[Connect] Disable automatic switching between devices

[HidalgoF]

Spotify Connect is great but the automatic switching is not for everyone.

Please allow us to disable automatic switching between devices. I understand Spotify doesn't like user to play in more than one device and I am happy with that, but the application shouldn't switch devices if the user does not want to do this. It clearly creates frustration amongst users.

In my particular case I work from home listening to music on my computer. I find really annoying when I plug my headphones in my phone to take a call and suddenly the music starts playing in my headphones.

This is what happens step by step:

• Spotify is in my mobile running in the back.
• Spotify is playing in my computer.
• My phone rings.
• I take the call at the same time that I get my headphones on me.
• I listed to a combination of my client/colleague and the music that I was playing in my computer, usually very loudly.
• I stop the music.
• I comment with my client/colleague how bad is Spotify.
• I finish my call.
• I go to my computer, change the playing device on Spotify to my computer and play again.
• I do this a couple of times until I get fed up of Spotify and I play music from somewhere else.

This problem has been already described here: LINK  but it has incorrectly tagged as repeated (the problems and solutions suggested are different).

[Lemoore]

No one is listening. No one cares. Don't even get me started on the awful audiobook experience.

They are complete amateurs.

Filling the client with absolute tosh no one wants and leaving all this technical debt.

Terrible engineering.

[supahz1016]

This still hasn't been fixed, what a joke. Can't use my other phone playing Spotify hooked up to a Bluetooth speaker while I exercise... Because when I use this phone for a call or anything involving my Bluetooth headphones, it switches over contrary to my wishes. Spotify isn't even open sometimes! Sigh, get better, can't stop for some features on users that didn't ask for it

[supahz1016]

1. Exactly. I clicked on this very message to reply and then the pop-up keeps showing up "did you find this article helpful?" I don't know spotify, I'm not done with the article .. stop interrupting me . What a bunch of **bleep**.

[slamhound]

I was very happy when I discovered that I could revoke the Spotify Bluetooth permision on my Samsung (workaround). Not a problem (with this issue) since.

Yeah, that popup 🤣

[Lemoore]

Any negative side effects? Spotify Connect still works I presume?

[slamhound]

I don't know exactly what Spotify Connect is. I have no connection issues with how I listen (Bluetooth / Chromecast Audio) after revoking Bluetooth permission.

[Lemoore]

It's the feature in Spotify (it's ONE good feature lol) that allows to send the Spotify output to other instances or Spotify or Alexa devices

[DarkAvenger36]

I can't believe this thing is going on for 4 years. Is is extremely annoying

[Van_Doale]

I have the Spotify app on PC and on Android phone.

If I'm listening through PC speakers, I want to keep listening through PC speakers. I don't want it to change to my phone speakers.

If I'm listening through phone speakers, I want to keep listening through phone speakers. I don't want it to change to my PC speakers.

I would really like to decide for myself which speakers to use. I would really like for Spotify to NOT decide for me which speakers to use.

It's been 4 years. There has been a dozen of posts. Why don't you just fix this?

We don't want a new shuffle algorithm (actually we do, we want 100% random shuffle), or other bells and whistles, we want this bug out of our Spotify SUBSCRIPTIONS.

I pay to listen to music, not to keep switching speakers when Spotify likes it.

[MackeyC34]

I'm ok with being able to send output to another device, I just want to do it on my terms and not Spotify's.

[Rc36]

fully agree. it’s not just the stupid second-guessing and forcing a change of playback device… it’s also the fact that every update makes it harder and harder and take longer and longer to find the music and playlist I want. Then of course there’s the stupid and annoying incessant in the app notifications and interruptions encouraging me to use their ridiculous audio book service. 

the icing on the cake is that when I want to listen on my home hi-fi but control from my phone, 50% of the time I don’t get presented with the controls.  i use a Windows iOS tablet as my hi-fi playback device, and guess what they’ve wrecked the ui to such a degree that it’s effectively unusable unless I’m able to handoff control to my phone. 

lol, I came here and replied to you as a result of an email notification from Spotify I’ve just  noticed a banner at the bottom of this reply window saying that I’m not signed in!

Modern tech companies - smoke mirrors  

[MrGlenn]

To add insult to injury, instead of improving this behaviour, it is actually becoming worse for me over time.

Recently Spotify for Android has started forcing playback through my phone whenever I open the app, even without having a bluetooth headset connected.

Dear Spotify, not a single soul that is listening to music through external speakers wants their phone to automatically take over playback unprompted just by opening your App.

Your stance on this issue is astounding and infuriating.

[MsRenay]

Oh my gosh how old is this post. This is very annoying because I have my device set to run Spotify from my Amazon Echo device at home when I'm at work. But half of the time it defaults back to my mobile phone which is annoying because I only wanted to play on the device that I have it playing on at that moment which is my Amazon Alexa device not my mobile phone. I was looking for a feature to disconnect my mobile phone and leave the other devices but I didn't see that. This random switching back and forth happens whether I'm at home and all my devices on Wi-Fi along with my phone or when I'm at work and my phone is on 4G. It wouldn't be as annoying if it actually kept playing but when it switches most of the time it stops playback altogether and I'm trying to support one of my favorite artists by streaming their content.

 

[brianchapman]

When listening to Spotify on my laptop (Mac) it switches to my phone (android) when changing songs, which is embarrassing as I'm listening via headphones on the Mac and the phone plays via the speakers for everyone to hear. This doesn't always happen but it has happened often enough to be annoying.

I wouldn't expect this behavior EVER. Nor would I expect many if any people to want this to happen. I've seen various versions of this issue on this forum dated several years back (all locked hince a new post) but it does not appear to be fixed.

I was able to "fix" this by removing the Spotify app from memory on my phone. This really isn't a "fix" as I shouldn't ever have to do anything to avoid this situation.

Plan

Premium

Country

USA

Device

Pixel 8

Operating System

Android

[phpman]

Can you please move this topic to https://community.spotify.com/t5/Android/Connect-Disable-automatic-switching-between-devices/m-p/693...

[GazArnold10]

Wow, extremely disappointed to see that this doesn’t have a fix. My issue is with my car, I listen to audiobooks and music via USB in my car as I find it much easier when I’m driving. However I often use Spotify to connect to devices in the house. Now I have an issue where most times (but strangely not every time) I start up my car the media switches from USB to Spotify on my phone automatically, and I can’t see any way to prevent it, I need my phone linked to the car for calls of course, and I don’t want to remove Spotify completely as I do use it, SO ANNOYING!  I feel like I’ve got no realistic workaround to this issue, which is made even more annoying by the fact that when the input changes in the car it loses its position in the media and I have to navigate through folders to get back where I was every time 😡 really annoying

[Mmaxwell7281]

I've recently starting having this! Really annoying. I open spotify on my phone to change the song Alexa is playing then it starts playing from my phone!

[slamhound]

I was very sad when I discovered that revoking the Spotify Bluetooth (nearby devices) permision on my Samsung (workaround) no longer fixes this issue. I had some 2 years of uninterrupted music casting but now I'm back to music playing in my headset during calls and interruptions when I connect whatnot to a device with Spotify installed.

Anyone come up with a new workaround?