Spotify prevents Screensaver

[dennis-the-menace]

Plan

Premium

Country

Switzerland

Device

MacBook Pro 16" (2019)

Operating System

MacOS 12.4

My Question or Issue

Spotify desktop (and web) prevents MacOS from showing the screensaver while playing music when using in clamshell mode. This is very annoying and will lead to very ugly screen burns. I don't see any reason why the screensaver shouldn't come on, while the music still plays in the background.

[Eni]

Hey there @dennis-the-menace,

Thanks for reaching out about this here in the Community. 

Could you let us know if this is only happening with Spotify or with other streaming apps as well?

On another note, we'd like to know if this started happening after a specific event such as an update either of Spotify or the OS of your PC. 

Lastly, just to confirm, have you already tried following these specific steps? 

Keep us posted. 

[dennis-the-menace]

Hi Eni

This issue has always been the case and doesn't seem to be related to an update of either MacOS nor Spotify.

I don't use any other apps for streaming music, so I can't tell.

I don't get the "specific steps" you've linked. These are just general steps to set sleep or wake 🤷‍♂️ These features work fine on my Mac.

I've added to my question, that I'm using my MacBook in Clamshell Mode.

[Alex]

Hi there @dennis-the-menace,

Thanks for the posts.

There is no way to manually adjust Spotify so it allows the screen saver to switch on while the app is open. 

There are some workaround shared by other users in this thread. You can check them out and see if they can help you. I'd recommend checking the one from @silviustroe, it's a bit outdated, but might still work for you.

Hope this helps.

[dennis-the-menace]

Hi @Alex

Thx for your tip. I already saw this solution. Unfortunately that's not what I'm looking for. I want Spotify to keep playing but the screensaver should come on to prevent screen burn. But it seems like this is a MacOS bug 🤷‍♂️

Somehow weird that this is an issue. To me it should be pretty common to play music whilst not being at the computer.

[Eni]

Hey @dennis-the-menace, 

Thanks for getting back to us. 

If that's possible, would you mind trying on a different PC to see if this happens there too?

Keep us posted.

[Jarnnnnn]

You can just press the off button (finger print scan), and after that, the escape button and then your screen is off while Spotify is playing. 🙂

[dennis-the-menace]

Hi @Eni

Thank you for your support.

I haven't had the chance to try it on any other machine. But anyway, I would bet it happens on ALL computers, running MacOS, in clamshell mode (this means the notebook is closed) whilst being connected to an external monitor. I don't see any reason why this issue should be specific to my machine (I don't have any weird mods).

All the best,

Dennis

[dennis-the-menace]

Hey @Jarnnnn

Thx for the tip, this works 🙂 It also works in clamshell mode, one has to lock the screen and then turn it off by clicking (x) cancel or hitting the ESC key. I've added this in case anyone else finds this helpful.

Nevertheless it doesn't fix my issue 😉 If I know ahead, that I want to keep Spotify running, I could also manually trigger the screensaver. But that's not the issue described above. Let me elaborate this a bit more in detail:

What happens to me often is: I'm working at my computer whilst listening to music with Spotify. Eventually I leave my workplace for some reason but intend to come back quickly. I thus leave my computer running. But sometimes I will get distracted by various situations and won't return to my workplace for hours. My computer won't go to auto-sleep (this is good! We want neither video nor music being stopped.) nor turn on the screensaver (this is bad! A video should prevent the screensaver, music only shouldn't). Anyway, when I return I will have a slight screen burn. It is not that bad, but still visible on a very white background.

The described behavior defeats the real purpose of a screen saver! The screen saver should activate in instances, where you accidentally go away from your keyboard for a longer period than intended. If I would know, that I'm going away for several hours I would just turn off my monitor, or shut down the computer or use the fix you've provided me with 🙂

I don't know if the issue lies within the Spotify Desktop application or if it's a MacOS issue in general.

All the best,

Dennis