topic Links won't open playlist/songs, it will just open the app homescreen. in Android

Shared links doesn't work

lurvas777 — Sun, 22 May 2022 17:14:15 GMT

Plan

Premium

Country

Sweden

Device

OnePlus Nord

Operating System

Android 11
Browser
Chrome, Brave

My Question or Issue

I've seen other topics here about shared links not working and they've been closed without action, like this one for example: https://community.spotify.com/t5/Android/Bug-in-sharing-links/td-p/1604500

My friend and I usually share links of songs we like and it used to work flawlessly. She's got an Iphone, although I doubt that has anything to do with this. When I click on her link the Spotify pops up but shows nothing, like I just switched back to the app. The links are definitely broken and I know they used to work without any problems. It's not been working for quite some time now.

Here's an example she sent me today:
https://open.spotify.com/track/6IZWJhXyk1Z0rtWNxIi4o7?si=tsjnJSTZQe2QsHMOOu8QuQ&context=spotify%3Astation%3Aplaylist%3A7aEFzOETdY5L99tY6ZBxsD

On my PC this works just fine. On my phone however it doesn't. Tried in both Chrome and Brave, it just opens the Spotify app as if I switched back to the app myself and it's not re-directing to the shared music.

In the post I mentioned about this very topic the user labelscollected gave a suggested "solution" to the problem; removing everything after the "?" in the url seems to work on my phone in Brave browser(tested). Like this:
https://open.spotify.com/track/6IZWJhXyk1Z0rtWNxIi4o7

However, this is a workaround and not a fix! Please fix your bug for sharing links as it seems to not have been fixed for some time now and it's really annoying! I just found the workaround today on the community page because I was so annoyed about it not working I had to go search for it... I just wonder how many people are affected from this without knowing why or how to work around it.

Cheers Spotify devs!

Re: Shared links doesn't work

MBMedina1 — Sun, 29 May 2022 05:28:41 GMT

I'm having the same problem that has only gotten worse! I have a Galaxy S8+. When I would copy the link/share, the image of the song used to show in the text. That stopped sometime last year and it says "unsupported bowser" but the link still opened Spotify and played the song. Within the last week, the link will only open Spotify if clicked or if copied into browser. No song! I hope this gets resolved

Re: Shared links doesn't work

Alex — Wed, 01 Jun 2022 12:27:34 GMT

Hey folks,

Thanks for your reports.

Sorry to hear that you're having such issues. It would be great if you can give us a bit more info about this:

Device model, OS version and Spotify version for the device on which the link doesn't open. Note that on mobile, the links should open up in the app itself.
When did you first notice this happening.
What troubleshooting have you done so far?
It would be very helpful if you can include a short video recording of the issue on your phone. You can add it as an attachment or link to YouTube or similar.

We'll look into this further 🙂

Cheers.

Re: Shared links doesn't work

quaysey — Fri, 24 Jun 2022 20:48:01 GMT

Samsung Galaxy Note20 Ultra. Software Version N986USQS2FVC8. Spotify Version 8.7.42.943

I've had this issue going on for several months. I am just now inquiring on why this changed.

When I used to share Spotify songs with friends via text message, I used to get a preview of the album/single art along with the link. Now I only get a message that reads "unsupported browser". I am wondering why my phone is doing this.

Re: Shared links doesn't work

Yordan — Mon, 04 Jul 2022 12:44:18 GMT

Hi @quaysey!

Could you share a screenshot / short screen recording which shows how things look on your end? If possible, try logging in on another device (a friend's or a relative's would do) to see if you'd experience the same behavior there.

In case you haven't already, try also reinstalling the app by following the steps in this article.

Keep us posted on this.

Cheers!

Re: Shared links doesn't work

WendeeQ — Thu, 14 Jul 2022 14:27:52 GMT

I do not know how a screenshot is going to add any better info. In the past, when one would share from the Spotify app to SMS (as I do) or even "copy link" (and then paste into my text message), there would be a thumbnail of the song (album cover, perhaps) and the title of the song and the artist.
Now, it just shows the link "https://open.spotify.com/track/3047903uyoiheodfih" and the preview reads "Unsupported browser."

We're not doing anything different. Spotify just doesn't work right for sharing to SMS or Copy Link. I have not tried any of the other ways, but those don't matter to me.

Re: Shared links doesn't work

CarlosE — Sun, 17 Jul 2022 16:27:09 GMT

Hey @WendeeQ,

Thanks for your reply in this thread 🙂

We understand where you're coming from. However, we're requesting the screenshot or the video since it can help us to visualize what's happening.

Additionally, make sure to send us the details @Alex mentioned above, this way we’ll investigate more thoroughly.

We'll be on the lookout for your replies.

Take care!

Re: Shared links doesn't work

JCTORO — Sat, 23 Jul 2022 22:04:04 GMT

Any updates on the fix fir this issue?

