Apple AirPlay showing the wrong album cover

[peteharrison86]

Plan

Free/Premium

Country

United Kingdom

Device

iPhone 16 Pro Max and iPhone 12 Pro Max

Operating System

iOS 26 and iOS 18

My Question or Issue

For a while now, when I use Apple AirPlay to cast or play my Spotify music on my Sky Glass TV, a lot of the time the wrong album cover is shown.

Usually when I first start playing music the right album cover for the first song is shown and then  when the next song starts playing the album cover doesn’t change and after that for the next 5 or 10 songs the album cover for the previous song is shown.

I don’t know if this is as issue with Spotify or the Apple AirPlay software. I always use the latest version of Spotify and iOS but this issue has been going for over a year. Is this something that can be looked into?

See below the wrong album cover being shown (a cover for an album by The Smiths is being shown for a song by Barbara Perry)

 

[Den12]

Yes, I have exactly the same issue for about 12 months. First album cover correct and thereafter shows previous album cover. Very annoying and spoils my enjoyment. Time it was fixed please!

[Yordan]

Hi folks,

Thanks for reaching out!

Have you noticed this happening after a specific event, like when your mobile device's screen is locked? It's worth checking if 'Background App Refresh' is activated in the 'iPhone's Settings > General' and that it's toggled on for Spotify in the list of apps.

If possible, try connecting the devices to another Wi-Fi network to see if that'd make a difference - you can use a mobile hotspot, for example.

Let us know how it goes 👍.

[peteharrison86]

Hi 

Thanks for your reply. Background App Refresh is on for Spotify and this issue happens when Spotify is in the foreground (open on my screen) as well as when the screen is locked. It happens in all playback situations.

Thanks,

Pete.

[Yordan]

Thanks for the reply, @Den12!

Just to confirm, have you tried clearing the Spotify app's cache & logging out + signing back in as well as unplugging and restarting all devices to see if it makes a difference, even if temporary?

Something else that's worth trying is using Spotify Connect instead of AirPlay (if possible) to see if the issue persists. This can help us isolate the root cause.

Keep us posted on this!

[peteharrison86]

Hi

I’ve just tried all that and the issue is still happening. It’s definitely a fault with either Spotify or Apple AirPlay (either a problem with Spotify not sending the right album cover to Apple AirPlay or a problem with Apple AirPlay ignoring the album covers that are being sent to it or failing to update the current album cover being shown).

Thanks,

Pete.

[OscarDC]

Hey  @peteharrison86,

Thank you for keeping in contact and for the shared info. 

To continue investigating this issue, since this could be related to the network connection, would you mind confirming if you have tried with another Wi-Fi network as mentioned previously? 

Also, could you confirm if using the Connect feature instead of AirPlay makes any difference as previously suggested by @Yordan as well?

Lastly, we'd recommend trying from the native Spotify app of your Sky Glass TV directly to see if it has the same behavior or not.

We'll be on the lookout.

[Den12]

Hi. Just to rejoin the conversation.

As previously stated, I am experiencing exactly the same scenario as presented by Pete.

I can confirm that the issue only occurs using AirPlay and is not present using Spotify Connect or Google Cast.

The only apparent difference I can see is that I am streaming to my Sky Q box whereas Pete is sending to his Sky Glass Smart TV.

Hope this helps.

Thanks Dennis

[peteharrison86]

Hi Oscar

I’ve tried using different WiFi networks and the issue still happens.

The issue doesn’t happen on Spotify Connect, as that doesn’t involve using Apple AirPlay, but I don’t like using Spotify Connect / third party apps as they don’t support audio normalisation (which baffles me, surely audio normalisation could be incorporated into the third party app / native app / Spotify Connect on other devices).

The issue I described in my first post definitely exists when using Apple AirPlay, without a doubt. What we need to find out is, is this a fault with Spotify or the Apple AirPlay software?

Thank you,

Pete.

[Den12]

Hi. To add a bit more information.

The issue doesn’t arise when streaming by AirPlay using local files from my iPhone with the album art changing faultlessly.

So does this suggest that it is a Spotify issue???

Like Pete, my preference is use AirPlay in order to utilise the audio normalisation setting.

Thanks Dennis

[MihailY]

Hey @Den12,

Thanks for the additional info.

We've noted your reports internally but can't give an ETA on when it will be addressed. Have you tried reaching out to Apple support for some further troubleshooting suggestions? 

Cheers,