topic Re: Spotify thinks my bluetooth headset is a car in Android

Spotify thinks my bluetooth headset is a car

katre50 — Fri, 04 Aug 2023 19:41:50 GMT

Plan

Premium

Country

USA

Device

Pixel 7, Bluetooth headphones

Operating System

Android 13

My Question or Issue

With my old phone (a Pixel 5) and these headphones, they worked fine, but Spotify on my current Pixel 7 thinks that the headphones are a car. I had to disable the car controls, otherwise Spotify was acting like I am driving instead of sitting at my desk or walking around.

I've attached a screenshot, I'm not sure how further to debug or fix this.

Re: Spotify thinks my bluetooth headset is a car

Eni — Sat, 05 Aug 2023 23:21:42 GMT

Hey there @katre50,

Thanks for getting in touch about this and welcome to the Community.

We've noticed there's been a recent report about the same issue and one of our stars' suggestions worked for the fellow user. Would you mind giving those steps a try to see if they work for you as well?

Let us know how it goes.

Re: Spotify thinks my bluetooth headset is a car

katre50 — Sun, 06 Aug 2023 19:45:54 GMT

Sadly, that didn't work (and several steps weren't possible: my Bluetooth
headphones don't have an "Absolute Volume" control, and my phone doesn't
show Bluetooth as an app where I can reset the cache.

Re: Spotify thinks my bluetooth headset is a car

Eni — Tue, 08 Aug 2023 20:06:08 GMT

Hi there @katre50,

Thanks for getting back to us and letting us know.

Would you mind trying to use a different Bluetooth headset to see if the same happens?

On another note, could you ask a friend or a relative to log in to their account on your phone and check if they can replicate this behavior with their account?

Lastly, we suggest that you check if the OS of you device has any pending updates.

We'll be on the lookout.

Re: Spotify thinks my bluetooth headset is a car

larsch77 — Sun, 10 Sep 2023 15:36:57 GMT

Same issue with Bose QuietComfort 35ii on Pixel 6. Spotify thinks it's a car and wants to autoplay whenever I start the app. Very frustrating.

Re: Spotify thinks my bluetooth headset is a car

Tobyjas — Mon, 18 Sep 2023 05:03:00 GMT

I'm pretty sure the problem is with Spotify. It happened with my headphones after my first car ride with then. Everything was okay before. Maybe Spotify detected my speed while connected to the headphones, and assumed it's a car?

Why are my earbuds coming up as a car?

ACGarci — Mon, 01 Apr 2024 04:49:59 GMT

My earbuds are seen as a car on Spotify so I can't watch video podcasts with them on. Very annoying.

Re: When Spotify is connected to my headset, it thinks the headset is a car

Jrock3144 — Mon, 09 Dec 2024 06:11:42 GMT

My phone's Bluetooth profile is seeing my headset as a headset and not a car. I tried everything suggested above and it doesn't change anything. The problem is absolutely the Spotify app deciding that my Bluetooth headphones is a car. This has only been a problem since Spotify decided to not allow video to car devices. I'm really frustrated that this is even a problem. How can I elevate this bug? If they'll even listen. I hope I don't have to cancel my subscription. I don't want to go to another service. It used to work so well..

iOS AirPods taken as a car by Spotify

shaggyz_punkrocker — Thu, 06 Feb 2025 12:09:45 GMT

Plan

Premium

Country

Spain

Device

iPhone 11

My Question or Issue

As the subject says. I don’t have any option in the settings to turn the car mode off (or even configure anything related to car).

I don’t even have a car!!! It’s really annoying that this app takes my AirPods as a car, due to the feature restrictions in car mode.
This is a Spotify bug: I should be able to disable the car mode if I don’t have a **bleep** car.

Re: When Spotify is connected to my headset, it thinks the headset is a car

jimmyhalls — Thu, 13 Feb 2025 00:28:33 GMT

I tried everything stated above. Every other app recognizes these headphones as headphones and not a car except for Spotify.

Re: Spotify thinks my bluetooth headset is a car

AshleyStorm — Tue, 25 Feb 2025 06:01:27 GMT

This is still happening I am using galixy buds 2

And a a14 this is so upseting, I have ended up buying a secont set of headphones just for this, and for heavens sake If I forget them I'm **bleep**ed

Re: Spotify thinks my bluetooth headset is a car

Yordan — Tue, 25 Feb 2025 11:43:26 GMT

Hey folks,

One user found that renaming the Bluetooth device did the trick for them. Could you give this a try to see if it works for you as well?

Cheers 🤘

Re: Spotify thinks my bluetooth headset is a car

Kristoferknight — Fri, 14 Nov 2025 19:30:15 GMT

I am having the same issue. I tried uninstalling and reinstalling spotify, clearing the cache, and renaming the headphones. Nothing has worked. As soon as my headphones are paired with the phone, Spotify goes into car mode and I lose video.

Re: Spotify thinks my bluetooth headset is a car

MihailY — Sat, 15 Nov 2025 11:09:59 GMT

Hey @Kristoferknight,

Thanks for reaching out.

Can you let us know the model of your headphones and the model, OS version and Spotify version of your phone, so we can pass this on to the relevant team.

Everyone else, if you're still experiencing this issue, please share the above details as well.

Cheers,

Re: Spotify thinks my bluetooth headset is a car

Jayntarl — Wed, 31 Dec 2025 03:37:41 GMT

I can't even begin to describe how frustrating this is. Everything works perfect when I use my iPhone, it's a work phone so I do not intend to use it permanently as a fix for this. Only my Android phone refuses to play video when connected to what it considers to be a car Bluetooth. Again, iPhone does not do this only Android. This has been a problem for thousands of users across multiple years because one person in one department decided to make one decision. And you monsters treat it like it's a problem that the consumer should have to be dealing with as if it's common that we need to go in and change the name of a Bluetooth like it's common that we need to access developer options to make changes to the fundamental aspects of our phones development, like it's common for us to have to clear the cache of an integrated static device. If this is a feature as you guys seem to herald it as and not a bug like every single person talks about it as, then commit to it. Being a feature allow me to toggle the safety feature on and off like a normal person accepting and trusting that human beings, adults that can drive a vehicle have enough agency to decide whether or not they want an application to restrict them. You guys are way out of line for this. Speak to your developers. Make a change. I know I will be. I've been a premium user for nearly a decade and I'm going to change over to YouTube music because you guys refuse to address this.

Re: Spotify thinks my bluetooth headset is a car

Jayk33m — Fri, 13 Mar 2026 06:34:39 GMT

Just add "Home" to your Headset name, reconnect the Bluetooth on and off so Spotify register the new name, That did the trick in my case

Re: Spotify thinks my bluetooth headset is a car

AshleyStorm — Fri, 13 Mar 2026 06:36:05 GMT

I just ended up buying new headphones, quite a bit of money down the drain, but worth it, I can now hear lossless. thank you for responding though