Spotify loads slowly / goes unresponsive on iOS

[Yordan]

We've received reports from iPhone users saying the app is taking up to a few minutes to load before either being partially usable or simply crashing. Sometimes the playlist/album covers won't load at all and are unclickable. This behavior is currently being investigated.

Here are some screenshot examples of how this may look on your end:

Please note that this is different from Spotify stuck on logo screen on iOS. In case your app won't load past the logo screen, visit that issue instead.

[MattSuda]

@Eden_xX 

If you have the (+) Plus button update, the issue will most likely continue to happen until this is fixed.

The issue went away for me because the feature test I was part of ended. I'm pretty sure the same issue will come back to me when the (+) Plus button update is added back to my account during the general rollout period since this feature is now rolling out to users.

Hopefully this issue will be fixed soon.

[lucoade]

iPad Pro M1 11 inch iPad OS 16.3.1 Spotify version 8.8.18.559

I’ve had this problem (as displayed in Yordans screen caps) for probably a week now, before I updated to the latest version but around the same time the update was released to the app store. It essentially behaves as if my connection is too poor to make a connection; it will say Connecting… at the bottom of the screen and when I click on Notifications in Settings it will tell me I am offline even though the browser player and desktop application work fine. All thumbnails are blank etc.

Turning airplane mode on and off didn’t work, I thought I found a temporary workaround in adjusting the audio quality settings (I guess doing this coerced Spotify into reinstating the connection somehow) but after doing this once or twice it seems like whenever I try to access the audio quality or Playback page Spotify will freeze and finally crash when I navigate away from and back to the app.  I’m not sure what else might provoke the app back into action. If I don’t do anything it can take a minute or even several until things suddenly go back to normal. This will normally last until I come back to the app after some time or after I’ve turned the iPad on and off again.

I’ve tried clean deleting the app, clearing all cache in the app itself first and then offloading and uninstalling it from System, resetting iPad and re-downloading but it didn’t help. Like other commenters here I also have god knows how many playlists saved and 9529 songs liked so I can believe that’s a contributing factor to this issue but it’s the first time I’ve had any kind of problem with Spotify in 14 years, certainly any kind of connectivity problem. Unlike the other user who took screenshots I’m not in low power mode and not a single thumbnail image loads (I have nothing saved offline).

edit: I should also add that when this first started happening it would often be in the middle of playback, which I haven’t noticed in the last couple of days.

edit2: Data Saver also crashes. The rest of the sections don’t seem to. Voice Assistants & Apps is a completely blank page and Storage is showing no text alongside the four dots. App just returned to normal after about 3 minutes of waiting.

edit3: 3 days later and things just got worse. The app now shows logo, displays pic related (completely frozen, can’t click anywhere) and crashes after 15-20 seconds. Weirdly I just tried resetting the iPad and it looks like Spotify actually was able to load at first but when I navigate away from the app and return it restarts and continues to do this. I found a workaround in starting the app with airplane mode on which allows the app to at least load everything albeit without thumbnails, then turning it back off and dawdling with the menus / trying to open playlists or album pages until the app reconnects. If I then leave something playing the app is probably less liable to refresh until next time. 

edit4:offload uninstall reset reinstalling Spotify seems to have superficially fixed edit3

[nanathan]

• Your device's make, model and OS version.

Apple, iPhone 13 Pro Max, 16.3.1

• The version of Spotify you're running.

8.8.18.559

• An approximate number of playlists you have in Your Library and tracks in your Liked Songs.

playlists: 3098, liked songs: 5483

• All troubleshooting you've tried so far.

reinstalling, clearing cache, updating app to latest version

[imsara]

I have this exact issue

Phone model: iPhone 11

ios version: 16.3.1

Spotify version: 8.8.18

I have tried clearing the cache and reinstalling the app, and both of them separately and neither of these options have solved the issue. Using the app in offline mode doesn't help either. I have approximately created 550 playlists (but the total amount of playlists must be in the 1000s) and I'm not sure how many liked songs I have. Maybe around 1000..?

[RadioOneChristian]

This happens to me as well. Check your router or get closer to it. If that's not the case, try turning your WI-FI/Data off and back on. If THATS not the case, delete and reinstall Spotify or turn your phone completely off and back on again. You can do this by pressing the volume up button and power button for 5-10 seconds on iPhone or the power button on android for 5-15 seconds. Hope this helps!

[little_wing]

Hi, I’ve been having this issue for a week or so. I’m using Spotify version 8.8.16.643 on an iPhone 12. The iOS version is 16.3.1. I have a lot of playlists and a ton of liked songs. I reached out to your tech support on Twitter and have tried restarting my phone, uninstalling and reinstalling the app, clearing cache. When I do that it seems to work at first but if I leave the app and come back in it just shows the loading screen again. I also was able to log into your test account and that worked fine. Please help me jam again 

[214izxbsuv3tiz]

Plan: Premium 

Country: Mexico

Device: iPhone 8 

Operating System: iOS 16.3.1 

Playlists: Around 2,000

Library Songs: 14,462 

I’ve tried everything so far, I’ve closed and opened again the app , I’ve deleted and reinstalled the app, I restarted my device, I executed a clean install, cleared caché and only works at the very begging but 10 to 15 minutes later, again nothing works. It’s the only device where I’m experiencing this issue as I used to use Spotify either in my laptop and my TV 

[bambiibambii]

Can a moderator please provide an update on when we can expect this to be resolved? Spotify has become effectively unusable for many of us, and after 2 weeks of this I honestly don’t know why I’m still paying for a broken product. If this continues I’m going to open a case with BBB to get a refund for money sent down the drain.

[Chrystoph23]

iPhone SE second gen

iOS 16.3.1

8.8.18.559

(I copied this because it’s exactly my situation - I did update and add  info though).
All of this is true for me as well- starting on the 9th. I have two different phones (Both mine on same Spotify account- one just running on Wi-Fi. Obviously I only use one at a time.) I am having the exact same issue with both phones:

I  have cleared cache, clean reset, deleted app.  Rebooted cell, downloaded app.  And it works again BUT whenever the app reloads itself or I stop listening for awhile and reopen it goes right back to not working.  I’ve deleted the app and reloaded it many times now and it’s always the same.  Locks up on the homepage menu, I go to press “discover weekly” or another playlist and it doesn’t load, it attempts to and goes to 3 blinking dots on the screen.  Last song doesn’t start playing either.  Everything is just locked up. 

Everything worked so smoothly before. I really love Spotify. I just want it to be like that again. I honestly can barely use it the way it is because it’s not really music on demand anymore. I have found myself using the radio in my four year old car for the First time. Please Help!

 Thank you. I appreciate everything you guys do!

[Jacksonghayes]

iPhone 11 on iOS 16.3.1 

I’ve been having the same issue - it launches and does not load, getting stuck either on the logo, right after the logo, or as the Home Screen is about to load (no loading symbol present). When it gets past that point, it gets stuck on the loading screen. I have tried hard resetting my phone, launching Spotify with and without low power mode enabled, and launching Spotify on and off of Wifi. Right after installing the (+) update, launching Spotify on airplane mode or, if I could get past the Home Screen, enabling offline mode eliminated the problem for a short period of time. This no longer seems to work, and it seems like the problem has been progressively worsening (less responsive, more likely to get stuck, less likely to function/load music, etc.).