[AutoPlay] Option to toggle Autoplay on/off across all devices/platforms

[nirshtuhl]

The Autoplay setting isn't working for connected devices and the web player. We need the Autoplay setting to work the same as it does on desktop and when playing on the phone.

[-dreadpirate-]

A thread about "autoplay being broken" (https://community.spotify.com/t5/Other-Podcasts-Partners-etc/Connect-Autoplay-DISABLED-but-still-ACT...) has been linked by a Moderator to this "idea" / feature request for a universal autoplay setting.

However, that thread is full of people attempting to file a BUG, not a feature request. The BUG is that the existing "disable Autoplay" setting is simply not working, even on the same device where it appears in the UI.

This is probably causing a lot of confusion around this idea, now that two entirely separate topics have been conflated -- this feature request of a universal autoplay setting, and that bug report about the existing setting being broken.

[GoodPeace]

Can you elaborate the description for the idea, so it's specifically stated, that it should be solved for "Spotify Connect". 

It may be the same solution to solve it for the web-player, however, that is not obivous from the idea description.

[b-linsey-bloom]

Plus one.

This isn’t a new idea - I used to be able to have auto play disabled when playing through Spotify Connect until an update a couple of weeks ago.

[tdimdad]

Spotify, why did you even touch a perfectly fine function in the first place? Who asked you to force Autoplay to us, what was your test market / Voice-of-Customer for this? Five small coffee shop owners who just want some random muzak playing in the background all day without thinking what's streaming??? How about you ask also those you actively engage with the service for a purpose?

[user_y]

Like much of the rest of Spotify's UX, and their handling of its shortfalls and defects, categorizing this as "Good suggestion" is lazy and stupid. Not turning off Autoplay on connected devices, when it is turned off in the control app controlling those devices, is a defect.  Fix it, Spotify - don't bury it under some feel-good misdirection like "Good suggestion".   :  |

[loyd-64]

I dunno about autoplay actually being broken (wouldnt surprise me though), but when Spotify PRELOADS the queue even WHEN autoplay is OFF,  THIRD partyies (e.g. google nest) cant tell. They simply READ the PLAY QUEUE.
To be fair I don't think e.g. Google nest would "know" to check the autoplay setting (and perhaps cannot), I would imagine it simple checks to see whats in the queue. The PROBLEM is that it seems Spotify  ALWAYS preloads the play queue with suggestions and then depending on your autoplay settings, either plays them or not, But (and here is the crux of it) another service would simply look at the queue, it CANT TELL if Spotify auto added it or you did, even if it can check the autoplay setting. 

The short of it is....
For Spotify NOT to preload the Queue UNLESS Autoplay IS actually selected.

It seems that at spotify, changes don't get regresssion tested sufficiently, that is to say, that a change doesn't actually break more than it "fixes".

[tomcrane]

I've upvoted lots of the comments above but just to add one more voice...

Queue and Autoplay work when playing from my laptop, either via its own speakers or via Bluetooth to an external speaker.

But when playing on an external speaker via Spotify Connect, I no longer have any control over autoplay, and can't remove items from the queue.

This is a recently introduced bug and I have switched back to iTunes to play albums from my own collection while I work, as personally it's a real problem and makes Spotify not fit for purpose for enjoying albums.

[Patex1]

It doesn't look to me like a new idea, because it worked some days ago, or it was by default turned off. Anyway, have choice to turn on/off Autoplay on installed application or web player is a must. 

[rossisdead]

What was even the purpose of rolling out the desktop-turned-web-player if you're not going to allow the settings to continue to exist there? Isn't the whole point so that you aren't having to maintain different features for different platforms?

This new "feature" is incredibly annoying and just feels like a lazy response to... well I have no idea what. If I put on an album, or a playlist, then that means that's what I want to hear. Not a bunch of recommended tracks. That's the whole damn reason I turn that setting *off*.

In the other post about this, the moderator said to vote up this "idea" because "This will allow us to better understand how big exactly the demand for something like this is so we can prioritize better. " Okay, then how'd you understand "how big exactly the demand" was for forcing autoplay on for the web player/google home/whatever else is affected by this change? There must have been some study done that asked users how they wanted this feature to work, right?

How on earth was this released how it was? How on earth did you not include a simple "Don't autoplay on any non-mobile/PC device" flag? It's a damn boolean check that would be saved to your account settings. Much like all the other completely minor requests people have(can we PLEASE get the artist name included in the playlist name when creating new playlists from an album? Like it used to work), this could have been completed by a junior dev in a day. Now people are going to have to deal with this for months, probably years, because Spotify almost never actually does anything with the feedback on this forum.

[Jaxical]

If this feature isn’t disabled by the next time my premium fee is due then I’ll be moving to Apple Music. The autoplaying of songs when an album has finished is driving me bonkers. I want a 30 minute album to fall asleep to, not a 9 hour marathon of songs I don’t know or care about.