Spotify controls not appearing in notification bar

[AaronRO]

I have a Galaxy S7 with Android 6.0.1 and Spotify version 6.3.0.882. 

Like the title says, "previous, pause/play, next" functionality as well as the album art are all missing from the notification bar on both home and lock screens. All Spotify notifications are gone other than when it's syncing music to a playlist.There's no indication that Spotify is even playing in the background other than the actual music.

I've made sure that notifications are allowed, I've uninstalled and reinstalled the app and the problem went away for about a week. I need a permanent fix.

[railfan-eric]

same here for the last 2 weeks with my Galaxy S7.  I was trying to drive down the road and answer a phone call.  had the music playing over the phone call and couldn't get to the app to stop it as the screen kept going off everytime i touched it.  also plays after unplugged the aux or headphone cables.  also plays at the same time Poweramp or other players are playing.  the players don't shut off to switch to the next one.  i have to pause the music on Poweramp when i play Spotify or vice versa.  now it does the same thing on my Nexus 7 tablet.  I'm freaking annoyed.

[evo4g63t]

Recommend people downgrade from 6.3 and go back to 6.2, this solves the problem.
6.3 should not have been released its clear there is no quality control done with this release there are so many bugs I am not even sure the spotify developers ran the app before they released it.
- uninstall Spotify
- make sure auto update in playstore is disabled or it'll automatically update you back to 6.3
- enable the ability to install apps outside of the playstore (I suggest disabling this setting once you've installed 6.2)
- go to http://www.apkmirror.com/apk/spotify-ltd/spotify/spotify-6-2-0-1028-release/
- download the apk for ARM architecture and install it

[micweis]

@evo4g63t I agree, I downgraded to 5.9 and it's working fine. I'll try 6.2 since it's a newer version. To anybody else reading, this is a band-aid fix but NOT a real solution.

[railfan-eric]

Tried the 6.2 on my phone and it works!! But on my Nexus 7 I can't click install. I tried over and over. And redownloaded the files.  Unknown sources is selected. Anyone else have this problem?

[Joe]

Hey @railfan-eric have you enabled "Unknown sources" on your Nexus? Pre android 6 it will be in developer options.

[jchallett]

It only allowed me to install the older version after deleting data and uninstalling the current version.

[evo4g63t]

Yeah unfortunately its unlikely that future versions are compatible with past versions so a clean install seems to be required.

[devbio]

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@evo4g63t wrote:
Highly suggest checking app permissions as suggested here, Spotify permissions were disabled when I updated to the latest version re-enable g fixed notifications, lock screen and Bluetooth functionality. 

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This worked for me. Thank you. I just gave permission to sotrage and controls work fine since then. I have an S7 edge.

[evo4g63t]

The permission thing only fixes it for a little bit it will likely come back, I ended up downgrading and its worked fine since then (since last Thursday)

[kwdseymour]

Same problem for me on my Galaxy S6. Sometimes everything works fine and sometimes it goes into a state where the following happens:

1. bluetooth controls from my wireless earbuds don't work

2. lock screen player controls aren't visible

3. notification window controls aren't present

4. widget controls are unresponsive

The biggest issue has to do with problem #3. Not only are the player controls not present, but there is also no indication that Spotify is playing in the notification bar. Thus, on two occasions Spotify has played in the background on my phone for over a half an hour without my knowledge since the media audio was all the way down and there was no indicator in the notification bar. Thus, this app is using data without my knowledge. THIS IS A SERIOUS PROBLEM AND NEEDS TO BE FIXED. If this probelm happens again, I will likely unsubscribe.

[railfan-eric]

I did say in my post I selected unknown sources.   😉

[Joe]

oops

[Dfsoto]

S6 Edge Plus. Same issue with notification and Bluetooth controls. I have also an issue with Android Auto where there is no sound when the music is paying. Not sure if it is related but it all started with the latest spotify update.

[Thatguy87]

Same problem for me: Xperia Z5 with android 6.0.1, lock screen controls intermittently stop working, restarting Spotify brings them back. Have checked battery saving settings and 'hide private data' settings but still happening. Also intermittent problem with playback continuing when headphones are removed. Spotify is up to date (6.3.0.882)

[Runlike76]

Mannn, Im glad I found this post.. Issue been bugging me for weeks.. Same issue with notification bar disappearing and then Bluetooth controls not working on my S6 Edge Plus.. .. However, I see there is a Spotify update to version 6.5... Soo, hopefully this fixes it.. No problems yet

[bmassetti]

Same problem for me on S7 with 6.3.0.882 version

[jpkreuser1]

Same problem on Galaxy S7 Edge. Still using Android 6.0.1

[jpkreuser1]

Problem Solved on Galaxy S7 Edge (I think)! Go to Settings>Smart Manager>Battery> under "App power saving" click "DETAIL" > Select Spotify > Select "Turned off." This should keep the app open in the background until you actually close it out from the app manager. 

NVM - Still didn't fix it. 

[micweis]

For those just tuning in, the only fix we've found is to roll back to 6.2. Check previous pages for details.

[railfan-eric]

I figured it out the other day.  turns out in a google search i found Lux was stopping me from being able to click on the install button.  had to temporarily disable Lux Auto Brightness to do it.