Auto Play Randomly Not Working with Bluetooth in a Car

[ck003]

I am a Premium subscriber in the US with a Samsung A53 5G Phone, Android 15, most up-to-date version of the Spotify app, and a 2022 Subaru Infotainment console with the latest firmware updates.  In the last 2-3 weeks, Spotify will not always automatically begin playing at the point my phone connects to the car stereo via Bluetooth when I am in offline mode and accessing a downloaded playlist.  There are no other apps running at the time this is happening, I have stable mobile internet when driving or WiFi in my garage, and the frequency of the problem is intermittent.  My stereo does not appear to be receiving data from Spotify after connecting based on the display readout indicating the artist is unknown, etc.  I usually have to open the Spotify app on my phone for music to begin playing and data to be transmitted when the problem occurs, and it will begin at the start of the current downloaded playlist vs where I last left off and features that were previously enabled like shuffle are no longer active.  Removing and pairing my phone again and clearing Spotify data do not correct the problem.  I am also hesitant to un/re-install and/or log out and into Spotify again given how a certain number of logins has triggered a Spotify lockout and password reset in the past.  This really seems more like a bug than a device issue, and it would be greatly appreciated if your team could address it.  

[Vasil]

Hey @ck003,

Sorry to see you've been having issues with your playback! Let's see what we can do to resolve them 🙂

You've mentioned that the described behaviour is occurring when you're in offline mode. Has it happened when you're online or is it isolated to offline mode only?

You've also said that opening the app makes things work - this makes me think there might be some battery saver setting restricting Spotify while it's in the background or when the screen is off. You can check out these options here to see how you can ensure your apps run unrestricted.

And, lastly, if nothing helps, you can also install a completely fresh copy of the app by following the exact steps for a clean reinstall here, although in this case you will need to log in again.

Hope you'll find this info helpful! We're here for you if anything new comes up 🙌🏼

[ck003]

All battery optimization settings have always been disabled for the Spotify app.  Unless your security algorithm has been modified in the last year, I noted the reason above why a reinstall could be a problematic workaround.  I have been using offline mode because it seems to be the only way to actually access downloaded music vs being forced to stream.  Given the intermittent nature of the problem and no other Bluetooth-connected apps are impacted, I'm still thinking this is a bug.

[Dessi]

Hey @ck003,

Thanks for the reply!

We would love to help and if needed we can relay the info to our tech folks, but we would need to cover all bases with the needed troubleshooting first. There haven't been any recent reports of this particular behavior lately, which also leads us to believe we need to try some steps first to figure out the root cause. 

We also understand your concern regarding logging out and reinstalling the app and while we do have systems in place to prevent fraud when we see too many log ins, this is usually triggered in specific circumstances, which we don't believe will happen with a clean reinstall of the app, since it's a routine step. It'd be greatly appreciated and helpful for our investigation if you can give it a shot, since it will ensure that any damaged cache will be removed and that you're running the latest app version. Also, when it comes to our security protocols, we cannot share much info, but can confirm they are regularly updated to protect all users.

Hope this clears things up and let us know if you have any questions.

[ck003]

I have officially been able to reproduce the same outcome with 2 different Android 15 phones, so this is seeming even more like a bug: 1) Listen to a playlist in online mode through a Bluetooth device other than my car stereo 2) Pause Spotify in online mode 2) Switch to offline mode 3) Select a track from a different playlist that has been downloaded, pause it, and slide the time indicator back to 0 seconds.  4) Disconnect from the current Bluetooth device.  5) Close Spotify.  4) Attempt to pair with car stereo via Bluetooth while still in offline mode 5) Spotify will not automatically load.  The new Moto G Sylus 5G 2025 model had a fresh install of Spotify and was working fine for the better part of a week before this started happening again.  I was able to finally get Spotify to open automatically after manually opening Spotify, advancing to the next track in the same offline playlist, closing Spotify, disconnecting Bluetooth, and reconnecting Bluetooth again, which was needlessly tedious.  All settings are correct to allow Spotify unlimited battery usage and notification access, so, again, looking more like a bug than user error or a device issue.   

[OscarDC]

Hey @ck003,

Thank you for keeping in contact.

We appreciate the info you've shared and the troubleshooting you've done so far. To continue investigating this behavior, could you confirm if the other device where you could replicate it was logged in with your own account or with a different one?

Also, have you checked if this happens in online mode as well as @Vasil mentioned previously? This is just to make sure that the behavior is isolated to the offline mode only.

Lastly, would you mind checking if it has the same behavior if you first start playing the song in offline mode on your phone and then pair it with your car's bluetooth?

We'll be waiting for your response. 

[ck003]

Both phones were logged into the same account.  I explained above why I do not use online mode in my car.  I really don't have more time to invest in troubleshooting and think your team could be doing some tests as well.

[OscarDC]

Hey @ck003,

Thank you for your message.

In order to look into this further with internal teams, let us know the exact Spotify version you're currently running.

Also, and in case you have the time; could you record a short video where we can take a better look? You can attach it to your next response by using the Insert Video option in the post editor or upload it to YouTube or Google Drive and share the link with us (make sure the video has the permissions for anyone to see it).

We'll be on the lookout.

[ck003]

Version 9.0.88.1404 and at least the 2 updates preceding it have been problematic in this way.  

[Ivelina]

Thank you for the details @ck003.

We've forwarded this info to the relevant team, so they can take a closer look. As soon as we've got any updates on the topic we'll make sure to let you know in this thread. 

In the meantime, we're just a post away if anything else comes up.