AirPods Pro Automatic Switching conflict with Spotify Connect

[elito25]

Plan

Premium

Country

USA

Device

iPhone Xs, iPad Pro (2019), and AirPods Pro

Operating System

iOS 14 and iPadOS 14

My Question or Issue

With iOS 14, Apple released automatic source switching between different apple devices depending on which source emits audio. If I have spotify open on both devices, and try and play music on either one, spotify connect and the switching goes into a loop where the AirPods Pro bounce between devices. I can pause, but that doesn’t help. I have to quit spotify on one of the devices to fix it.

[elito25]

Hi there people,

Just found a quick fix, disable "Devices lock screen" on your iPhone and iPad in the settings under devices.
On iPhone/iPad > Settings > Devices > Disable: "Devices lock screen".
As here https://mashtips.com/disable-spotify-connect/.

The AirPods switching function seems to send a 'play' message to Spotify on iPhone or iPad when switching devices, making Spotify witch the channel through Connect. Hope this helps.

Kind regards, Roy
 

[dafnelately]

This still happens to me, both MacOS & iOS apps both up to date. It's really frustrating because once Spotify Connect loads, even with the iOS app closed, it repeats the cycle where the Airpods are switched from the Macbook to the iPhone, MacOS then pauses the song in Spotify, and then Spotify on iOS follows suit and pauses as well. I'm curious if this is a minority issue cause it would be odd if nobody at Spotify actually faces this issue.

[rdegroot_1995]

Hi there people,

Just found a quick fix, disable "Devices lock screen" on your iPhone and iPad in the settings under devices.
On iPhone/iPad > Settings > Devices > Disable: "Devices lock screen".
As here https://mashtips.com/disable-spotify-connect/.

The AirPods switching function seems to send a 'play' message to Spotify on iPhone or iPad when switching devices, making Spotify witch the channel through Connect. Hope this helps.

Kind regards, Roy
 

[PerAxel]

Yes Apple made a mistake here. I have multiple Apple devices open and I am actively working on at the same time. Auto connect is terrible. I literally have to disconnect devices and also prevent them from auto turning on. And for this reason my SONOS speakers are not Bluetooth or whatever connected to tv, I also use Apple TV. But I can connect to them through my MacBook Pro. I want to look at tv, but listen to music. You have to use a different system. On a Apple TV you can not play 2 sources at once, a YouTube video while listening to Spotify, which I do all the time. So I mute column on TV speakers, and play music to my Sonos. Next time I purchase something I will make sure to know how to disconnect this auto-connect. This drive me away from this connectedness they think is great. It is terrible

[OscarDC]

Hey folks,

Thank you for your patience and for keeping in contact.

Based on the reports and feedback we see along with tests we run on our end, this seems to be something on Apple's end and how the AirPods handle audio playback requests to Spotify automatically upon connection.

To prevent this to happen, you can use the troubleshooting steps mentioned by @rdegroot_1995 here.

If anything else comes up, keep in mind that the Community will be here for you.