Spotify android app crashes without google play services after 8.7.8.1206

[BurntTech]

I contacted Spotify support about this breaking change the Spotify development team has introduced. I shouldn't have been surprised but I got canned responses about how google play services is trusted and I should ask for feedback "complain" to the user Spotify community forums. I didn't think this is productive but maybe I'll get lucky finding someone from Spotify that cares about customers that would wish/can't use google play services.

SoapBox: There shouldn't be any reason that Google play services can't just fail silently on any of the features could use it. (This was already the case in Spotify app with error message about casting requires updated google play and that was awesome work by the developers )

[Alex]

Hey @BurntTech,

Thank you for reaching out about this in the Community!

We understand that not everyone has the latest updates or the most current devices at their disposal, but there're some dependencies between Spotify, the Android OS and Google Play Services that cannot be changed.

This is related to security reasons and can influence if the app gets certified to be on the Play Store at all.

As such, we can only confirm that a current version of Google Play Services is indeed a requirement for the app's operation and not meeting this requirement can cause unexpected issues with the app.

We are here if you have any questions.

[anon339]

One of the dumbest things I've read. I use spotify without that spyware called "Google Play Services and it works without any significant issues. Just Jams won't work properly, but besides that I have a great experience.

Stop trying to be dependend on services that are not necessary and without privacy