Media keys not working in Android 10/11

[Andrw0830]

Plan

Premium

Country

Canada

Device

Samsung S9

Operating System

Android 10/Android 11

My Question or Issue

I was on Android 10 and started having issues lately where if I ask Google Assistant to play music on Spotify, the Media keys (play, pause, skip) for Spotify won't work. Opening Spotify without using Google, the Media keys work on my phone/Bluetooth device to manage Music. I've since upgraded to Android 11 AOSP to see if the issue was the OS or something else and the issue happens with Android 11 as well. 

I realize AOSP is not officially supported, but Spotify does play music when asking Google to play, just the Media keys don't work unless I open Spotify manually. I don't think the issue is my phone/OS, but Spotify's integration with Google. Wanted to ask if anyone else is having issues with using Spotify with the latest updates to Google Assistant? The issue happens regardless if using Bluetooth or the phone speaker with Google.

[Novy]

Hey there @Andrw0830,

Thanks for reaching out about this in the Community, and welcome! 

Would you mind letting us know if you've already tried reinstalling both apps? You'll find a guide for the Spotify app here. Following these steps is different than simply reinstalling and can be helpful for clearing any corrupted files that might be causing issues. It will also get you the latest app version. 

If this doesn't do the trick, could you try with a different network and see if the issue persists?

Keep us posted. We'll be on the lookout for your reply.

[Andrw0830]

 

Thanks for the suggestion! I've followed the guide and even with the latest Spotify and Google app from Google Play Store downloaded and installed, asking Google to play Spotify, still causes the Media keys not to work on my phone to skip, pause/play songs. The attached image shows exactly what happens when I request Google to play music on Spotify. It seems Google just opens Spotify like an overlay which is just enough to allow Spotify to play music, but not fully to make Media keys work.

Lastly just as a test, I've tried YouTube Music with Google to play music and I could skip songs using the Media keys so at least we know that it appears to be Spotify with Google on Android 11 causing the issue.

[Andrw0830]

So some great news! I was able to downgrade to version 8.5.85.0 of the Spotify app and Media keys now work with Google! The latest Spotify version over the last month is the culprit.

Just thought of that as saw a few people post on Google about similar issues with Android Auto with Spotify and reverting to an older Spotify version was the only thing else I didn't do. Hope this helps to find out what changed recently to cause this issue

[Andrw0830]

Hey Spotify, hadn't heard back regarding this issue as have confirmed on multiple devices running Android 10/11 including a S9, S10e and a S20+ and newest version 8.5.93.445 still has the issue. Also if you are playing music on Android Auto in the car and turn off the car and exit, Spotify will play music through the phone's speakers for 1-2 seconds before pausing.

Please let me know if you need anything else, but it's not just me this is happening on and can help in any way you want.

[Andrw0830]

Issue fixed in 8.6.0.860 update.

[Andrw0830]

Can anybody confirm if this issue is present in Spotify version 8.6.36.1070 that was released on June 17, 2021? This issue just started with me again after being fixed for awhile.

[Novy]

Hey @Andrw0830, 

Thanks for getting back to us.

If possible, could you ask a friend or a family member to log in to their personal account using your device to see if they can replicate this?

It would also be helpful to have a video or a screen recording where we can take a better look at what's happening. You can send a link to it or attach it using the Insert Video option in the post editor. 

Keep us posted.

[Andrw0830]

Hello, thanks for responding. Yes the issue happens when someone else signs into my device and uses Spotify and I was able to replicate this issue on another device, this time on a Samsung S10e while my device is a Samsung S20+. Both running Android 11.

It's hard to show in a video/screenshot as when you ask Google to play say my Daily Mix, the media keys just don't work to skip, play/pause. The only temp fix which worked last time is too force close Spotify and reopen it and manually play a song from the app, then the media keys work.

[Novy]

Hi @Andrw0830, 

Thanks for your reply.

Just to confirm, is this happening with all playlists or a specific one?

We'd also recommend making sure that Google is up to date. 

Let us know how it goes.

[Andrw0830]

This happens on all playlists and can confirm this issue happens each time when using voice commands to play the playlist. I've heard people say Android Auto is also affected. This thread also has people who have the same issue: https://community.spotify.com/t5/Idea-Submissions/Android-Bluetooth-controls-don-t-work-if-Google-As...

[Alex]

Hi there @Andrw0830,

Thanks for the reply.

It seems the overlay/GUI that is launched when media is started via Google Assistant is not set to properly interface with the app.

The controls work as expected on some devices, however there are issues on certain phones and newer versions of Android.

This would point to an incompatibility between the G-Assistant GUI and Spotify playback controls, however we don't have any official information if this is something that can be fixed by Spotify, as it involves a partner service.

We've passed your feedback and info on to the development team and will let you know if we get more info on the matter.

Don't hesitate to reach out again if you have questions.

[bon_scott]

Same issue Here since mid June. After connecting my motorcycle headset AA starts correctly but the media control for Spotify will not work, I cannot pause playback or skip tracks anymore.

[Jeremy]

Hi there @bon_scott,

Thank you for your reply in this thread.

Can you perform a clean reinstall of the app? This will make sure there's no old cache files causing this.

If that doesn't do the trick, can you have someone log into their account on your device - such as a friend or a family member to see if the issue persist?

We'll keep an eye out for your reply.

Cheers!