Disable Ford Applink with spotify

[xartic1]

Is there anyway to disable spotify from having my Microsoft Sync in my Ford from being solely controlled through the car? It's entirely bothersome to try and navigate through my car to get to a different artist or playlist when I could just do it easily through my phone.

On my end, my mustang has no nav, and I cannot find any way to disable Sync from completely controlling my phone's spotify app. All it shows is the spotify logo with an arrow to a Ford logo. Super annoying.

[ElJefeGT]

Spotify pushed a new update today.  Anyone had a chance to test if this fixed it?  FWIW, I went and test drove a new 2016 5.0 with Sync 3 yesterday and hooked up my phone to it and the Spotify app on it is AMAZING.  Didn't buy it though so I'm stuck with the tiny 2" lcd bar on my 2013 5.0 for now.

[pisymbol]

You are either being sarcastic or you DIDN'T ACTUALLY try the Spotify app on it.

[meximills]

Just canceled my spotify premium subscription (member since 2011). My primary use case for spotify is building ad-hoc playlist through the "queue feature" for roadtrips while on the road (my passenger was the one building them). That no longer works. Goodbye Spotify and it's you not me.

[ChrisTechMech]

With the latest update, it totally ruined a great service. I would've paid more for it. Now, that I'm stuck using Ford Sync technology, I unsubscribed. WHAT A TERRIBLE IDEA! I drive all day and I'm not wasting time. I'll use the bluetooth feature and listen to the music I own, listen to YouTube, and listen to various podcasts etc. Spotify is not the only provider of entertainment out there. IT'S ALL ABOUT ACCESSABILITY FOR ME AND I CAN'T ACCESS THE SERVICE I WAS PAYING FOR. It's not a safety issue for me because I typically change my playlist or artist wile I'm sitting in my van doing paperwork, then I drive. My phone is equipped with an app to prevent calls or texts from coming in while I drive to remove the temptation. I am a responsible user. I'm happy they're concerned about safety, that's great, but I can't use this app when it's connected to Ford Sync. Maybe if they want it to go to voice commands, Spotify should come up with their own means rather than deferring to terrible Ford tech. 

[ChrisTechMech]

Tried. Didn't work. Bye Spotify. I won't be back.

[ElJefeGT]

You've tested it on a SYNC3 system with the 7" touch screen?  It works awesome.

[Aramsey23]

I am also having this issue. It is a HUGE pain in the a $$. If I cannot find a fix I will be canceling my subscription and going back to Google Play.

[Dethley]

You going to send me an upgraded nav unit and pay for the install?  

[pisymbol]

I have exactly that. And no it doesn't. It appears to work but it actualy doesn't with respect to choosing artists, albums, playlists etc.

[pisymbol]

Has anyone tried the latest update to see if it fixes the problem?

[ajwhet · Accepted solution]

I just downloaded the newest version of the app (5.6.0.701) yesterday, and it seems that the problem, for me at least, has been fixed. I have been able to control Spotify from my phone while using Bluetooth Media Stream. This morning, just for kicks, I connected via Applink to see what would happen. As expected, the Spotify/Ford screen came up, but, somewhat surprisingly, when I exited Spotify from the car's dash and went back to Bluetooth Media Stream, that screen went away and I was able to control the app from my phone again. I didn't have to restart the app or anything like that, it just worked exactly the way you would expect it to. I have a 2015 Fusion, without Nav/touchscreen.

[Dethley]

I am scared to have hope, can others confirm this? I don't have my car today so I can't.

[derekh2011]

This is ridiculous! I can't navigate through the app at all anymore. I am not even in my car or connected to the bluetooth, and the screen with the Spotify logo to the Ford logo will not go away. I can't even listen to my music at work because of this. It goes away after I restart my phone. But, it is a waste of my time having to restart my phone everytime. If this is not fixed soon I WILL be cancelling my premium account and will not be using Spotify again.

[user-removed · Accepted solution]

Can confirm that with the latest update, you no longer get the Ford/Spotify screen over regular Bluetooth audio.

[Wrightj90]

Thank you baby Jesus!

[fastnoid]

I updated this morning and it looks like it works normally! I'm glad if it's actually fixed, I'll need to test a little more to make sure it wasn't a fluke.

Honestly this is all I wanted -- if they had just given us an actual update rather than support's vague boilerplate responses I wouldn't have gotten as upset about this whole situation.

[olewpedersen · Accepted solution]

Problem is solved with the latest update. Now my spotify works great again on my phone in my Fiesta 2014. Bear in mind, that it's possible, that your phone does not update automaticly. I had to remove my spotify app and the install the latest version on my Samsung S6. 

[danefinnesand]

The newest update seems to be working fine in my vehicle.   

[Dethley]

I am happy to report my Lincoln which uses ford sync is working with spotify again!  Wooo.

I will be upgrading to family plan to share with my fam now that I know I dont have to cancel.  

Little lesson to the Spotify support staff.... a small effort to tell us you were taking this issue seriously and working to resolve it in a soon to be released update would have saved you subscribers and bad relations with people here.  I have worked in customer support and find this completely unacceptable.

[MLBurke]

2015 Ford Fusion SE, no touchscreen. Confirming fixed for non-Applink Bluetooth connection. For now. Let's hope they don't re-rollout this feature garbage in the future.