Search history on Andriod

[DonV]

After the last update on the android app, the history disappeared and what I have searched on after the update is not being saved in the history. So no history at all, is this a bug or is the new version like this? Really want my search history

[Andrews32]

I mean, that does kind of  trivialize our frustrations. You have to assume that for every issue posted here, many, many more people are experiencing the problem and don't know where to go about it/are too lazy. And most of the issues here are simply device-specific complaints. This is an app-wide issue, so EVERY Android user is affected. 

And we know, this isn't an official support channel. BUT. We've filled in the contact forms. They posted in this thread to acknowledge they knew about it. And it's still been months since they've let out even a peep of information. Interpret that however you want, but it's impossible not to say that a) they know this is a problem many users are frustrated with (22 specific posters commenting, but hundreds of views more than any non-stickied active thread) and b) they don't care enough to EVEN UPDATE US ON WHETHER IT WAS INTENTIONAL. 

There's no perspective from which that's not awful customer service and embarrassing to be associated with.

[jakenfinn]

Here's the official response I got back and my reply.

Spotify's response...

On Fri, Feb 14, 2014 at 2:10 PM, Spotify Support <support@spotify.com> wrote:
Hey jakefinn,

Thanks for getting in touch. We're always looking for ways to improve Spotify so thankyou for the feedback.

I'm afraid that I can't say for sure if the feature will be brought back to Spotify but it might be worth mentioning that you would like the feature back on our ideas page. If it get's enough Kudos and other users like the idea then the developers will consider bringing it back in a future Spotify update.

http://community.spotify.com/

Sorry I can't be much more help to you in the situation but I hope you continue to enjoy Spotify.

Let me know if you need help with anything else and I'd be happy to help.

Best Wishes,

Joe Dance | CS Advisor
Spotify Customer Service
Cambridge
United Kingdom

My response:

First, thanks for your response.

But why? Please. If you guys would just provide the community with some explanation of why this simple feature was removed it would mean a lot.

This is not some 'idea' that should have to get Kudos, it's just a matter of basic functionality. It's a core feature that previously existed and was removed from the app.

What is it about this basic feature that would cause the Spotify team to even consider removing it? Why only on  Android? We pay for the service this isn't an unreasonable inquiry.

You suggested posting this to the community forums; did you get a chance to read through the comments at the community link I provided in my original email?
http://community.spotify.com/t5/Help-Android/Search-history-on-Andriod/td-p/575104

Doesn't it seem reasonable for us to expect a more specific answer about this?

[Andrews32]

Awesome, thanks for the update. Hopefully they come back with something soon. I mean, they still didn't even admit whether it was intentional or not. This page also exists. Everyone should offer up Kudos if it'll do anything: http://community.spotify.com/t5/Spotify-Ideas/Bring-back-search-history-in-mobile/idi-p/643318

[jakenfinn]

That's great, thanks for sharing. Everyone should go Kudo that idea thread...

[myshasse]

This is so incredibly stupid. I can't think of one logical explanation, besides a bug, for removing it and I can't think of any reason whatsoever to not addressing us customers and tell us what the heck is the problem.

[jakenfinn]

Ok,good news everyone.

I stumbled on some semi-insider-info from someone on the search team at Spotify and it sounds like things are in the works to push new search features out across all platforms (including search history) woohoo! So, stay tuned and hang in there for a few more weeks and we may get what we're asking for.

Also, I got this follow up response from Spotify support. It sounds like they may just be holding off on addressing the issue since it's so close to being ready...

Hi there,

Thank you for your feedback to us.

At the moment customer service cannot actually post anything on the forum just yet but what we can do for you is make a notice to our social team and they'll try to sort this out for you guys as soon as possible.

If you have anything else to mention please let us know so we can pass it on if needs be.

Thanks Jakefinn!

Kind Regards,

Frances

Spotify CS Advisor

If I'm not in, anyone else on our dedicated Spotify team can read my notes and help you.

[Steelskin]

Okay, so I guess we just have to wait a little more... I want to believe ! 🙂

[Andrews32]

Thanks for the update, but here we are, still waiting. Nothing to say, Spotify? 

[jpowe]

Just thought I would chime in and say that this issue finally became annoying enough to 'google' what the issue and/or possible solution is. Awesome you guys have kept after them. Really hope this gets resolved. Seems like a simple problem to fix, but what do I know.

Thanks, guys!

[Andrews32]

Glad you chimed in. Again, I realize there's "only" 20-some respondents in this thread who have reported this problem, but there have to be hundreds or thousands out there who are just as annoyed, but haven't figured out where to vent about it. 

I wish after six months of hounding, they'd given us more than a "We're aware of this problem." At this point, I'd rather they just completely have ignored us, so as not to give false hope that they actually cared in the least. And because that hope has led me not to cancel my subscription yet, so I've been paying to be annoyed since, what, August?

I'm still looking for good U.S. alternatives (other than Google's, which is wonky on my phone), so if anyone has suggestions, please share! 

Between this and the highly anticipated (for me) Broken Bells album not appearing yet with no explanation, I'm ready to move on to a better service (or rather, I've been ready, but just haven't known where to go).

[Andrews32]

Once again, we get an update and the top fixed item is...for KitKat users. Who currently make up about 5% of the Android users worldwide, which is just one of the OSes Spotify is on. So that impacted, at most, 2-3% of their users. I mean, I'm glad Spotify was able to make things work on four-month-old software, but maybe target the projects that impact the most people? It's ridiculous this still hasn't been addressed (ok, it's ridiculous it hasn't been fixed, it's beyond embarrassing it hasn't been addressed as a mistake or intentional yet).

NOTE: Yes I am getting increasingly snarky and bitter, BUT SPOTIFY MADE ME THIS WAY.

