Galaxy Watch 8 Classic Add to Favorites Not Working Anymore

[Petroph]

Plan

Free/Premium

Device

Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 Ultra 

Operating System

One UI 8.0 (Wear OS 6.0)

My Question or Issue

Just upgraded from my older Watch 4 to a Watch 8 Classic. Before with Spotify no matter where I was playing my music via Bluetooth or even Android Auto I can add or remove any song from my favorites list. Switching back to my Watch 4 I can even still do this. However, with my Galaxy Watch 8 Classic I cant add or remove any songs from my watch 8 unless the audio is specifically playing out of the watches speakers. I feel i'm missing something here and wondering if any others have encountered this issue with spotify on their new Galaxy Watch 8s. I can still play, pause, skip, change volume etc. Except to add or remove songs from favorites which makes no sense. Like Spotify is only giving permission to add or remove songs to your favorites if the audio is playing from your galaxy watch speakers which is nonsense.

Ive tried reinstalling the app on both my phone and the watch but same results. No issues with my watch 4 doing this so pretty much at a loss for words on this one. Any Galaxy Watch users experience this and how did you fix it if so?

[Liltman]

I've got the exact same issue. Any help would be appreciated. Galaxy Watch Ultra 2025.

[Dessi]

Hey folks,

Thanks for reaching out and flagging this!

We've passed this on to our tech folks for further investigation and will let you know as soon as we have any updates to share.

Take care.

[steelyjan0811]

same issue, please investigate

[GlynF]

Also, same issue - Galaxy Watch 8

[Alun111]

Same issue too, galaxy watch 8

[Coeus89]

Plan

Family Premium

Country

USA

Device

(Samsung Galaxy Note 20, Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra)

Operating System

OS up to date on both.

My Question or Issue

I have a Note 20 and a Galaxy Watch Ultra. I recently got an update to the watch OS and now the like button on spotify is grayed out and non-functional. I went through help chat at did not come to a conclusion. Does anyone know how to resolve this or seen this? I've done multiple levels of uninstalls and reinstalls.

[garrymcd]

Same issue, watch 7. Started when I updated to One UI 8 beta.

[Riviksa]

Same issuse, when i updated Galaxy watch ultra whitg one ui 8

[zellow_mellow]

Plan

Premium

Country

United States

Device

Galaxy Watch Ultra 2024

Operating System

8.0 One UI

My Question or Issue

When trying to add a song to my liked songs or other Playlist through the android Spotify watch app, I am unable to because the plus button greyed out. I cannot tap or interact in anyway. I tried look in the settings and reinstalling but it is still greyed out. This started with the 8.0 one UI update.

[Aero9ss]

Same exact issue here on my Galaxy watch 7. Used to work, now it's gray and non-functional. 

[Eni]

Hey folks, 

Thanks for all the info you've sent so far. 

We can confirm that the right teams are aware of this and are currently looking into it. In the meantime, as a workaround, you can add or remove Liked songs from the watch by playing the audio directly from the watch speakers. 

We'll keep you posted as soon as we have any updates about this. 

Cheers! 

[GlynF]

Hi,

There's an additional issue where if you are playing a podcast the Watch 8 doesn't show the +15 seconds and -15 seconds.

From memory, I think it's the same conditions as the like issue - it works if the audio is going through the watch speaker (and actually it works if you are playing through an Amazon Echo etc) but doesn't work if the output is set to the phone.

(Sorry I can't check currently as my Watch 8 is in for a faulty exchange 😭)

[natebierman]

I just got my Galaxy Watch Ultra yesterday.

I am using a Galaxy Z Flip 7 as well.

I am running into the same issue as described above.

I have factory reset phone and watch with no success.

The issue seems like a bug because when I restart my watch it works until I go to a different screen, then it goes back to the problem.

Add to favorites is grayed out, and I cant rewind song or fast forward.

Hopefully this issue gets resolved soon.

Thanks!

[Petroph]

The only fix I've found so far is that the app is giving direct control of liking and disliking tracks ONLY to the connected device. So Ive had to set the network to the watch 8 Classic then set the audio output to my galaxy buds or Bluetooth speaker. That seems to resolve the issue, temporarily only for that listening session. It is not automatic. And this is not ideal for connecting via a vehicle Bluetooth setup. Android Auto isnt really an issue since tracks can be liked or disliked on the interface directly. Though, would be nice if I could just hit tap like on my watch vs fumbling through the UI like I used to on my older Galaxy Watch 4. 

 

 

To me, allowing all devices connected to the phone to control the add or remove functionality would be the solution. Unless there is some sort of new security in the one UI 8 software that is now preventing this from occurring. 

[steelyjan0811]

Hi,

I hope this is not considered a solution as this "workaround" is hardly any working compromise. There is a prominent button in the main menu in all the newest galaxy watch devices and it doesn´t work as intended and it´s been a month since. My ChatGPT suggested it has with permissions to do as the new devices are stricter with handing out control over app features. Some more insight from your side would be appreciated.

[ententeak]

As "Petroph" wrote, switching output to another device (PC, Watch) than the connected phone allows function of the "(+)" button...

Devices: Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra (V7XA) - One UI 8.0 Watch, Samsung Galaxy S23FE - OneUI 7.0, PC Spotify For Windows (64bit) - ver. 1.2.71.421.g794ff5e5

[Petroph]

I should note, my workaround is still less than ideal. Its a giant pain to switch constantly. My workaround works, but since we can not choose the "default" connection method the phone always is the primary. So anytime you close the app, the default goes straight back to the phone. And this defaults to the phone every single time a new audio Bluetooth device connects to the phone, whether its a speaker, car radio system, or just putting your buds back in the network defaults back to the phone. And apparently you cannot switch the network via watch either, must be done from the app directly. 

I would love a fix for this, as this is becoming a daily annoyance continously setting up the proper settings everytime. 

[DWagner711993]

Hello user, to solve your problem, turn off the Bluetooth on your smartphone so that the device does not connect to your smartphone. Go to your watch and drag down from the top, where you switch off the watch, for example, and swipe to the right and look for a Bluetooth symbol with headphones and connect the end device to your watch. You can then reactivate Bluetooth on your smartphone. Normally, the Bluetooth should be more dominant than that of your smartphone. The favorites button will then work. Greetings Dominik

[natebierman]

Hi Everybody!

Let me start out by saying I am definitely hoping to get a fix for this soon. For me, my favorite aspect of a smartwatch is being able to control my music without taking my phone out of my pocket. I did not have this issue with my previous Google Pixel Watch 3, but ran into it when I purchased a Samsung Ultra Watch (2025). Spotify has assured me via email that they are working on the issue and they are aware of it. In the meantime, here are two workarounds I have found that allow songs to be added to favorites, one for LTE watches and one for any watch:

1. LTE Option: What you can do here is make sure your watch is connected to LTE by default (this should be the case for most watches). Swipe down from the top of your watch and disable the Bluetooth functionalty from the drop down menu. Wait a couple seconds and you will see in the notification bar a cloud symbol with two arrows going up and down. This means your watch is now remotely connected to your phone. When it is connected in this way, you should be able to control Spotify on your phone with your watch with full functionality.

2. No LTE: In my searching for a solution, I came across an app called SimpleWear. This app allows you to control your phone from your watch in a variety of ways. Noteably, this app includes a media player for music on your phone. Additionally, this music player has the ability to "like" songs and "add songs to your collection" depending on which music app you are using. Its a simple and unobtrusive way to get additional functions when controlling music from your watch. Make sure you download the app on both your phone and your watch.

Hopefully this helps the people that are as invested in finding a solution as I am!

Thanks!

Nate