App on Android Device Not Loading Properly Most Times

[slang7777]

Plan

Duo/ Premium

Country

North America

Device

Samsung Galaxy S20+

Operating System

Android 11

My Question or Issue

I've noticed that in the last 6 months or so that the Spotify App has become increasingly difficult to load/play music properly.  Just this morning I had to enter/exit the app multiple times just to get it to load out the particular artist/album I wanted to listen to.  I've cleaned out my cache, deleted and redownloaded the app (multiple times now).  Whenever I encounter the issue, I will sit there for a few minutes thinking it might take a bit to get everything loaded, but after 10 minutes or so I'll exit the app and close out ALL running apps/programs in hopes that it might help.  Sometimes it does sometimes it does not.  The issue persists on both cellular and wifi data usage.  Any help would be greatly appreciated as $12/13 bucks a month is a bit for a not so functional app and I like Spotify.

[CarlosE]

Hey there @slang7777,

Thanks for reaching out to the Community!

We understand that you already tried reinstalling the app, but can you make sure to follow these specific steps for a clean reinstall? This is more thorough than a regular one and can be helpful to get rid of any corrupted files that might be causing trouble.

If that doesn't do the trick, could you try using a different account, like a friend's or relative's, and let us know if the issue persists? This will help us determine whether this is an account-related issue.

Keep us posted. We'll be looking out for your reply.

[user-removed]

I am writing to say I have exactly the same problems as @slang7777 and have had so for some time but have managed to get round it mostly by using the desktop app to load a playlist or queue music or podcast up and then switch back to my android phone use if I am not staying on the desktop, this doesn't always work smoothly either due to how unreliable the android app is. This is hardly ideal and is becoming increasingly frustrating and impractical.

To load any menu, playlist, etc it is taking minutes to do so and I have scrolled through other users on the community who have experienced the same problems and tried everything incl. a full clean reinstall, it is the same on or off wifi with no improvements.

Initially I thought it may have been because I had downloaded all my playlists to my external SD storage so I changed the permissions on the app which made no difference so when I did a clean reinstall I did not download anything so there would be no slow down to access files from the sd but this also has made no difference to load time or speed. 

As mentioned above this crippling slowness only happens on my android app not my desktop app. If I hadn't spent the last seven years building up an extensive collection of playlists I would have already left Spotify but I really am getting close to the end unless there is a magic cure proposed for this!

Using a Samsung Galaxy A8 (2018) on Android V9

Suggestions????

[Eni]

Hi @1261900790, 

Thanks for reaching out about this. 

Just to make sure, when reinstalling the app did you follow these specific steps @CarlosE sent before?

On another note, could you let us know if this started happening after a specific event such as an update either of the app or the OS of your device?

Additionally, would you mind letting us know how much storage space does your device have available?

We'll keep an eye out for your reply!

[user-removed]

Hey Eni thanks for the reply. 

Yes I have followed the instructions for the a full clean install and sorry I cannot remember if there was a specific update that occurred at the same time as the lag began. 

Re storage: Phone 3.2gb & Ext SD over 50gb as I have not reinstalled any of my playlists since the reinstall of the app. 

[Ver · Accepted solution]

Hey @user-removed,

Thanks for getting back to us 🙂

It's a good idea to try removing the SD card, reinstall Spotify and then try running the app without the SD. Are there any changes?

If you're using any battery optimization or power saving apps for Spotify, you can deactivate them for Spotify.

Keep us in the loop! If you have questions, you know where to find us.

[slang7777]

So I tried the clean uninstall/reinstall steps that CarlosE mentioned and it seemed to have worked somewhat.  Most of the artists/songs I've listened to seems to load quicker now but there are also some artists/songs that still take a while to load.  I don't know anyone else who uses Spotify to try and see if I would have the same issue on their app/device so I can't say if it is just me or not.  I've been trying different artists and most load quickly but some still take a while.  

Just for poo's and giggles I've also rebooted my wifi in the off chance that maybe it's my network but that didn't seem to make any difference.

[Novy]

Hi @slang7777, 

Thanks for getting back to us. 

If possible, you can create a new test account using a different email address and let us know if you notice any difference. This will help us take a better look at the issue. 

We'd also recommend making sure that your device has enough storage space available. 

Keep us posted. 

[user-removed]

So after feeling like I had tried everything I uninstalled the app again AND removed the SD card. The removal of the SD card has seemed to resolve whatever was causing the ridiculous lag in loading i was experiencing. In the end a simple fix but man it has caused me some grief over the last month or so. 

I have since reinstalled the SD card as this is where all my photos and videos also go and things still seem to be operating normally. 

The next step is to try downloading my playlists back onto my SD card to see if this changes anything, fingers crossed!

Otherwise this was my solution, thanks! 

[Ivan]

Hey @user-removed, 

Thanks for keeping us in the loop.

Great news that it works for you now. Give us a shout if you experience this again - we're always here to help.

Еnjoy your music!

[slang7777]

Apologies that I'm only now just getting back, I don't receive notifications when someone responds.  So I tried building another account with a different email and have noticed that the problem is on that account also.  In fact it seems the problem has become worse, now no matter what artist/album/song/playlist I click on, if it is not one I have downloaded,  are experiencing the same lag in loading and that the lag time is getting longer and longer to load.

[slang7777]

I just tried the solution that was offered to Takashi74 about removing the SD card and then reinstalling Spotify.  This has so far seemed to help my lag in loading issue.  I thank everyone for the help!