Spotify and Volume Boosters

[airgiles1]

Ok, so here goes.

I have signed up for Spotify premium for a while now, but am seriously thinking about just dumping the whole thing if I can't get this to work properly. Why would I continue to pay $120 a year for something that doesn't work right? 

I have a Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge- just bought in October. When I tried to use Spotify, the volume was inaudible on my bluetooth speakers. So I downloaded a volume booster called Speaker Boost Pro. The thing is, it works fine for bluetooth audio (I can hear the clicks of my phone over the speakers as I navigate thru the apps) and it works fine with Soundcloud. It doesn't work properly with Spotify. Here's what happens:

Starting a song with the Speaker Boot will work, as long as I DON'T change the song. Then the volume reverts back to inaudible levels. Also, the volume will randomly drop, even when I don't change the currently playing song to a new one. Then I can't get the volume booster to work, unless I restart the phone and then reopen my Bluetooth connection and reopen Spotify again. This takes a couple of minutes and is aggravating. So my questions are:

What is the official line on using Spotify with volume booster apps (specifically Speaker Boost Pro for Android)? 

Why does it seem to work for my phone and other music players, but not Spotify?

I've tried uninstalling Spotify, and then reinstalling the newest version, the older versions from APK 2.8 (I think?), tried uninstalling the volume booster and just playing Spotify without it (back to square one, an it produced predictable low volume), then reinstalled the volume booster (same headaches).

I read turning the EQ off might help, but when I go to the settings, it's not readily apparent to me where the on/off switch is for the EQ. It says "Equalizer" and "Open the control panel" then I get a notice that I should disable it if I experience difficulties, but how? I looked at Sound effects panel, everything's OFF. Back to the main eq screen, it says "Normal" but there's no "disable" function? Clicked on the "details button and nothing there that says "turn me off".

I also noticed that even though I installed the earlier version, it looks like Spotify updated itself to version 4.3, rendering that fix useless.

I'm trying really hard here, but I'm about to give up and cancel my premium subscription. I've attached the APK that I tried to revert to if anyone is interested. Also the Speaker Boost app I am using (the only one that seemed to work for my phone) is at the Google Play store here: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=mobi.omegacentauri.SpeakerBoost&hl=en

Any thoughts?

[airgiles1]

Still waiting for ANY reply whatsoever.

Do people from Spotify even read these boards?

[woodandrew90 · Accepted solution]

The only definitive answer that I can offer is that Spotify personnel never provide any help or support on this Android subsection of the forum. (They do intervene on the Apple subsection though....)

Regarding your problem, there are occasionally issues that occur due to the specific modifications of Android OS that the device companies install. Example: LG does not permit use of the equalizer function at all in Spotify on some models. And this is due to LG disabling it,  not Spotify.

Reason for stating this is that it does sound like something specific to your device (bluetooth inauadible without the speaker boost app, audible only for one track with speaker boost).

I can only suggest:

1. In the Spotify settings, disable the 'Normalize Volume' slider.

2. Try another speaker boost app. There are third party equalizer apps that work with Spotify that  also have volume boost functions ( I tried a few on my LG G3)

Good luck.

[airgiles1]

Thanks for replying.

I've tried going even farther back to version 2.5.

The sound is what I expect from a brand new phone now, you can hear it and with the volume boost app, it is all good.

Now my question is, since I know that Spotify is going to try to update this currently working version to the newer crap one- how do I stop this from happening on my phone which is NOT rooted?

I also note that in this earlier version 2.5, I am not able to download and play some local files while others will play. Is there a workaround for this?

It's not critical, as I am much happier with the volume in the old 2.5 and am willing to sacrifice the fact that I am mising out on other songs I have downloaded on my laptop..but it would still be nice to be able to play everything in my library on my phone while offline

[airgiles1]

Okay so I found out that you can stop the Google Play apps from auto updating in THEIR settings, not the Spotify settings.

As it stands now, I have a retro version of Spotify installed (2.5) and had to go into the Google Play store and set my phone to NOT auto update its apps.

The volume is good now, but that could change. I thought I'd fixed it and then it reverted without me doing anything.

Hopefully this works for a while, I'll update later. 

[airgiles1]

Merry Christmas! 

I don't think if I've successfully gotten the issue where I want it- but at least the volume is audible using this method for Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge:

Retro version of Spotify (2.5)

*(after installing this early version of Spotify, you should go into Google Play Store settings and set the Auto-Update feature to OFF for your phone)

Speaker Boost App

Speaker Boost

Would still like to know how I can get more volume out of the phone without rooting it

[airgiles1]

Well, the experiment is over and I've cancelled my Spotify Premium membership.

Lack of customer support plus the fact that Spotify is "spotty" at best on my phone made the decision easy.

I'm not paying for something that doesn't work.

Bye

[airgiles1]

Okay, I am back ready to eat my crow, and possibly help somebody else out there.

I have signed back up to Spotify, after figuring a few things out. 

