"Your Episodes" broken 15s skip on Android Auto

[albertwenty1]

Plan

Premium

Country

USA

Device

Pixel 8a & Android Auto (Toyota)

Operating System

Android 14

Recently, Spotify's Android Auto controls broke for podcasts, but only for "Your Episodes" playlist. 15s skip forward and backward were replaced with skip ahead and back in the podcast queue, and speedup was replaced with 15s back.

Here is what the UI looks like when playing a podcast episode directly (not via "Your Episodes"):

normal podcast play screen, with speedup, 15s forward and backward buttons

This is important because the two buttons surrounding play/pause are tied to the driver's steering wheel forward/backward tactile buttons. A driver can skip around in an episode without looking down, and without fumbling through multiple layers of touchscreen controls.

Here is what the same interface looks like when playing podcasts via "Your Episodes":

bad controls that default to skipping to next or previous podcast via Android Auto when using "Your Episodes"

Note that this isn't just an "inconsisten UI" bug — it is a major safety issue. Since the default buttons closest to the middle "Play/Pause" button are the ones tied to the steering wheel forward/back controls, these are the only ones available to the driver who wants to keep their eyes on the road. Even worse, navigating to the "forward 15s" control in this "Your Episodes" configuration requires navigating to the three-dot menu and another layer of button overlays on the touchscreen. Moving 15s forward/backward is such a common use-case in listening to podcasts that this is why Spotify has always kept the 15s buttons as default foward/backward interface (in Android Auto, for headphones, on UI, etc), but this was recently changed for some reason - likely a missed regression. And presents a dangerous divergence from user expectation that is likely a ticking time bomb; this will cause road accidents at some point in the future if it has not already.

Please don't mark this as a feature request. It is a bug. Severity high for safety reasons. Spotify does not want to be partly repsonsible for encouraging drivers to stare at their touchscreen instead of using tactile controls for most-used feature paths.

[miketonybill]

Looks like it's fixed now?

[jwellsntr]

I don't think they're confused by this. I just think they don't care.
No one from Spotify will escalate this issue.

[albertwenty1]

Yes! it's fixed! wonderful. version 8.9.92.408
com.spotify.music has the correct behavior

[Dessi · Accepted solution]

Hey folks,

Thanks for the patience!

This is now fixed, thanks to all of you that already confirmed and if there's someone still experiencing the issue, please make sure that you're running the latest version of the app ✌️

Take care.

[Newbrood]

I'm still having this issue when I run a podcast within a playlist. App is updated running version 8.9.98 with no app updates available. 

[miketonybill]

It appears to be broken again... 😑

[user29182]

Plan

Free/Premium

Country

Device

Android Automotive Version 5.1.1.0

My Question or Issue

My car has an Android based infotainment system and currently running Spotify version 5.1.1.0.  When listening to a podcast, the steering wheel controls skip to the next podcast, instead of 15 seconds forward.  For podcasts the steering wheel buttons should skip 15 seconds when listening to a podcast.

[user29182]

I my post got merged here, but my issue is slightly different than this topic.  

It doesn't matter whether I'm in "Your Episodes" or not, anytime I use the steering wheel controls while listening to a podcast using Spotify 5.1.1.0 on the car's infotainment system, it skips to the next podcast, vs 15 seconds as desired.

My car shows the 15 second skip button on the infotainment system graphic, and if I touch the screen button it skips 15 seconds, however if I touch the steering wheel button, it skips to the next podcast.

Note I'm using a car with built in Android Automotive, not screen casting Android Auto.

If I listen to a Spotify podcast from my phone Bluetooth to my car (rather than through the car's Spotify app), the steering wheel buttons correctly skip 15 seconds.  But again, using the app (5.1.1.0) on the car infotainment system the steering wheel buttons don't work as expected.

[user29182]

Issue still persists in 5.2.0.0.  (Physical steering wheel buttons skip to the next podcast in stead of 15 seconds ahead)

[MihailY]

Hey folks,

Apologies for not replying sooner.

@user29182, thanks for the detailed description of the issue and for providing your current app version. I've checked on my end, but both the steering wheel and dashboard buttons work as expected regardless of the setup (episodes in a playlist/podcast page/Your Episodes playlist).

@Newbrood, @miketonybill, are you still seeing this behavior? If yes, please let us know the following so we can renew the investigation with our tech team:

• Your current Spotify app version.
• Where you're starting the playback from.
• Have you tried any troubleshooting steps like clean reinstalling the app, logging out and back in or testing with a different phone?

We'll be on the lookout for your replies.

[user29182]

Just to make sure this is clear - my issue is not with using "Android Auto" screen mirroring from my phone but instead using the built my car's "Android Automotive" operating system with Spotify app 5.2.0.0 running.  (So my phone is not in the process.  I have logged out/in and cleared data on but that didn't work.)  Thanks.