Re: Shared links doesn't work

I_Poindexter_I — Thu, 11 Aug 2022 14:32:45 GMT

I also have problems with spotify links, especially with the missing album art! I use the Messages app on Android Galaxy S21 Ultra. Links actually play the song for me, but the album art and the song/artist name no longer pop up. All I get is a box that says:

"Unsupported browser

open.spotify.com"

This started happening about 9 months ago, maybe a year. Hard to say. Other platforms still get the album art but I don't see it 😕.

Re: Shared links doesn't work

I_Poindexter_I — Thu, 11 Aug 2022 14:34:01 GMT

Hey Alex, I replied to someone above with a picture and a small explanation.

Re: Shared links doesn't work

Eni — Tue, 23 Aug 2022 21:28:32 GMT

Hey folks,

Sorry for the delayed reply.

Could you let us know if you're still experiencing this? If so, would you mind providing us with the following info (if you haven't already)? We'd like to investigate this further.

- what links you're having issues with, please include examples

- the exact make/model, operating system and Spotify version of your device

- troubleshooting steps you've already tried

@I_Poindexter_I, thanks for all the info you've sent so far. Would you mind letting us know the Spotify version of your phone?

We'll be on the lookout for your replies.

Re: Shared links doesn't work

I_Poindexter_I — Wed, 24 Aug 2022 00:21:15 GMT

Hi Eni,

Here's my info

Spotify Version: 8.7.56.421

Android Version: 12

Troubleshooting:

I've tried changing settings in the Messages app in case it was an issue with roaming downloads or something (didn't work).
I tried removing parts of the link; According to some people, there may be a part of the share link that interferes with my app's ability to pull the Album art? (didn't work and doesn't seem likely).
Checked to see if other apps could pull the art. In Discord, the links work completely fine. I see the song name, album art, preview options, everything. I checked on desktop and on my phone. The Discord links work on both platforms. To me that seems like evidence that there's an issue with the Messages app but I can't prove that for sure.
I went back in my phone and found the moment in time where the links changed behavior. What's interesting is that the old links I sent when the album art was working are no longer displaying correctly either. They still show more info than the broken links but they no longer show the album art. I'll attach a picture of what I mean for clarity. This will also show the timeline of when the issue started. If you look at the "Working Links" picture, you can see that those links at least showed the song name but they used to also show the album art.
Full disclosure, I haven't tried reinstalling the Spotify app yet for a couple reasons...
1. Some other people who have had the same, or similar, issues have reported that reinstalling didn't fix it.
2. I have almost 9000 songs downloaded to my phone through Spotify and if I uninstall the app I believe I will have to redownload them all. I would really rather not do that.

Re: Shared links doesn't work

Loneliest_Cabin — Wed, 24 Aug 2022 07:50:58 GMT

Thanks for the info @I_Poindexter_I

If anyone else can provide some example links that aren't working and the device you are using - thanks so much.

Re: Shared links doesn't work

Loneliest_Cabin — Wed, 24 Aug 2022 09:49:08 GMT

@I_Poindexter_I what app are you using these links in specifically?

Re: Shared links doesn't work

I_Poindexter_I — Wed, 24 Aug 2022 19:24:15 GMT

I'm using the default text messaging app that came with the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra. It's called "Messages".

App Version: 13.1.22.1

Re: Shared links doesn't work

Demiurge198 — Tue, 13 Sep 2022 02:15:55 GMT

This is exactly the problem I'm having.

Re: Shared links doesn't work

Japrse — Fri, 23 Sep 2022 20:46:12 GMT

I've been having the same problem for a few months, pretty annoying. When I click on a link, it goes to whatever my screen was displaying previously. In the screenshot I attached, I closed Spotify and opened the link. It's the same thing from Whatsapp, signal, and google messages.

Re: Shared links doesn't work

LilieKala — Thu, 06 Oct 2022 23:12:30 GMT

Yes we are still experiencing this issue for months now. I keep hoping each update will resolve the issue.

I will include the screenshots and explain what I've done so far.

I use Samsung S21+

OS One UI 4.1

Android 12

Samsung Default Messaging App

Version 13.2.2.0.9

I've tried reinstaling the app

And checked all the settings in accordance on spotify and my messages app

So when the spotify shared link is received I can click on it and it takes me to the song but the issue is it shows no preview

Just the URL along with a "unsupported browser" message underneath.

Here are screenshots and below on my comment reply 3 more attachments.

Re: Shared links doesn't work

LilieKala — Thu, 06 Oct 2022 23:11:25 GMT

Re: Shared links doesn't work

Yordan — Sat, 08 Oct 2022 07:03:59 GMT

Hi @LilieKala,

Thanks for these screenshots!

Could you try something to see if that does the trick? Before sending the link to someone, remove everything after the question mark. So the link should change from looking like this:

(https://) open.spotify.com/track/0qT6ZRANfu0pS36sL23D50?si=14334560aa514ef3

to looking like this instead:

(https://) open.spotify.com/track/0qT6ZRANfu0pS36sL23D50

If possible, try another messaging app to see if the Unsupported browser message would appear there as well. This will help narrow down the probable cause of this issue.

Let us know how it goes. Cheers!