[sevemanzoor]

I hope they change their minds. Their responses to users seem unsupportive of bringing search history back 😞

[Matze]

---

Andrews32 schrieb:

Once again, we get an update and the top fixed item is...for KitKat users. Who currently make up about 5% of the Android users worldwide, which is just one of the OSes Spotify is on. So that impacted, at most, 2-3% of their users. I mean, I'm glad Spotify was able to make things work on four-month-old software, but maybe target the projects that impact the most people? It's ridiculous this still hasn't been addressed (ok, it's ridiculous it hasn't been fixed, it's beyond embarrassing it hasn't been addressed as a mistake or intentional yet).

NOTE: Yes I am getting increasingly snarky and bitter, BUT SPOTIFY MADE ME THIS WAY.

---

They fixed a major problem on KitKat that had annoyed a lot of people. Just because you don't have a phone with the most recent OS, doesn't mean that it's not important. 

And yes, I also want the search history back and don't understand why it takes them so long. I'm hoping that they are introducing the improved search feature from the 0.9.8 desktop app to all devices soon. 

[Andrews32]

I totally commisserate with those people. Hence my jab that Spotify was finally able to address a "major problem" on four-month old software. But my point is that "major problem" could, at most, affect 5 percent of Android users. Assuming a 50/50 iOS/Android user base (could be totally wrong), that's at most 2.5 percent of Android users. What percent of them are on Spotify? It can't be more than 2 percent of total Kitkat users. So "a lot of people" is a relative term that, in this case, is hugely meaningful. The issue in this thread affects ALL Android users (and I think iOS, still not sure), so that's a lot more users. I never said the KitKat issue wasn't important, just that a lot more people would be helped if they'd address this first (again, actually just addressing it would be impressive at this stage).

[JoelWalker]

I second everything that Andrews32 said.  Well put.  The taking away of the search history has annoyed me to the Nth degree.  Please bring it back!!

[Andrews32]

As I was driv ing home from work yesterday, sitting at a stoplight, I was entering a band I wanted to listen to, and got 90 percent through the name when the light changed. I was reminded (as I am almost daily) about how absolutely annoying this is. 

What do we have to do to get Spotify to care? Start a petition? Sadly, I just checked and someone has registered spotifysucks.com, so we can't use that as a landing space. 

It's been nearly a month since we got the update that they "may" be working on an update "soon". And of course that was nearly six months after this whole thing began. 

Where have all the Spotify defenders gone? They've escalated this numerous times, always used to come in and offer their bids for patience, but they don't even do that anymore. I wish it were because they were embarrassed to be associated with Spotify and mad at the company for being so obtuse, but it's probably because they've simply given up, moving on to easier to solve issues. 

That's pathetic, how long does this have to go on? I've tried to get people to suggest other services, hoping that would goose Spotify into paying attention, to no avail. What else can we do? The album I was looking for was the new Broken Bells album that came out a month ago, which Spotify still doesn't offer. So should we just post links to torrents for the music they're not offering? Would that get their attention? I'm seriously at a loss. 

I know that most times, these types of situations are caused by two factors: greed or incompetence. It's getting really hard to rule out incompetence judging by their actions, but I hate to make the illogical leap to greed.

Is it coincidence this disappeared as they started to offer the Discover tab? A tab that lets them put up music you may have zero interest in (for example, they'll just throw out, "Have you heard this song by X," just because it's "popular" right now, even if it has no connection to the genres you enjoy. Is this benevolence, or did they make a deal with labels to advertise music to users for lower fees? You be the judge). Did they get rid of the history so you couldn't call back a band you'd listened to a year ago, only to realize Spotify lost their license (to be clear, refused to pay to license it after the original terms ran out)? It's hard to say. 

The more they remain silent, I have to assume it's a mix of both stunning incompetence and standard greed.

[je11y]

I've jumped ship guys. Cancelled my sub today anad gave a link to this thread to as why, hopefully they will get off there bums and do something.

I've gone to Xbox Music which is a bit clunky to be fair, but it works out pretty cheap if you a pass from eBay 🙂

[Steelskin]

Maybe they are actually to busy preparing their introduction on stock markets ! 

What's this little inconvenience where you are potentially dealing with millions of dollars...

I'm sure they will bring back the search history as soon as they find a great company to buy for it ahaha...

[Andrews32]

Congrats for quitting, I'm jelly of je11y. 

So, I use the Discover tab when I'm driving now, so I can at least get direct links to the bands I've listened to. Today, it was recommended that I check out One Direction. I can confirm that I've never listened to anything that would ever be tagged with 1D or make Spotify think I would want to listen to them. So yeah, they're definitely getting paid to promote music on that tab. 

My longtime Internet message board participation has made me very averse to breaking etiquette, hence not double posting to bump this thread repeatedly and other methods. However, I'm wondering, what if we staged a "sit in" in the forums to try and get a response out of Spotify? Everyone who is annoyed at this just keeps posting new threads about it until the whole front page is covered by nothing but this topic?

If anyone is in, respond here and we can work out a day/time to get this going. If we can get 10-15 people, we can do it in no time, with only posting one or two threads each or so. Spotify, you brought this on yourselves. 

[Peter__]

@Andrews32 - That sounds like a fantastic way to a) Get banned from the community, then you have no voice at all and b) give the community rock stars (eg. me and others) a lot of work to do since it tends to be us who keep the community "neat" so to say. In short, that accomplishes nothing, you wouldn't be the first to try. 

Spotify have always said they don't take money to promote things in discover, whether or not to believe them is a matter of opinion. However, discover does present recommendations based on what is trending in your area, which has lend to some interesting recommendations for me lately - not big names, but just weird content!