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Spotify Links "open.spotify" don't open in Desktop App OSX/Mac anymore

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Spotify Links "open.spotify" don't open in Desktop App OSX/Mac anymore

Premium Account

USA

Mac OS Mojave 

 

Seems like Spotify keeps pushing this issue aside because not enough people are complaining about it. I've actually seen a good amount of posts on the community boards about it but none of them seem to have gained traction with the powers that be, claiming its a non-issue and the post gets closed. I disagree, wholeheartedly.

 

Please bring this option back! I don't use the web player... ever. And, I don't want to now have to start copying and pasting the link into spotify app. Call me lazy. The advanced settings used to have the option to have links open in the desktop app. But that option has recently disappeared. Seems like a very obvious and useful feature, and just strange to suddenly remove that functionality. 

 

My friends and I are always trading spotify links via text and emails and it's incredibly frustrating that it now doesn't automatically open in the desktop app like it used to. If I say pretty please, with a link to cherry on top, would you consider this a legitimate issue? 

 

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61 Replies

This is not a solution to be honest. 

The fact that people are installing an extension and posting multiple topics should be a sign for Spotify to implement a change.
Also a reason why not, instead of 'this is now expected behaviour' can be helpful to remove some frustration.

Hi Mihail

 

So i find that if I click on a url of the form: 
spotify://https://open.spotify.com/track/4effTONLQxmg77cBEqPl8k?si=MCIg4CK_RYCM-jd5QBi35A

The desktop app opens and it works as expected.

On the other hand if I click on one of the form:
spotify://spotify:track:4effTONLQxmg77cBEqPl8k

I get a prompt asking whether I want to open the link in the desktop app and it opens but does NOT navigate to the page for the track. It simply opens the app  (or brings it into focus if it is already open).

Hey @aster17,

 

Thanks for reaching out.

 

The Spotify URI should bring up the respective song in the app. If you're still experiencing this issue, could you try logging out and back in to your account two times in a row? This prompts a resync with our servers. If that doesn't fix things, it's possible that some of the app files have gotten damaged. This is usually resolved by performing a clean reinstall using these steps. They are more thorough and make sure that no leftover files remain.

 

Hope this helps. Keep us posted on how it goes.  

Mihail Moderator
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It's supposed to look like this:

 

spotify://track/4effTONLQxmg77cBEqPl8k

 

Hope this helps.

Has this been sorted yet - it's so **bleep** stupid it astounds me.

Fun fact Peter - not a solution.

How is this response a "solution" ?

This is NOT solved at all. How do I complain? How do I vote? We need more people as Spotify keeps getting updates for silly stuff all the time but not this. I just hate the web version of Spotify. 

The absolute state of Spotify lol

 

The arrogance and incompetence is astounding at times. They never fix anything that's actually relevant and they remove useful features. I wonder what goes on at planning meetings at Spotify HQ. Probably something like the Swedish chef from Muppet Show (for anyone old enough to remember)

This is lame, but I understand that if someone sends a URL, MacOS will launch the default browser. So my hack for this is to create an Automator Service that is called "Launch in Spotify", and receive URLs, Input is only URLs, and I select Messages.app because this is really the time I get spotify URLs, but you could make it "All". I send the input to Javascript function, then a Shell script to make it easy to do. Drag and drop those from the Library on the left.

 

The scripts are:

Run Javascript

function run(input, parameters) {

var inputText = input[0];

return inputText.replace("https://open.spotify.com/","spotify://");

}

 

then run Shell Script: (Shell is /bin/bash but any shell should work), Input "as arguments"

open $1

Save it as "Launch in Spotify"

 

Go to Messages.app to any URL, then Right Click on it, Select "Launch from Spotify" and it'll now launch into Spotify.

tl;dr version

"It is an expected behavior of the app now. If it is not working, please perform a clean reinstall using these steps."

 

After being outraged as everyone else with the answer, I've searched for other solutions in the answers and in Google.