First of all the problem was not exclusively Spotify, it also has something to do with my Bluetooth on my phone.

For some reason, if you can control the Bluetooth, then even though the volume still drops, you can manage the volume easier.

Before, I was doing all kinds of steps to restore the volume to preferable listening levels, I will outline those steps in a minute.

But after much trial and error, I figured out that it was the Bluetooth that was also culpable in this problem. 

So I started researching more on Bluetooth solutions, and I believe I've come up with a workaround (for me). 

You'll have to experiment with this Bluetooth app and see if you can get it to make your life easier. 

Anyways, here's what I was doing before:

So I start a song in Spotify (or Google Music Play), and then start up the booster. BAM! It works great. Volume boosted like I want.

But then if I skip a song, the volume returns to previous low level. I had to play around with it for a while, but here's what I learned:

Song is playing, and the volume has dropped back down. 

1. I go into Application Manager in my Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge and force stop Volume Boost App.

2. Then I go to Bluetooth and disconnect from the speaker..

3. Next step is to start the song again, since when you disconnect the Bluetooth, the song stops. Now it's playing out of my phone's speakers.

4. Then I reconnect to the Bluetooth Speaker. At this point it comes out at low levels.

5. Restart the volume booster again, and it works again. In the beginning I was restarting the phone and clearing the cache, but I don't seem to need to do all those extra steps. What I've outlined here is the basics (as far as I can figure out) of how to get the volume booster to amp the sound.

If I skip any of these steps, or get them out of order, the boost doesn't work. 

So, if I try keeping the song playing, and then force stop the volume boost app and then restart it immediately- doesn't work.

I need to force stop the boost app, then disconnect from Bluetooth, THEN start the song on my phone, then restart the volume boost.

Okay, so that was the workaround I came up with after much time and effort- until I found a better way to execute all this using an app called A2DP Volume. This simplifies the steps, and automates all the force stopping of the volume booster and then restarting it. You need to try this if you were having the same problems I was having playing booming sound out of your portable Bluetooth speakers.

What I figured out is if I can automate the force stop on the volume booster when I disconnect the Bluetooth connection, and then automate the restart of the volume booster when Bluetooth reconnects, then I don't have to enter the settings menu on my phone. 

You'll have to go into the A2DP settings and set this up- 

1. Find the device (speaker) you want to modify and click on edit 

2. I silenced notifications (optional)

3. I enabled "Set Media Volume on Connect" and adjusted the slider below this

4. I enabled "Automatically remember last used media volume on disconnect"

5. I enabled "Ramp Volume Up"

6. I clicked on the button called "Start App on Connect" and I put in my volume booster app here- The one I use that works for me is Speaker Boost

7. I enabled "Force App restart" and also enabled "Stop App on Disconnect"

-this basically force stops and then restarts the volume booster upon disconnecting and then reconnecting Bluetooth connection 

So now instead of going in and out of the applications menu on my phone to force stop the volume booster everyme the volume drops in Spotify here's what I do (remember that the Spotify app is open and the volume booster app is open, but not boosting like it should on the currently playing song)

1. Disconnect the Bluetooth connection

2. Start the song again

3. Reconnect the Bluetooth connection

4. Actually click on the open Volume Booster window that is open already, and voila! Success!

So much easier than what I was doing before.

The problem with dropping volume still exists on my phone (althought it doesn't happen with SoundCloud for some reason), but this makes it quicker to get volume back up. 

If there is an even easier way to fix this issue, I would love to hear it. I am 40+ years old, but have very little experience with smartphones, I just bought this (my first) smartphone a couple of months ago. I do have more experience with computers and logic problems, so I was (thru trial and error) able to come up with this workaround. Let me know if this helps anyone.

Good luck

[Pasiu]

Hi.
Also got Lg G3 and it's quiet. Can you suggest a volume booster that works?
Thanks in advance.

[airgiles1 · Accepted solution]

The app I use is called Speaker Boost

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=mobi.omegacentauri.SpeakerBoost&hl=en

As described in my post above, it is quirky on my phone and I also installed another app that force stops it and restarts it whenever I turn off Bluetooth and restart Bluetooth. It's a workaround for me, but I am able to blast the music loud this way- I can get a good volume boost at 27% with the Speaker Boost app- it is the only one that I found continued success with, so give it a try and let me know if it works for you

[EinfachU]

For me it works properly. I just need 5% Boost.

[oarneer]

Fixed it on my samsung with opening equalizer in spotify and turned off surround and tube amplifier pro adaptation. Now i finally got higher volume on Spotify.

[Tunetan]

Problem resource is mobile's software, if user want use these apps with spotify, must upgrade his phone software by manual way (with PC)

Every trademark has got every software version their interner site, user must choose newest or use more older versions until next upgrade. 

Im using LG V10 and i have upgraded my software by manuel way IT WORKED!!

Same problem is exist my brother's phone, boosters dosent work with spotify, his phone is SONY Z5 

It's only software problem not a specific permission about Equalizer

It will solve that problem 

Stay vibe people :))