we have no date at this time as to when it will be released as we want it to be right before doing so that i am sure that you will appreciate.

The reason why we don't publicise improvements and new platforms in the pipeline is because things change, deals may fall through, etc... At the end of the day we would hate to promise our loyal users something and then for us not to bring it to fruition for whatever reason.

Best wishes,

Andy

Spotify Customer Service - Cambridge

If I'm not in, anyone else on our dedicated Spotify team can read my notes and help you.

If you use Twitter, please follow @SpotifyStatus for service status updates and @Spotify for company updates.

So, this is at least something. Let's hope the update comes sooner rather than later... Check this topic as well for more info.

[SteveBrammer]

---

The reason why we don't publicise improvements and new platforms in the pipeline is because things change, deals may fall through, etc... At the end of the day we would hate to promise our loyal users something and then for us not to bring it to fruition for whatever reason.

Best wishes,

Andy

Spotify Customer Service - Cambridge

---

Expecting blind faith from your customers is not sustainable in the long run, especially when they are paying not insubstantial amounts of money to use your service. People will not keep paying money in the hope that one day at some unspecified time in the future, your product might or might not work for them as it's supposed to. Something more definite than that is needed. It's ok to keep quiet about new features, but you can't do that until your customers are already receiving what they expect for the money that they are paying. Until you have reached that point, being unecessarily obtuse in all your communications only increases the suspicion that you are ripping them off.

You place us, as customers, in an awkard position. If we stop paying, as a form of protest, we increase the likelihood of Spotify failing and going out of business. None of us wants to see that happen, as the alternative is a world full of piracy where none of the artists get paid for their work. On the other hand Spotify is not a charity and we cannot justify propping it up financially without actually receiving the service which it claims to provide and for which we pay.

[bloemer]

1. Open Spotify in your device
2. Go to "More" » "Settings" and select "Clear saved data"
3. Close Spotify and uninstall it from your device like this: Go to "Settings" » "Application"» "Manage applications".
4. Choose Spotify and press "Uninstall"
5. Restart your device
6. Then install Spotify once again through the Android Market, or by visiting m.spotify.com in your device's web browser

i did those steps min. 10 times in the last 7 days, the problem is still the same... i ll not install the app again till there is a new version. i don't have the time to try and try again without ANY results - its just frustrating and sad to see that such a great service has such a bad customer and problem solution management. btw are there any comparable services out there which have a working android app? any suggestions?

[licenced]

---

@mseele wrote:

I've send the "open letter" to theverge.com and get a fast reply:

Hey Michael,

Thanks a lot for your email to Tips! I've passed along your message to my contact at Spotify, and while they don't comment much on stuff happening in the future, hopefully I'll at least get an update that they're working on updating the app! If not, they'll at least know that plenty of users are very annoyed. I agree with you--they don't put nearly enough effort into the mobile app, and it's kind of ridiculous.

Thanks for reading!

---

Congrats - your letter prompted a story! http://www.theverge.com/2012/4/3/2922825/spotify-android-app-update-ics

Let's hope this gees things on a bit!

[Rankhar]

The article on The Verge is being picked up by others now as well:

Androidcommunity

Phandroid

Ubergizmo

Gottabemobile

[ant0ramp]

This is a joke. How can they not support Ics. Tried what was said in the posts above. Seems like i shall be deleting my account. Anyone tell me if this WiMP has a mobile client and if it supports Ics?

[Rankhar]

Check the reply from one of the Spotify employees above; apparently there is a major update in the works with ICS support. Unfortunately, no release date has been given yet... 

[ant0ramp]

Yea, saw that.. but tbh thats not good enough - everone new about ICS coming out so why have they taken this long to prepare themselves for it? are they going to refund me? no, so why should I stay with them... this android update wasnt sprung on them as a suprise.

[Rankhar]

You're absolutely right; we are all a bit pissed off, especially since ICS was available for developers months before its release in December. They obviously dropped the ball big time. It mystifies me how a company that has mobile music at the heart of its business model, can fail to update its app for mobile music on one of the biggest mobile platforms. I really don't get that.