 

After finding all the most whimsical, creative and complex solutions for this matter, por pure laziness I chose to try the one offered and selected as solution. The answer in it self is scattered  throughout the replies, as the moderator could change his "marked as solved" answer to complete it.

 

I made a clean reinstall and... voilà!!! IT WORKED!! No add-on, workaround or miraculous solution needed.

 

Tested in Safari, Edge and Firefox, worked just fine.

Doesn't work for me (macOS Big Sur/Safari).

For me, this is what happens with all spotify URL's:

 

- Safari is opening the web app in a new tab

- If I'm logged in to Spotify:

  • playback starts immediately
  • dialog box opens with "Allow this web page to open Spotify?"
  • If I click "Allow", the Spotify desktop app opens and starts playback (again), regardless of the web app already playing.

- However, if I'm not logged in to Spotify in the browser, the same thing happens, just without the wild cacaphony of the same song playing with a 2 sec delay between. I still have to close the browser tab each time.

 

If this is "expected behavior", then my "expected behavior" is to never use Spotify again.

 

So please answer this straight:

  1. Is it currently possible to open a Spotify (album, artist or song link, copied from the desktop app) link directly in the Spotify desktop app, while bypassing the web browser player completly (with no "Allow/Deny" prompt and no "double playing")?
  2. If not, are there any current plans to bring back that functionality? For clarification: it used to work that way up until quite recently. 
  3. Is there a (hidden or visible) setting to "Always open in Spotify", to eliminate the invasive, interferring and incredibly annoying Safari "Allow/Deny" prompt, along with the invasive, interferring and incredibly annoying web browser app?

Thanks in advance.

 

Andreas

 

Hey @Atchoo

 

Thanks for reaching out about this. 

 

Currently, there's no option to deactivate this "Allow/Deny" prompt. However, there shouldn't be any double playing, so we'd recommend creating a new thread for this specific issue.

 

Additionally, we don't have any info on that functionality coming back. We really appreciate your feedback regarding this and will make sure to pass it on to the right folks.

 

We'll be here if anything else comes up. 

 

Cheers.

NovyModerator
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It doesn't show that options in the newest version of the app

Why is this topic marked solved when it is clearly UNsolved? It drives me absolutely nuts and has pushed me to favor youtube for sharing music and avoiding links people send me for Spotify. Links for songs or playlists should be able to redirect instantly for the app to open, if that's the desired setting we've chosen (except that setting has been removed so we're stuck.. until we get the courage to cancel and move, if it comes to that ugh)

Not only should this not be expected behaviour, it still hasn't been implimented two years later. This isn't a missing feature, it's a bug. Please fix it asap.

Hello everybody

 

We are using MUSIC + TALK.  With an URI like https://open.spotify.com/show/0u3e5gHIqLGqzUaqLqNqbv the podcast open in the browser. BUT when you try to play there is a message that says it only can be played in the APP. If we use a link to the APP like spotify:show:0u3e5gHIqLGqzUaqLqNqbv this work if user have instaled the APP otherwise that do nothing ...  has anyone  an idea of how to replicate in web the behaviour of apps:

 

  • If the Spotify app is not installed then the link should say, GET SPOTIFY FREE
  • If the Spotify app is installed then use then the link should say, OPEN SPOTIFY

 

do it to show the message 

The solution is to stop using spotify who obviously does not care about mac users or the money that they spend. I stopped using spotify and let my customers know to uninstall the program since its function is apparently to "NOT WORK" as expected behavior. Too many other music apps out there with better working features. This is how you get problems solved...if more and more people cancel thanks to stupid moderators not doing their jobs. Companies are forced to change

 

I wonder how we can solve it. on mac os whenever you click on the Spotify links it will open in browser instead of the app player. it is kind of annoying. 

as the other users mentioned we do appreciate that if you can solve it. 

Peter, that is not a solution. Don't mark it as such. 

We still need help!

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