Smart Shuffle keeps turning itself on

[Vasil]

Hey folks!

Some of you have reported that Smart Shuffle is automatically turning itself on again after being switched off. This is now being looked into.

Note: The Smart Shuffle feature works on a playlist-by-playlist basis. If you turn it off on one playlist, it doesn't mean that it is turned off for all playlists.

We'll keep you posted 🙂

[Vasil]

Hey folks,

Just a heads-up that you can now toggle whether Smart Shuffle is available on your mobile apps from the app settings!

1. Tap your profile picture at the top.
2. Tap Settings and privacy.
3. Select Playback.
4. Switch Enable all play modes off and you're good to go!

Stay tuned for updates in regard to the other platforms 🙂

As for this Ongoing Issue thread, our tech folks are doing their best to figure out the root cause of the issue itself.
We'll keep you posted!

[borateen]

I noticed this issue for the first time this morning. Here is the requested information.

• Samsung Galaxy S24, One UI version 6.1, Android version 14
• Spotify version 8.9.70.556
• A screen recording of the issue (https://youtube.com/shorts/-hEN4-XWiVo)
• Does this happen across devices or on a single device? E.g. if turned off on one device, does it re-appear on the same device, a different one or across all of them? (I haven't tried this on multiple devices. I used my phone 95% of the time. I just noticed the problem this morning.)
• Does this happen when using the Connect feature or when playing normally? (I don't even know what the Connect feature is. I'm just trying to shuffle through songs in my playlist)
• What are the steps to reproduce the issue on your end? (Turn off Smart Shuffle, wait 3 seconds for it to turn back on by itself, repeat.)

[FenrirWolff]

What you say I have tried multiple times. This issue happens more on Android than the web player but has happed on both sources.

As far as Android, I have tried recovery... I have tried clearing cache... I have tried clearing data... I have tried reinstalling... I have gone so far even to developer options and stopping the main process in cache... I have changed permissions to allow spotify to have full reign, unrestricted access, draw over all apps (force allow developer options), removed power restrictions, allowed spotify unlimited memory exclusion (does not get closed by android system even if memory is low), set as default app, unrestricted background process, administrative permission enabled (HIGHLY UNRECCOMENDED). I have allowed spotify to do whatever it wants, nothing was restricted.

I know my way around my phone, I have given spotify more permission access than should ever be allowed by any reasonable person with a brain. Admittly, this "troubleshoot" process is not as easy as just restarting or logging back in. It is within the app itself that is causing this issue. There is a conflict in the code of the player itself and smart shuffle is causing this conflict. I am no app developer but I know my way around issues, this one included. I have created and looked into the bug report I created on my own device and explored it's contents. There is an exception error in the player that points to the smart shuffle. It happens when the switch from shuffle, smart shuffle and normal play happens.

As of today, to get it to "play nice" I had to log in via web to get it to play again. In this, Smart Shuffle was force dropped in the player and turned on. This feature is no more than a plague. Using another device would not get it to work on mobile but web got it started, this time and I expect Smart Shuffle to break the player again. It is like clockwork, really. The feature you guys had before this smart shuffle never had these kind of issues and I truly wish you guys would have left it be.

[Alex128xd]

This is an absolute nightmare, it just won't turn off even though the icon shows as off.

This across my windows app and my android phone.

Worst thing is when doing a work out it keeps shuffling to country music, I don't even listen to that except on rare occasions..

Its driving me insane so please fix as when working out I have to select a mix that is an hour long just to hear songs I want....

[Nexus9419]

So I'm running into this issue as a free user on Android. Smart shuffle is permanently stuck on and I can't turn it off without paying because of how the UI works. I've tried uninstalling and reinstalling repeatedly to no avail. Anyone else got this issue?

[OGreign]

How about just a normal implementation in the settings of the app to disable smart shuffle? Seems the customer friendly thing to do, especially since disabling it on the playlists doesn't work, at all. Additionally, why is the normal shuffle setting ALSO turning off on its own? Is this to be a strategy so that when people are forced to hit the shuffle button to turn it on again, it defaults to smart shuffle first? Because that's what it seems like. I normally never complain on a forum like this but these issues have been ongoing for at least a year, and no fix to be had. 

[Redbeef]

Smart shuffle has already been the worst experience we ever had from Spotify because each time you start a playlist, it is turned on by default.

Now when I turn it off and play some music, that **bleep** thing turns itself back on again.

What is stopping you guys from giving us an option to disable it forever?
Do you feel holier and mightier than your customers that you enforce a broken feature down our throat?
It makes no sense at all to give your loyal customers a shitty experience.

What is the endgoal of this? Do your managers not hear what customers have to say about this?

My patience is running out with Spotify.
This is not an experience expected from a paid service.
Some compensation for Spotify not working correctly should be in order.

[Sappymochaa]

I now no longer have the option to turn shuffle off. I have premium, why is it like this? Can it be changed?

[Waniata]

This behavior is not strange. It's happening to many of us. Mine keeps turning on and deciding to ONLY play Ween songs. What the **bleep** is going on with your company?

[redkyt]

I paid for premium specifically because I wanted non-shuffled mode. Now I feel like I've been fooled, strongly considering not renewing my subscription

[amorphouskitten]

SmartShuffle turning itself on after clean installs on both the Android app and Windows desktop app. Desktop app will auto turn-on if I minimize the window. Android will just turn it on every 5 seconds or so whether I'm on shuffle or not. Driving me absolutely crazy.

Seriously, is Spotify getting kickbacks from the people whose songs get SmartShuffled in? Is this what I'm paying for with Premium? This doesn't feel like a bug; if it is a bug, what a dumpster fire this has turned into. At minimum we should be getting premium credits but from the other comments it sounds like they're not doing that, looking into alternatives. Tidal looks pretty good so far, if anyone else is looking too.