Android Auto still Unable to browse by Album

[Zeekoet]

Plan

Premium

Country

Netherlands

Device

Motorola G7 power / Android Auto (updated)

Operating System

Android 10

My Question or Issue

This issue has been discussed earlier (2019, 2020), but I found no solution: It is unable to play downloaded albums in Android Auto. The solution is not: lower the amount of to many downloaded albums (earlier discussed), because if I downlaod only one album, the problem is already there. This function of Spotify is essential for my premium account. I hope Spotify will really pay attention to this problem. If it will not be solved, I will stop paying for Spotify.

[Elena]

Hey there @Zeekoet!

Thanks for reaching out to us.

We'll just need a bit more info to see what we can suggest here.

Could you let us know if you only have trouble with playing albums only offline?

Do you get any error messages when you give this a shot? A picture of what you see will help our investigation.

We'll be on the lookout for your reply. Feel free to get back to us if you have any further questions.

[Zeekoet]

Thank you for your reaction.

The probleem only occurs in the off line modus when spotify is connected to android auto. If I go online the problem is gone. If I play an album at home using my smartphone, in the off line modus or the online modus, no problem.

There is no error message. If I select an album from the list of downloads, which is visible on the  screen of my car (android auto - Renault Clio 2020, updated) , the screen  freezes on the last played number from a playlist or the last podcast played, no sound.

I can select and play from the playlist, podcast etc in the off line modus, but not from the albumlist.

[Elena]

Thanks for all the info @Zeekoet!

We'll pass on this info the right team here, but it since this is most likely isolated to your device or specific setup, we're not able to give any timeline for when this could be fixed.

We recommend keeping an eye out for future updates to the app, but can't guarantee this will solve the issue. For now, we can offer you a workaround of creating playlists from the albums you'd like to listen offline.

An easy way to to that would be opening the album on desktop and marking all songs by pressing Ctrl+A and right-clicking to choose Add to Playlist.

Hope this info brings some light to the situation. We'll be here if you need help with anything else.

[Dawe007]

Hi,

I have Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 with Android 7 and I have exactly same problem - I cannot play albums through Android Auto when I am offline. It took me weeks to find the reason. I tried everything ... deleting all albums and downloading only one, reinstall Spotify, change Battery settings, change permissions etc. Then I found that I can play albums when I am online but I don't want to be online in my car. Playing playlists works.

[hector373]

In offline mode: I can browse the albumlist or interpret list - I see the folders which I downloaded. But I can not play them. But I am able to play the playlists I have downloaded - very strange.

It seems if they fix one problem, there comes another one with the next update ;(
I remember the offline problem 2 yrs ago over weeks - now the next fcking problem - why should I still pay for premium???

[Dawe007]

Same problem on new phone Redmi Note 8T. PLEASE FIX IT !!!

[Zeekoet]

Hello Elena,

is the right team already trying to fixe this problem, which excits since 2017! I pay every month for service which does not work for me and a lot of others. Can you give me a timeline or do I have to end my spotify account?

[Herman2020]

I've exactly the same issue.
When offline, I can play downloaded albums on my phone but not in Android auto.

[MR2620]

I'm new to Spotify and am using the 30 day trial to see if I want to switch and am having the same issue. I selected downloaded only on my Pixel 2XL and have maybe 20 albums downloaded. I can play music fine through the phone, but as soon as I connect to Android Auto it stops working. If I select an album it immediately pauses the music and locks up. I tried selecting a different album, but it won't start playing. The only way to start the music again is to unlock the phone and make selections directly from the phone. So far I've been enjoying this app, but without Android Auto functionality I won't continue to use this app.

[Mihail]

Hey folks,

Thanks for reaching out and sharing your feedback.

We'll make sure to pass it along to the right team. In the meantime we would really appreciate screenshots of how both the albums you can't play and the playlist you're able to get displayed. You can attach them via the Insert Photo option in the post editor, just make sure to hide any private/ sensitive info.

We'd also like to know if the following workaround works for you. Most of you mention that they are able to play downloaded playlist but not albums. If you add all songs from an album to a new playlist and download it instead, that should do the trick. Let us know if that's the case.

Hope you find this useful. Keep us posted how you get on.

[MR2620]

This picture is of what happens when I select an album from my downloaded albums list. It never actually plays and just shows this screen.

[MR2620]

This is what happens if I try to change albums. It looks like it's playing, but there is no sounds and the song timer doesn't change. The stop button had no functionality either.

[MR2620]

This picture shows what comes up when I try to see the song list from the album. 

I tried this in 2 different vehicles with the same result.

[MR2620]

The playlist workaround did not work for me. I created an individual playlist for a bunch of albums and none of them show up. It just has one option to select all songs. There doesn't seem to be a way to pull up individual album playlists that I created.

[Dawe007]

I see same behavior of Spotify in my car as on above pictures. Workaround works for me. I have few downloaded playlists and they works. But that's the only way how to play Spotify music in car when I am offline. I think playing albums is blocked by waiting for internet connection (maybe fetching some info) - how hard it could be to identify that place in the code??? Is it possible that it takes several MONTHs to fix single error? **bleep**!

[evilfranky]

Hi guys

I experience the same issue. Only playlists are working in offline mode but not albums. As far as I know it's an issue for several months now. Like many others I am a paying customer and expect a statement from spotify what is the schedule for the bugfix?

Spotify Premium Version 8.5.80.1037

Android Auto Version 5.7.603954

Samsung Galaxy S9+ with Android 10

[Alex]

Hey there folks, 

Thanks for the photos and your feedback.

This issue was present some time ago, but was fixed in one of the app updates. We're sorry to hear that it's back again. We'd need to gather some more info from everyone experiencing difficulties playing offline Albums.

Could you let us know your Device make, model and exact OS version, as well as your Spotify version.

@evilfranky, Thanks for the info! 

We'll be on the lookout for your replies.

[MR2620]

Pixel 2XL

Android 11

Spotify 8.5.80.1037

[hector373]

Samsung Galaxy S7
Android 8 (all updates), Build R16NW.G930FXXS7ETA8
Spotify App, Version 8.5.80.1037